CLIA Italy Becomes 14th Cruise Industry Group Under CLIA's Global Umbrella

cruise ships docked in venice
Cruise ships docked in Venice // Photo by Susan J. Young

At the annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference in Miami Beach, FL, on Tuesday, Christine Duffy, president and CEO, Cruise Lines International Association, announced the establishment of CLIA Italy. It's the 14th cruise industry association now operating under the CLIA umbrella.

The new organization's national office will be headquartered in Rome. CLIA Italy will be managed by Francesco Galietti, who will act as CLIA Italy’s national director.

CLIA's expansion of resources in Europe started in 2013. CLIA Italy now joins CLIA UK & Ireland, CLIA Germany, CLIA France, CLIA Spain, CLIA Netherlands, and CLIA Belgium & Luxembourg as groups that now operate under CLIA's newly established global structure.

“With the establishment of CLIA Italy, we affirm our support and commitment to a country that has been, is, and no doubt, will continue to be, of vital importance to our future,” said Christine Duffy, president and CEO of CLIA. “Through CLIA Italy, the industry can better support its members in the third largest cruise market in Europe and ensure they benefit from CLIA’s extensive global reach and wide-ranging programs that support the responsible growth for cruising."

Last year 869,000 Italians booked a cruise vacation and more than two million passengers from across the globe embarked on a cruise ship from Italy. Duffy also noted that Italy is also a leading destination market and an important country for shipbuilding.

"We affirm our support and commitment to a country that has been, is, and no doubt, will continue to be of vital importance to our future.” said Pierfrancesco Vago, CLIA Europe’s chairman, who also participated on the opening session of Cruise Shipping Miami.

During his State of the Global Cruise Industry panel he noted that Italy is the largest European country in terms of total direct cruise line spending -- in excess of $6 billion.

“With CLIA’s expansion to the Italian market, our network in Europe and Italy is now more consolidated than ever before," said Robert Ashdown, secretary general of CLIA Europe." He said that while the last few years have been challenging for Europe’s cruising industry, "we have consistently achieved record growth. CLIA Europe’s integrated network will allow us to further unify the industry under one voice in order to continue addressing common challenges together and positioning the industry for future successes.”

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