| CLIA update 08 Feb 18: CLIA Asia River Cruise and Destination Forum Top Speakers Revealed

WITH Joel Katz MD, CLIA Australasia – We are thrilled at the response to the inaugural River Cruise & Destination Forum to be held in Vietnam in Apr. This is sure to be a highlight of CLIA’s professional development calendar. The event includes trade fair, conference, one-to-one meetings, two hosted dinners, plus an included river cruise on the Mekong.

The program offers insights into the experiences that await guests on cruise holidays across Asia, with a special appearance by Luke Nguyen, APT Ambassador, chef, author and television personality, to talk about the Asian dining experience, and host an exclusive dinner at his acclaimed Ho Chi Minh restaurant, Vietnam House.

CLIA Australasia’s Peter Kollar will speak on upgrading Asian destination knowledge to improve sales, and Kristin Karst, co-founder of AmaWaterways will share her view of current river cruise trends and opportunities.

Travel Weekly UK’s Lucy Huxley and CLIA’s Senior Vice President Membership, Andy Harmer, will host the conference. To reserve one of the few remaining places email info-aus@cruising.org.

Congratulations to Carnival on the announcement this week that Carnival Splendor will be based in Australia year-round from late 2019.

This 66% increase in Carnival’s Australasia capacity is another positive indicator of the continued growth of our local cruise industry.