Cruise: Shore Excursions and City Programs - New England States

October 25th - October 29th

Participants will visit port destinations that have been successful in engaging the local community with the industry to offer revenue generating, market-ready experiences/opportunities for the ports. The focus will be on learning how local operators maximize the economic potential of the growing cruise sector by using effective shore excursion marketing/programming to reach the incoming traffic from cruise ships. The visited destinations will be continually developing and improving products.

• How regional ports effectively market to cruise lines
• How to develop attractions to increase the number of ship visits
• To learn about strategies to involve local businesses in accommodating cruise passengers
• To understand what cruise companies expect from ports and how do ports ensure they are meeting expectations.
• To learn about what marketing practices work for ports and how to go about finding valuable ways for unpaid advertising.
• To document successful practices at ports in this region that could have potential relevancy to the Atlantic Canada cruise industry.
• Discuss innovative ideas on design and functionality of tour terminals that accommodate and promote shore products.
• Learn about marketing and funding partnerships
• Understand how small communities go about product development and sustainability
• To gain insight into how successful projects/attractions have been planned, set up, and how they are operating sustainably. To gain insight into growing new markets and promoting to them; to have fruitful discussions with peers and potential partners leading to further understanding of successful product identifying and developments.
• To experience firsthand, trends and best practices in areas such as developing experiences to expand to new markets, and repositioning to target upcoming audiences.
• To obtain a better understanding of what other locations are doing to enhance their area and provide a unique experience for the visitor
• To learn about how to implement incentive programs for service, unique product or service positioning relative to competitors, and gain insight into methods for achieving considerable partnering opportunities.
• To learn of methods and new ideas that are there for developing a high quality tourist destination based on experiential products, particularly with culture and herita
•   How proper programming and planning with shore excursions and attractions increase visitation and development in Atlantic Canada destinations.