The partnership agreement signed between MedCruise and CLIA Europe at the European Union's neural centre highlights the importance of this agreement for both organisations and the members they represent.

Both organizations commit themselves through this agreement to jointly promote the traffic of cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Adriatic Sea, North Africa and Near Atlantic. Under this important collaboration document, MedCruise and CLIA Europe will carry out specific actions in a coordinated manner to develop the sustainable growth of the cruise sector at the different local and regional levels, as well as with EU bodies and related companies in the cruise industry.

Airam Díaz Pastor, President of MedCruise, states that cruise ships are of vital importance to MedCruise members, so cooperation between the two parties is essential. I would like to value the relevance of this agreement that we have signed today, as it will allow us to further strengthen the relationship between ports and cruise ships so that the sector will continue to grow in our regions and bring wealth to local economies. In fact, in 2017 in our geographical area, 15.8% of the international fleet of cruise ships was concentrated.

Kyriakos Anastassiadis, President of CLIA Europe, in turn, states that: We are delighted to work together and closely with MedCruise, since both associations represent different areas of specialization and a large number of members. In this way, the partnership agreement will help both partnerships to continue to make progress.

Through this agreement, MedCruise and CLIA Europe will share statistics, reports, etc., on issues of common interest such as new market trends and the important challenges that new technologies propose to ports and shipping. In addition, joint studies related to the cruise sector will be created and specific initiatives for the training of their partners will be supported. The partnership agreement also provides for the establishment of a monitoring committee composed of members of both associations.