30th Annual Cruise Shipping Miami Opens Today

- 10 percent larger exhibition expected to attract 30 percent more attendees

MIAMI, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The 30th annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference and exhibition opens today at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The show runs through Thursday, March 13.

The annual gathering usually draws around 11,000 attendees, but UBM, owner and organizer of Cruise Shipping Miami, anticipates a jump of more than 30 percent in visitors and delegates to the three–day exhibition and four-day conference. The trade show, which is almost 10 percent larger than last year, features 140 new exhibitors for a total of nearly 900 exhibiting companies from 127 countries.

"No one could have predicted 30 years ago that from a meeting of 150 cruise executives in a hotel in New York that Cruise Shipping Miami would grow to become the industry's premier annual event," said Daniel Read, director of UBM's Cruise Event Portfolio. "The conference sessions, State of the Global Cruise Industry panels, Emerging Products Zone and Cruise Trends Theater all will address issues and developments that will shape the cruise industry of the future."

Cruise Shipping Miami kicks off today with the World Cruise Tourism Summit, a series of roundtable discussions led by industry experts.

The conference officially opens Tuesday, March 11, with the "State of the Global Cruise Industry" plenary session featuring the top executives from the world's largest cruise corporations: Carnival Corporation & plc, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises.

The session also features Katty Kay, anchor of "BBC World News America," as the event's first moderator from outside the cruise industry.

New for 2014 are three additional "State of the Global Cruise Industry" panels led by cruise line chief executives addressing trends and developments in the world's major cruise regions: the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The exhibition, which covers all four halls of the Miami Beach Convention Center, officially opens Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. and closes Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Represented in the trade show are the world's largest shipbuilders, 400 destinations, cutting-edge information technology providers, ship equipment suppliers and entertainment companies. New this year is an interactive Food & Beverage Pavilion focusing on the latest in shipboard culinary trends, products and equipment. Other industry sectors include ship design and refurbishment, ship services and hotel operations.

The exhibition features trade delegations from Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and Turkey.

Cruise Shipping Miami is the global flagship of UBM's Cruise Events Portfolio, which includes the annual Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific and the biennial Seatrade Med Cruise Convention.

To register to attend Cruise Shipping Miami, visit:
https://www.compusystems.com/servlet/ar?evt_uid=710 

For more information about Cruise Shipping Miami or to exhibit visit:
www.cruiseshippingmiami.com

HOTEL RESERVATIONS:
https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=10739532

MEDIA CONTACT: Buck Banks, +1 305-461-3300, toll-free +1 855-446-7935; press@cruiseshippingmiami.com

CONVENTION CONTACT: UBM Live, 300 American Metro Blvd., Suite 125, Hamilton NJ 08619 USA
Phone: +1 609-759-4712; fax: +1 609-759-4774
email: sales@cruiseshippingmiami.com

SOCIAL MEDIA: Additional news and information about Cruise Shipping Miami are available at www.cruiseshippingmiami.com. Find Cruise Shipping Miami on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Since 1985 Cruise Shipping Miami has been the premier annual event of the worldwide cruise industry. From a small gathering of 150 cruise industry executives in a hotel meeting room in New York City, Cruise Shipping Miami has grown into a four-day conference and three-day exhibition drawing 11,000 attendees, more than 900 exhibiting companies from 123 countries and over 300 international journalists to become the cruise industry's annual marketplace of ideas, products and services. 

Cruise Shipping Miami is exclusively supported by Cruise Lines International Association and Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association.