1 March 2019
The event showcasing best practise in industry took place in Southampton Harbour Hotel on Thursday 28th February 2019
‘Leisure Excursions for Cruise & Conference’ led by Southampton City Council has hosted its first Cruise Business Seminar on Thursday 28th February in Southampton Harbour Hotel.
The purpose of the Cruise Business Seminar is to bolster the UK Cruise Excursion offering by developing the local marketable products, which will in turn support the industry towards attracting further cruise business for Southampton.
Laura Campbell, Project Manager, Leisure excursions for Cruise and Conference comments: “This event has been tailored towards supporting Cruise Excursion companies to find products that match their requirements and enable them to build a marketable excursion itinerary.
“Whether it’s building up a great portfolio of activities to engage a Cruise Line to consider Southampton as a port or engaging the passengers to stay longer in Hampshire and Southampton, all of the projects’ activities have worked hard to make this happen in the most effective way.”
The day-long business seminar enabled businesses that are interested in working with the cruise industry to learn more about best practise when it comes to packaging their product, as well as looking at exploring how to work in collaboration with other business partners to build an experience.
It also helped attendees to learn more about the best ways to get in front of key decision makers as well redefining what is required to create a marketable product, along with the opportunity to share knowledge and experience from people who are tour guides or part of the Volunteer Welcome group – as they understand first hand what the passenger is looking for.
Councillor Satvir Kaur, Cabinet Member for Homes and Culture at Southampton City Council comments: “Being a busy cruise port we have millions of cruise passengers coming to Southampton every year, and we are keen to establish ourselves as a destination city for them to explore the amazing attractions in Southampton and the surrounding area.
Southampton has so much to offer, and it is great to host this event and help create memorable visitor experiences with our partners, creating packages that can be used by Cruise Lines and Cruise Excursion companies across the globe. We hope to encourage more visitors to our great city, as well as tempting returning visitors to come again and stay longer, helping to grow the local tourism economy.”
This seminar is part of a wider project to provide new on-shore excursions for visiting cruise passengers supported by the Discover England Fund managed by VisitEngland.