The President of the Administration of Ports of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (APRAM, SA), Paula Cabaço, states as a major objective for the near future of the Association that brings together the port authorities of Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde, the creation of a new cruise tourist destination: The Macaronesia destination.
“That is the path we have to point to. A new cruise destination, which speaks directly, with one voice, with the companies,” said Paula Cabaço, arguing that the four archipelagos that make up the Cruise Atlantic Islands (CAI) brand have unique characteristics, their authenticity, unique identities that complement each other, that allow this itinerary to present itself to the cruise tourism industry as an appealing and differentiated product. “Just as today we talk about the Caribbean as a cruise destination, we are working together, and we have all the conditions so that in the future the Macaronesian islands will also be a reference destination on this side of the Atlantic.”
This objective, was reinforced by Paula Cabaço during the CAI Conference 2024, which took place over three days in Funchal. It was the first formal meeting of the five port authorities – Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Tenerife), and Cape Verde – after the official constitution of the International Association of Macaronesian Ports.
An important step, that gave legal personality to the CAI brand, opened the doors to a new range of possibilities, such as applying for community funds to promote the destination and strengthening the legitimacy of being able to speak with one voice with companies. “They know that they have an interlocutor here,” underlines Paula Cabaço, adding that the Associations next steps include the holding of the general assembly, scheduled for the 11th of November, in Madrid, when the plan of activities for next year will be defined.
It will be there, at the first meeting of the new Association, that the governing bodies, management, and secretariat will take office for the first two-year term. The Presidency of the International Association of Macaronesian Ports will rotate among all members, with Paula Cabaço assuming leadership in the first term.
“I am proud to be able to actively participate in this process. Thirty years ago, Madeira was the basis of the cooperation agreement with the Canary Islands that gave rise to the CAI, and now we are again committed to the development of this partnership, extended to Cape Verde and the Azores,” says the President of the Ports of Madeira, who believes that the conference has been largely successful.
The event, which brought together close to 80 experts from the cruise industry and was promoted by APRAM, began by honoring the founders of CAI, Juan Francisco Martin (Canary Islands), João Reis (Madeira), Eduardo Alvarez Hamilton (Canary Islands), Michael Blandy (Madeira) and Franklim Spencer (Cape Verde), before projecting the future through the eyes of Eduardo Cabrita (MSC Portugal), Fiona Noone (Marella Cruises, TUI), Kai Algar (Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines), Amadeu Albuquerque (Mystic Cruises), Rafael Fernández-Álava (Costa Crociere) and Mark Robinson (BC Group).
The speakers highlighted the potential of the Atlantic islands of Macaronesia as a cruise destination, pointing out the safety of the islands, the uniqueness and complementarity of the archipelagos, the quality of port infrastructures, the climate, the offer of air connections and the proximity to the main European capitals, as an added value of this itinerary.
At the same time, APRAM took advantage of the presence of the Vice-President of CLIA Europe, Nikos Mertzadinis, who was the co-host of the Conference, to formalise an environmental cooperation agreement, through the signing of a protocol between Funchal City Council, CLIA, and Ports of Madeira, with a view to carrying out annual reforestation and environmental education actions in the Ecological Park, involving the cruise lines that visit Madeira. An agreement that soon began to be implemented, with the holding of a tree planting in the Funchal Ecological Park, involving a group of participants in the CAI Conference.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
