His Royal Highness Prince Edward Earl of Wessex meets Lord Lieutenant's Sea Cadets. Image courtesy of Ocean Images. 

The South West regional ports and attractions are all set to benefit from the recent Seatrade Cruise Forum event, which took place in Poole and Portland on 25-26 April. 

The Seatrade Cruise Forum brought to Dorset an impressive group of top executives from the world's leading Cruise Lines, headquartered in the USA, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, where both the Poole and Portland ports represented the South West to their fellow countrymen and their nation to their international visitors.   

Delegates from A&P Falmouth, Newquay Airport, Destination Bristol and Torbay also attended the event to help promote the region and deliver the message that the South delivers both as a major cruise destination and a turnaround port  - the place for cruise ship passengers to visit for a day and more. 

Under the aegis of Seatrade Communications Limited, the organisers of Cruise Conventions around the globe, Destination South West, (the regional Cruise Marketing Group), took the leading role at the Forum in Dorset together with local authorities, South West Tourism and the South West Regional Development Agency.
 
The Forum marked the re-launch of Destination South West as an organisation funded entirely by its members, with a very clear focus on increasing the day visit and turnaround calls at the ten constituent ports in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and the Isles of Scilly.
 
Overall, at a time of substantial new construction, the predominant trend amongst the bigger cruise companies is towards large ships of up to 2-3,000 passengers and this should provide an opportunity for Falmouth and Portland with their deeper water and suitable alongside berths. Set against that, the Forum highlighted the proposed introduction of a number of smaller ships to meet more a discerning/niche demand and that should benefit other ports in the region.
 
Another key point was the need for destination ports to offer uniqueness and individuality.  The South West leads in this respect, with its historic Jurassic Coast and the other world heritage sites in the region, together with such attractions as the Eden project, Europe's largest natural harbour and, in the case of some ports, close proximity to London, Bath and Stonehenge.
 
The 2012 London Olympics and, specifically, the Sailing Events in Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay were seen by the visiting executives as a particular opportunity to underpin cruise shipping development and growth in the South West.
 
Following on from this successful event the South West ports (through Destination South West) are now planning an active marketing programme to follow up on the leads generated at the conference. This will include follow up visits to ports by the individual cruise executives as well as attendance at some of the major international shows in Hamburg and Miami.
 
Bob Harrison, Director of Cruise Operations for Destination South West, said:
 
"The Regional Host Partnership have been a great team to work with over the past few months and I have already received fantastic feedback from Regent Seven Seas, Holland America, Hebridean International, Deilman Cruises and Residensea. It is now imperative that we move forward and follow up on the meetings we have all had with the cruise lines."
 
Robin Barker, Marketing Director of South West Tourism, says:
 
"We are expecting a solid growth in cruise line passenger numbers to the region as the strength, quality and diversity of the South West is becoming better recognised. It is important we take advantage of this for the region and by hosting the recent successful Seatrade event it will certainly help to achieve the recognition the region deserves."
 
To meet logistical demands of the cruise industry the regional ports are investing in new facilities. In Poole's case the harbour has been dredged to accommodate larger ships, new investments in port side facilities are being undertaken and there is an ability to anchor in Poole Bay and tender passengers. Falmouth is also extending its capability to accommodate large ships, while Portland has plans to upgrade the Britannia Passenger Terminal and has announced a major berth development programme to meet the needs of cruise ships and other vessels over the next thirty years.