OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2009. At the meeting held at Klaipeda Tourism and Culture Information Centre, the representatives of cruise business discussed the upcoming  2009 cruise season; as expected even 63 cruise liners will enter the port (by 20 % more than in 2008), reported the press-centre of Klaipeda Port.

The meeting attended by KSSA Director for Marketing A. Drungilas and the Head of Marketing Department K. Gontier included discussions on methods of promotion and recommendations for cruise shipping, also cruise-related events were planned for the year 2009.
 
By preliminary data, 63 cruise liners and about 40 000 passengers of cruisers shall visit Klaipeda port town in 2009.  Particularly big number of large ships (more than 200 m in length) – even 22 large liners – will enter our seaport this year. Besides, 8 cruise ships will come to our seaport town for the first time in 2009. The upcoming 2009 cruise shipping season in comparison to the 2008 season, is especially promising, considering slowdown of the global economy.
 
The year 2009 shall be rich in cruise-related events: organization of and participation at conferences, shows-exhibitions, active participation in the activities of various international associations and projects.
 
Delegation of Klaipeda city and the port for the sixth time already shall represent the seaport town in a joint stand at the world cruise shipping exhibition „Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention 2009“ (in Miami) and for the third time – at the exhibition „Seatrade Europe: Cruise, Ferry, River cruise" (in Hamburg).
 
Moreover, the port representatives have been invited to present their report at the cruise shipping conference „Cruise and Ferry Passenger Shipping on the Baltic Sea 2009“ taking place in Rostock this year.
 
The Klaipeda University initiative concerning promotion of seaside tourism should be also mentioned. This year Klaipeda University invites the representatives of the Port Authority to present their report at international conference „Seacoast zone tourism prospects: challenges for science and business”, which shall be focused on issues of various aspects of seaside tourism.
 
The representatives of Klaipeda port also take active part in Cruise Europe (CE) association: participation at the international cruise business conference and seminar organized by the aforementioned association in port of Vigo (Spain) is planned for this year.
 
Furthermore, it is planned to continue the tradition of the year 2008 – at the end of cruise season, in autumn, to invite the representatives of cruise shipping and business enterprises for round-table discussion to discuss possibilities for cruise shipping and tourism promotion and recommendations on carrying out and implementation of new marketing measures, events and projects.