My Italian Job

Three key takeaways from CLIA Cruise Week 2024 in Genoa

What made Genoa CLIA Cruise Week such a memorable event for me? Was it the Italian backdrop and warmer climes currently absent from my UK home? Or the fact that Genoa is a fabulous host and a wonderful example of a city and region, gatewayed effectively through an unassuming port? How about that it was the first expo of its kind from CLIA | Cruise Lines International Association – the world's largest Cruise industry trade association?

I am not going to pretend these factors didn’t make it even more special. But the real reason it stood out was because it was my first Cruise event as the newly appointed Vice President of Global Partnerships at Tower Supplies . This makes me the new face of Cruise when representing our prestigious brand at events.

As VP of Global Partnerships, I make sure that Tower’s mission to be the number one global brand of trust and confidence is seen and heard. But to realise our vision as a brand, it’s essential we first understand the industry’s own goals and challenges in the hotel and technical departments sector. Otherwise, how can we ensure we’re in the best position to source and deliver innovative solutions?

That’s why I’ve put together three big learnings that I took from what was a one-of-a-kind experiential showcase featuring creative concepts, technology advancement, and visionary ideas – and that was just at the Tower booth!

We all share a common vision for Cruise

From the global Cruise leaders through to the cadet seafarers, all the nearly 2,000 participants at CLIA in Europe Summit and Innovation Expo had a common goal: To make Cruise a safe, secure, healthy, and sustainable environment. As well as the number one travel experience in the world.

CLIA’s aim was to fulfil the interest of member Cruise line buyers to discover local sources of products. This allows them to provision their vessels throughout Europe. It also offers a valuable opportunity to learn and test new products and solutions coming to market. I make sure that Tower can deliver on all these credentials.

There’s a demand for sustainable scalability

With 55 Cruise ships currently on order in the next five years, the Cruise industry is in real need of a reliable and fully scalable supply chain. It’s for this reason that Tower is currently expanding distribution from the UK and Europe to hubs in America, Australia, and even the middle east.

But it’s equally important to support Cruise’s expansion with sustainable solutions, which is why we’re fully behind Cruise’s vision of net-zero by 2050. Putting this ship ‘orderbook’ into context, the industry investment is predicted to be approximately €34 billion for the next five years. Cruise ships are some of the most advanced and energy-efficient in history, but they still need our support.

The industry is thriving on collaboration

When the President and CEO of CLIA brings Cruise Line CEOs direct to your exhibition booth, you know you're in the best place to have critical discussions and conversations. This is the kind of active support and collaboration from Cruise that allows me to showcase and share Tower's multifaceted innovations that help drive us forward and develop future solutions. Thank you, Kelly Craighead !

Throughout the week, panels were led by industry executives and CLIA leaders who engaged in key topics. I was lucky enough to be first to the stage in the Innovation Hub where I spoke and demonstrated Tower’s sustainable cleaning and sanitisation system, CtrlFlow.

To provide an experience of the system in the onshore environment, we adapted a CtrlFlow 40 system to work in the presentation area and at our booth. We’ll also have this system in Miami during Seatrade Cruise Global week. You can contact me in advance to arrange a demo of the amazing system!