St. George’s, 05th April 2023 – Senior officials of the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) recently attended the Seatrade Cruise Global Conference, the largest cruise industry event in the world from March 27-30 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The GTA delegation was led by Chairman Randall Dolland and included CEO Petra Roach, Manager of Nautical Development Nikoyan Roberts. The delegation also included Marlon Clyne, Manager, Administration of the Grenada Ports Authority and Sheldon Alexander, General Manager, Services Division, George F. Huggins & Co. Ltd. They joined more than 12,000 professionals from the cruise industry, including cruise line executives, port operators, travel agents and suppliers.

The conference presents opportunities to discuss trends and innovations in the global cruise industry and allows attendees to conduct one on one meetings to move forward commercial agreements.

The Grenada delegation participated in a series of meetings with cruise brands including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Silversea, American Queen Voyages, Princess Cruises, Oceania, Regent, Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, Windstar Cruises, and Viking Cruises.  Discussions centered around including Grenada in their itineraries, increasing the number of passengers disembarking in port, providing opportunities for Grenadian talent to be employed in the cruise industry workforce and providing a market for locally produced Grenadian products.

Petra Roach, CEO of the GTA, was optimistic about the conference and it’s expected impact on Grenada’s tourism industry. “Seatrade Cruise Global Conference is not only an excellent opportunity for us to share updates in terms of improvements in Grenada’s product but also the occasion for us to recommit to the cruise industry and communicate that we are open for business and serious about it. We look forward to solidifying these relationships with cruise line executives and other industry stakeholders and exploring different ways to attract more cruise visitors to our shores.”