A new cruise tourist destination, Macaronesia, is being developed.
This is the brainchild of Madeira Ports (APRAM) President, Paula Cabaço, whose objective is to form an association bringing together the port authorities of Madeira, Azores, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde.
“This is the path we have to point out, a new cruise destination, which speaks directly, with one voice, to the companies”, said Cabaço, explaining that the four Cruise Atlantic Islands (CAI) archipelagos have unique characteristics, their own authenticity and singular identities that complement each other, and which allows this area to present itself to the cruise tourism industry as an appealing and differentiated product.
“Just as we speak today of the Caribbean as a cruise destination, we are working together, and we have all the conditions, so that in the future the Macaronesian islands will also be a reference destination on this side of the Atlantic,” she said.
This objective was reinforced by Cabaço during the CAI Conference 2024, which took place over three days in Funchal, Madeira.
It was the first formal meeting of the five port authorities – Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Tenerife) and Cape Verde – after the official forming of the International Association of Ports of Macaronesia.
“They know they have an interlocutor here,” Cabaço said, adding that the Association’s next steps include holding a general assembly, scheduled for 11th November in Madrid, when a plan for the next year will be defined.
It will be at the Association’s first main meeting that the governing bodies, management and secretariat will take office for the first two-year term. Its presidency will rotate among all of the members, with Cabaço taking on the role for the first term.
“It is an honour to be able to actively participate in this process. 30 years ago, Madeira was at the basis of the co-operation agreement with the Canary Islands that gave rise to CAI, and now we are once again committed to the development of this partnership, extended to Cape Verde and the Azores,” she said.
Promoted by APRAM, the event, which brought together nearly 80 representatives from the cruise industry, looked at the future with the help of Eduardo Cabrita (MSC Portugal), Fiona Noone (Marella Cruises/TUI), Kai Algar (Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines), Amadeu Albuquerque (Mystic Cruises), Rafael Fernández-Álava (Costa Crociere) and Mark Robinson (BC Group).
The speakers highlighted the potential of the Atlantic islands of Macaronesia as a cruise destination, pointing out the safety of the islands, the uniqueness and complementarity of the archipelagos, the quality of the port infrastructure, the climate, the availability of air connections and the proximity to the main European capitals, as an added value.
At the same time, APRAM took advantage of the presence of the CLIA Europe’s Vice President, Nikos Mertzadinis, who was the conference’s co-host, to formalise an environmental co-operation agreement, through the signing of a protocol between Funchal City Council, CLIA and Ports of Madeira, with a view to carrying out annual reforestation and environmental education actions in the Ecological Park, involving cruise companies that visit Madeira.
