Posidonia STF, a who’s who in cruise lines

Next month’s 7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum will bring together top executives and industry leaders from the international cruise sector to discuss the challenges and potential of the industry and highlight the importance of the region and the need for new destinations to keep pace with the industry’s rapid growth and emerging trends.

Held on April 25-26 at Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Palace, the biennial event comes at a time when the industry is looking to fully recover from the pandemic and chart a path to a sustainable future. The forum will feature a high-profile lineup of speakers; the keynote speech will be delivered by Pierfrancesco Vago, Cruise Lines International Association global chair and MSC Cruises executive chairman.

TUI Cruises CEO Wybcke Meier, who will also be at the event, emphasized the importance of sustainable cruising and integrated planning. “Cruising is a sustainable mode of travel, and together with the ports and destinations, we will continue to develop while taking everyone’s interests into account – through integrated planning and better management of guest flows.” 

Speakers will focus on key issues including destination delivery, the development and upgrade of port and tourism infrastructure to enable growth, the need to properly assess the economic benefit and environmental impact of a given destination and the capacity for shore-side electric power-connectivity. 

Confirmed speakers include: Manolis Alevropoulos, VP, Celebrity Cruises; Spiros Almpertis, VP Port Operations, Itinerary Planning and Fuel Management, Crystal Cruises; Figen Ayan, president of MedCruise; Michele Bosco, manager, Shore Excursions Mediterranean, North Africa & Black Sea, Holland America Group; Linden Coppell, VP, Sustainability & ESG of MSC Cruises; Aziz Gungor, East Med Ports regional director for Global Ports Holding and Kusadasi Cruise Port GM; George Koumpenas, president of the Union of Cruise Ship Owners and Maritime Agencies; Ukko Metsola, VP, Government Relations, EMEA, Royal Caribbean Group; Marie-Caroline Laurent, director general of CLIA Europe; Athanasios Liagkos, executive chairman of the BoD, managing director, ThPA SA; Mark Robinson, senior VP, Cruise Operations, Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours; Chris Theophilides, CEO, Celestyal Cruises; and Yu Zeng Gang, chairman, Piraeus Port Authority.