The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) announced that Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation & plc, will become chairman of the FCCA Executive Committee and Albino Supino Di Lorenzo, vice president of cruise operations for MSC Cruises USA, will become chairman of the FCCA Operations Committee, both effective January 1, 2019.
As chairman of the Executive Committee, comprised of presidents or above representing FCCA Member Lines and deciding the association’s overarching objectives, Arison will also be chairman of the association. He was named by the committee as part of its rotational process to replace the completed term of Adam Goldstein, vice chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
“I am honored to have served as FCCA Chairman and extremely proud of the cruise industry’s efforts to strengthen relationships with destinations and stakeholders in the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Goldstein. “This outreach has become increasingly important with the region facing challenges and opportunities in today’s highly competitive and globalized environment, and I am confident that Mr. Arison’s leadership will continue to steer the course for mutual success between cruise lines and destinations.”
Under Goldstein’s direction, the association engaged in initiatives including the multifaceted, award-winning Caribbean Is Open / Caribbean for Everyone advertising campaign launched by the FCCA to display the region’s readiness for tourism despite last year’s storms, along with providing life-sustaining supplies, such as sleeping pods and semi-permanent structures, and coordinating many of the relief efforts between the affected destinations and Member Lines; restructuring of the largest and only official cruise tourism conference and trade show in the Caribbean, the FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show, with the association taking full control of operations and striking a landmark deal with Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) to host the event from 2018-2021; new features to FCCA programs and events, from expanding regional stakeholders’ reach to Europe and around the world, to more involvement by Member Line presidents and above at exclusive Platinum Member functions; and various ventures to advance the core mission of developing mutual understanding and success with destinations and stakeholders in the Caribbean and Latin America.
“I am honored to again take the helm as FCCA Chairman,” said Arison, who is one of the original members of the Executive Committee and has served as FCCA Chairman in the past for a total of 12 years. “Over the years, I have watched the growth of not only the industry and association, but also the partners we serve. These partnerships and building a foundation for long-term mutual success in the Caribbean and Latin America are more important than ever, with the the industry having matured and developed on a global and macroeconomic scale, so I could not be more excited and encouraged to help destinations and stakeholders maximize the potential win-win situations this dynamic industry offers.”
Arison’s latest tenure as FCCA Chairman, from 2015-2017, was shorter than his prior decade-long term, but in that brief span he helped the FCCA Platinum Membership continue to flourish by adding new benefits and expanding 50 percent, along with further developing the partnership between the FCCA and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to globalize and rebrand the FCCA’s quarterly magazine, Travel & Cruise, the official magazine of the cruise industry.
He will continue to oversee the association’s proactive and interactive approach, while also developing relationships with destinations and stakeholders firsthand by participating at FCCA meetings and events. Additionally, he will manage the association’s ongoing dialogue between cruise lines and destination stakeholders. His wealth of knowledge about the industry and destinations, along with his unwavering dedication to the association’s mission of actualizing cruising’s potential benefits for the people throughout the destinations, will lead the way to successful operations for all.
Additionally, Albino Supino Di Lorenzo, vice president of cruise operations for MSC Cruises USA, was unanimously approved to assume the two-year term as chairman for the FCCA Operations Committee, which includes numerous high-level operational executives from Member Lines and frequent meetings with destinations and stakeholders.
“I’m honored to be appointed as chairman of the FCCA Operations Committee,” said Di Lorenzo. “MSC Cruises, and the industry as a whole, greatly appreciates the incredible hard work and service of the FCCA, and we congratulate the association – along with Michele Paige and the entire FCCA team – for their accomplishments over the past 40-plus years.”
Di Lorenzo will replace Carlos Torres de Navarra, vice president, global port & destination development, Carnival Corporation & plc, as part of the committee’s standard two-year rotation. Under Navarra, the Operations Committee undertook initiatives such as its first-ever joint destination meetings to work with Eastern Caribbean representatives from the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands following the historic 2017 hurricane season in order to aid in recovering cruise tourism, building back better and forming lessons learned and best practices to share with the region.
“The term ‘partnership’ is the most appropriate badge of FCCA and represents all those who embrace and participate in the important work that the association does,” continued Di Lorenzo. “The past has shown us that by working together we can do remarkable things. Even in the face of extreme adversities, such as last year’s devastating hurricane events, cruise lines and destinations joined forces to help our regional partners endure. The FCCA played a pivotal role in engaging the industry to step up.
“As the new Operations Committee Chairman, I am committed to doing my part, and I look forward to working with the entire industry and our partners to ensure we continue to work in partnership and challenge the status quo for the better.”
