City leaders in Miami trying to drum up new cruise ship business

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Two days after Carnival Spirit left the Port City — Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, City Director of Transportation & Maritime Joe Snowden, and Visit Mobile President & CEO David Clark are in Miami for the annual “Seatrade Cruise Global 2024″ — the leading event for all things cruise industry. Expect all of of the major players at the 4-day event. This time around — Mobile has some leverage — riding off the success of Carnival Spirit’s inaugural season.

“Good news spreads fast — and when you have success and you get the Carnival with cruise lines coming back with the Carnival Spirit — a new ship for Mobile with newer itineraries. It always kind of creates dominoes and other cruise people saying — hey it’s successful in Mobile — so we’ve actually had a couple of other calls recently — so that’s exciting,” said Clark.

And if you have a connection to the cruise ship industry — Seatrade Cruise Global — is THE event you want to attend. At this year’s event — expect more than 10,000 attendees, 600 exhibitors, more than 120 countries represented, and more than 240 speakers.

The Miami Convention Center serving as a backdrop for the cruise ship industry and stakeholders to explore different areas of the business: everything from elevating guest experiences, the latest cruise ship designs and interiors, as well as safety and security. And according to Seatrade Cruise Global’s website — perhaps one of the most enjoyable perks in attending — indulging in the future of cruise dining and specialty drinks.

But more importantly — it’s another opportunity to go before all the major cruise lines. Mobile’s leaders are already meeting with Carnival and others for a chance to lock in a ship during the vacant six months.

“So there’s all the major cruise companies are there and we have preset meetings with a couple. And actually this time — they called us first! So that kind of never happens. I’ve been doing this show — going down to Miami for the past 7 consecutive years — and that hasn’t happened yet. So that’s good news,” said Clark.

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