SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Delegates from all over the world and every facet within the private and public sectors, along with roughly 100 cruise executives, began to gather in Santo Domingo on Monday, October 25th for the FCCA Conference & Trade Show.

 The start of the Conference was marked by the FCCA Golf Classic, which brought together some of the key players of the cruise industry and its destination partners in teams of four to discuss the latest trends and gather business advice over a friendly game of golf. The day also allowed for the attendees to situate themselves and for the Trade Show participants to prepare their booths for the crowd composed of nearly 1,000, while the FCCA Platinum Members had a chance to start their one-on-one meetings.

 Tuesday was the official grand opening for the Trade Show, with the audience gathered to see some of the best offerings from the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and more. It also marked the beginning of the one-on-one meetings and workshops that continue all the way through the Conference’s close. It also officially commenced the event with the Conference Opening Ceremony, which sparked enough interest in the Dominican Republic to reach its president, Leonel Fernandez, who was able to listen to the speeches of the Honorable Francisco Javier Garcia, minister of tourism; Michele Paige, president of the FCCA; Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line and chairman of the FCCA; Richard Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises; and the winners of the FCCA Foundation’s Essay Contest. The ceremony also commemorated the Dominican Republic’s culture with song and dance from Carnival and a welcome party at the Museo de las Casa Reales.

 Wednesday brought together the CEOs, presidents and ministers for private meetings to foster further communication and relationships between the cruise lines and the destinations’ governments, while continuing with the one-on-one meetings, workshops and Trade Show. The day culminated at the decadent Dominican Republic Night Extravaganza at the Sans Souci Cruise Terminal.

 Thursday was another successful day, as the attendees concluded their meetings and workshops and began to make plans to pursue the relationships formed throughout the event and possibly to attend next year’s event in San Juan, Puerto Rico, taking place from October 3-7, 2011. The night closed with a cocktail reception and a closing party to make the participants completely comfortable as they finalized this year’s discussions and prepared for the times ahead.

 www.f-cca.com

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — If you want to showcase your destination, company or product to cruise executives, destination governments, tour operators, ship agents and all facets of the industry spanning the globe from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, then the 17th Annual FCCA Conference & Trade Show in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is the place you need to be from October 25-29, 2010.

 This is the event and opportunity you have been looking for, one that provides the chance to increase your cruise industry contact base with the dozens of cruise executives from the operations, purchasing, marketing and shore excursions sectors and the more than 1,000 industry partners from destinations’ ministries of tourism, tour operators, ports, ship agents and many more segments of the industry.

 These are the people you want to talk to if you are looking to gain insight on what the cruise lines are looking for in terms of shore excursions, products, services and port of call, along with displaying your products and services.

 This is where you can establish a clear vision that will map the road to success in your dealings with the cruise lines and the only event where the top decision makers from the 15 FCCA Member Cruise Lines come together for four entire days to share ideas, discuss industry trends and even have some fun. After all, providing events, functions and trips that will foster business and personal relationships between members and cruise executives is the FCCA’s specialty, along with offering crucial information about the industrial trends, and these events and resources are open to Platinum and Associate Members.

 So don’t miss this opportunity to meet with and develop business and personal relationships with some of the cruise industry’s top executives and most powerful players within the destinations.

 FCCA is a trade association composed of 15 Member Lines: AIDA Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises (USA) Inc., Norwegian Cruise Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Seabourn Cruise Line. It was created in 1972 by the Member Lines operating more than 100 vessels in Florida, Caribbean and Latin American waters, in order to discuss and exchange views on issues relating to: legislation, tourism development, ports, safety, security and other cruise industry issues.

 For more information on the FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show, please contact Terri Cannici at (954) 441-8881 or tcannici@f-cca.com.