During the current mandate at MedCruise, led by its President, Figen Ayan and an esteemed team of twelve Directors, the Association is making great strides in encouraging its members to provide greater facilities and support the cruise industry from wider standpoints and approaches, for cruise ships’ crew; for cruise career opportunities and trainings.

The Association is taking two important steps. The first is being led by Vice President and Member of the Board responsible Destination Development, Lorenzo Vera.

A survey was launched in September 2022 and July 2023 with a comprehensive set of questions aimed at all members, asking them to identify what facilities are provided in their ports and terminals for crew members. 98% of members responded and the results of the survey have led to three ideas to be developed by the Association.

The first is to develop a crew-friendly resources map, to act as a quick visual guide for facilities and services that may be available at different ports. The Association is hoping to have this ready by the end of the year.

The Second idea is to develop a brochure that may be entitled “Cruise Crew Welcome to the Med”. A template will be designed, and two examples were cited at a recent General Assembly held by MedCruise in Burgas, Bulgaria. One was a crew activity guide produced by Cruise Baltic and the second a guide developed by Galataport in Istanbul. The Association will be asking its members for information to include in this brochure. It is hoped that this will be ready before the 64th General Assembly, to be held in Tarragona, Spain next June.

The third idea will be to set up a crew-friendly committee of experts. The committee will be chaired by the President of MedCruise and led by Lorenzo Vera with the Secretary General of MedCruise. The committee will include representatives from cruise companies, ports, port agents, tour operators etc.

In a bid to provide information on career opportunities available in the cruise industry, MedCruise will be dedicating a page on its website for anybody willing to build a career in the sector. The Association will be providing information on vacancies that may be available at any of its member ports or with its associate members. In addition, the Association will be providing links to the specific career sections on the websites of major cruise companies and other entities within the industry. MedCruise is very keen to promote careers in the sector and also dedicates a lot of time to professional development courses for its members.

The next professional development course, spearheaded by the Senior Vice President of MedCruise and member of the Board responsible for Professional Development, Francesca Antonelli will be delivered, with the very generous sponsorship of MSC Cruises, on board the MSC Fantasia in January 2024.

The President of MedCruise, Figen Ayan said “I am determined during my mandate to bring greater awareness to the importance of crew members in our industry, to encourage more people to take up careers in the sector and to provide trainings for our port or associate members.”