Med Cruise and CLIA Europe Sign Travel Agent Training Partnership

Raphael von Heereman, Secretary General of CLIA Europe; Carla Salvadό, president of MedCruise and Marketing and Cruise Manager of the Port of Barcelona; Pierfrancesco Vago, President of CLIA Europe and Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises; and Thanos Pallis, General Secretary of MedCruise, sign the cooperation agreement.

CLIA Europe, the association representing the 40 billion euro cruise industry in Europe, and Med Cruise, the association of cruise ports in the Mediterranean and its adjoining seas, have signed a strategic partnership agreement to collaborate, sponsor and support the advancement of a European travel agent training program.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 3rd Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum held in Athens this week.

CLIA Europe is engaged in travel agent training, research and marketing communications to promote the desirability of cruise holidays with thousands of travel agency and travel agent members.

The agreement with MedCruise will allow the expansion of ETALP, CLIA’s travel agent training program, to France, where thousands of travel agents will get access to CLIA’s online training resources for this purpose.

According to Carla Salvadό, President of MedCruise, the collaboration will give travel agents the right tools to attract even more people to cruising in the Med and beyond.

“The partnership shows that in the port community as well as in the cruise industry we never lose sight of the fact that our success is directly tied to the travel agent community”, Ms. Salvadό said.

On his part, Pierfrancesco Vago, CLIA Europe’s Chairman, said that the travel agent community plays and will continue to play an essential role in the cruise industry’s supply chain, bringing the cruise product closer to the end customer.

“We see agents as a vital link between travelers and cruise lines. They are our leading advocates when it comes to communicating the thrill of a cruise vacation”, he said.

According to Mr. Vago, the agreement will see the expansion of CLIA’s travel agent training program to one key European market, but it will not be the last one.

“I am glad that, in taking this step, CLIA Europe and MedCruise will continue to engage with and invest in a sector of fundamental importance to our industry.”