Dubrovnik will host the 4th edition of the Tourism & Strategy Festival, ‘Cruises and Cities – Opportunities and Challenges’, from November 7-10, 2018, where the main theme is cruise tourism. This project is being co-organized by the City of Dubrovnik and the French sister city Rueil-Malmaison.
The theme ‘Cruises & Destinations: Challenges & Opportunities’ was specifically chosen for the conference part of the festival due to the importance of cruise tourism for European destinations, of which Dubrovnik is one of the leaders. Popular tourist destinations face great challenges, primarily when it comes to accommodating the increasing number of visitors, and are developing new ways to deal with these challenges.
The City of Dubrovnik pays great attention to the strategic management of guests. This year’s Tourism & Strategy Festival will focus on the opportunities and challenges that are encountered on a daily basis by visitors from cruise ships.
These topics will be addressed by many of the participants, including representatives from Mediterranean destinations and ports, as well as prominent representatives of international cruise tourism associations, cruise companies and scientists. Some of our confirmed speakers are: Cindy D’Aoust, President and CEO of the CLIA Organization (Cruise Lines International Association); Airam Díaz Pastor, President of the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports; Alberto Cappato, Secretary of the AIVP Association (The Worldwide Network of Port Cities) and Director of the Port of Genoa; and Chris Windsor-Price (Marella Cruises Marine Operations Manager).
The keynote speaker will be the CBS travel editor Peter Greenberg, a multi-Emmy Award winning investigative reporter, who is a widely recognized, esteemed and highly respected American journalist. In the tourism industry, he is known as the ˝Travel Detective˝, and has great knowledge of tourist topics.
The goal of the conference is to reach conclusions through an exchange of ideas, experiences, best practices and panel discussions, which will be integrated into the development of destination strategies. Alongside Dubrovnik, cities like Venice, Barcelona, Bruges, Corfu, and Kotor, as well as cities with river cruise tourism, such as Vukovar, will come together to share their experiences.
In addition to the conference segment, the four-day event includes awards for the best marketing and promotion tools, so there will be prizes for the best examples of marketing campaigns, video materials, and printed materials for cruise ship destinations.
There will also be events organized for the general public, with a particular emphasis on youth.
Various networking during this 4th Tourism & Strategy Festival in Dubrovnik will enable the further collaboration of participants, as well as the realization of future joint projects.
