Global cruise industry giants are assessing their financial strength and capacity to influence the Atlantic in the Canary Islands. The 30th edition of Seatrade Cruise Med has opened its doors at the newly inaugurated passenger terminal at the Port of La Luz, a 14,000-square-meter facility operated by multinational company Global Ports Holding. The event brings together more than 224 international exhibitors, senior executives from the world’s leading cruise lines and government delegations from the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions.
The start of this summit coincides with the European Commission’s formal scrutiny of Spain’s management model for the maritime-terrestrial public domain. The opinion issued by European Commission Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné overturns the system of automatic extensions without public tender introduced following the 2014 legal reform. The decision requires the Ministry of Transport and the various Port Authorities to audit the legality of their public-domain concessions, leaving key facilities across the country’s coastline open to public tender.
The institutional and corporate presence at the terminal headed by Susana Gutiérrez, head of Canary Islands Cruise Ports at Global Ports Holding, includes more than 25 technical sessions and the presentation of the Seatrade Cruise Awards. The event is co-organized by MedCruise, the organization chaired by Theodora Riga. The gathering brings together the sector’s most influential decision-makers, including Mary Bond, group director at Seatrade Cruise, and Stephen Xuereb, chief operating officer of Turkish company Global Ports Holding.
The analysis of the sector’s current outlook features contributions from senior executives at major international cruise lines. Steffi Heinicke, executive vice president of AIDA Cruises, is taking part in the opening session alongside Leonardo Massa, vice president for Southern Europe at MSC Group’s cruise division; Samantha Stimpson, chief executive of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines; Chris Theophilides, chief executive of Celestyal Cruises; and Nikos Mertzanidis, executive director for Europe at the International Association of Cruise Lines.
The debate on the governance and sustainability of maritime tourism brings together representatives of public institutions. The panel organized by the industry association led by Charles “Bud” Darr, president and chief executive officer of CLIA, includes José Manuel Sanabria, the Canary Islands Government’s deputy minister for Tourism; Heino Nau, the European Commission’s coordinator for International Blue Economy; Carlos Rodrigues, deputy mayor of Funchal; and Jelka Tepšić, deputy director of the Port Authority of Dubrovnik.
The reorganization of traffic flows along the island corridor is at the center of debates on the Atlantic dimension. Marcus Puttich, director of destinations at TUI Cruises, is assessing the growth of island routes in contrast with Mediterranean restrictions alongside Richard Cooke, head of port operations at Carnival Maritime; André Velho Cabral, cruise manager at Portos dos Açores; and Luz Marina Espiau Moreno, a board member of MedCruise.
The trade fair also features diplomatic and institutional representation from several source markets. The Caribbean presence is led by Zorisha Amena Hackett, secretary of Tourism of the Tobago House of Assembly, and Ian Gooding-Edghill, Barbados’ minister of Tourism and International Transport. Among the new exhibitors, particular attention goes to the Chinese state-owned shipyard Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, alongside companies such as Messagenius, Akorn Destination Management, Rennies Ship Agency South Africa, Nordic Port Group, Galataport Istanbul and Whisper, all coordinated under the international organization Informa Markets.
The article Seatrade Cruise Med 2026 in Las Palmas: The Cruise Industry Comes Together in the Canary Islands was first published on canarymaritime.com.
