Virgin Voyages’ boss to speak at CLIA conference

Monday, 22 Jan, 2019 0

Virgin Voyages’ president and CEO Tom McAlpin will be a keynote speaker at cruise association CLIA’s flagship three-day conference in Southampton in mid May.

McAlpin is one of the founding members of the Virgin Voyages team and leads in all elements on ship deisgn, onboard experience construction, crew, safety, operations and service delivery.

Prior to joining Virgin Voyages, he was president and CEO for ‘The World – Residences at Sea’, the largest private residential ship in the world.

He was previously a founding member of the Disney Cruise Line management team, later becoming president.

Last month CLIA announced Azamara Club Cruises’ president and CEO Larry Pimentel would be the first keynote speaker of the conference, which takes place from May 15 to 17.

The theme for the 2019 Conference will be ‘Next Generation’, exploring what cruise lines are doing now in terms of investment and innovation to shape holidays for the future.

CLIA UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said: "The theme ‘Next Generation’ looks at how guests’ cruise holiday experiences will change as we know it, both ashore and onboard, due to the huge amount of investment and innovation within the cruise industry.

"The theme explores how such new experiences could attract the ‘Next Generation’ of holidaymakers, who exactly those types of cruisers are, and how travel agents can make the most of this opportunity."

He said tickets for the event are still available, but are expected to sell out soon.

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Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk

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