CaribPR Wire

MIRAMAR, Fla., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Hundreds gathered in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with one common goal: improve cruise tourism, especially the mutual benefits between destinations and cruise companies. That was again the main theme of another successful FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show, which celebrated its 28^th annual occasion and 50 years of operations for Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).

“I want to applaud everyone throughout the Dominican Republic who coordinated this successful event and showcased the spectacular destination; it is clear that the country is committed to cruise tourism, which President Luis Abinader affirmed in his remarks and participation,” said Michele Paige, FCCA CEO. “It was also humbling to see the continued conviction in FCCA’s mission witnessed by all the attendees and cruise executives who joined to keep working together to build back better.”

Taking place October 11-14, the event featured its usual blend of workshops, meetings and networking functions for the over 500 attendees and 70 cruise executives, but with a new twist – or what Paige called a “new beginning” in her opening remarks – because of the enhanced communications and collaborations arising from the difficult pandemic.

That cooperation was evident throughout the entire agenda, with ways to seize the momentum being the talk of the event and including discussions of longer stays, overnights and homeporting, along with the importance of developing creative, customer-focused experiences to support the demand – and the direct ability for destination stakeholders to work with cruise lines on those goals available at the event.

Michael Bayley, President & CEO of Royal Caribbean International, echoed these sentiments in his opening remarks, noting the “better relationships” built by “work[ing] through a lot of issues and problems and challenges collectively as a team” – while showing the smoother seas ahead as evidenced by sailing above 100% occupancy and registering strong bookings and earnings.

How to capitalize on this for destinations – and the entire Caribbean and Latin American regions – was up front and center for 22 high-ranking government officials and a cruise executive panel including five Presidents and above from FCCA Member Lines, led by Josh Weinstein, President & CEO and Chief Climate Officer of Carnival Corporation & plc, who delivered remarks and comments at the Heads of Government Forum before steering the conversation to other potential mutual benefits, such as employment and purchasing opportunities.

Overall, partnership took the spotlight, and so did FCCA’s Strategic Partners, the Cayman Islands and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism and Transport of the Cayman Islands, coordinated a dinner for the heads of government and shared the importance of working with FCCA to propel cruise tourism in this video, and the USVI delegation, led by Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte, was engaged and energetic as they interacted with Member Lines and other participants. Both also took part in the “Operating in a Post Pandemic World” workshop.

Headlining the workshop schedule was the “Presidential Panel,” which included Gus Antorcha, President, Holland America Line; Michael Bayley; Richard Sasso, Chairman, MSC Cruises USA; and Howard Sherman, President & CEO, Oceania Cruises.

FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization that represents the mutual interests of destinations and stakeholders throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Mexico, along with Member Lines that operate over 90 percent of the global cruising capacity. For more information, visit F-CCA.com and @FCCAupdates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Aug. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — UnionPay International (UPI) today announced its partnership with Cardnet, the largest acquirer in the Dominican Republic, to enable UnionPay acceptance at all Cardnet merchants. This is the first time that UnionPay card services are made available in the country. The UnionPay acceptance network has thus extended to 181 countries and regions, covering more than 37 million merchants outside the Chinese mainland.

In recent years, UPI has stepped up its effort in extending and enhancing its overseas acceptance network, and the offline card usage environment has continued to be optimized. In the first half of this year, more than 1.7 million merchants outside the Chinese mainland enabled UnionPay acceptance, significantly improving the user experience in Europe, North America, and other places, and the number of online UnionPay merchants increased to 22 million. Mobile payment services have been developing rapidly, with 13 million merchants in 95 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland supporting UnionPay QR or mobile QuickPass. The latest survey by Juniper Research, a British consulting firm, shows that UPI has become one of the global leaders in QR payment.

The Dominican Republic is one of the largest economies in the Caribbean region. The partnership with Cardnet enables about 30,000 POS terminals to take UnionPay cards, boosting the local acceptance coverage to nearly 50% in a short period of time with a focus on optimizing cardholder experience in hotels, airports, retailers and F&B merchants. The collaboration will satisfy the demand of business travelers to the country for essential purchases and facilitate the people-to-people exchanges between China and the Dominican Republic.

With its strengths in the network, UPI is striving to serve more international cardholders and support China’s mutual exchanges with the rest of the world. Over 190 million UnionPay cards have been issued in more than 70 countries and regions around the world, of which 30 countries and regions have also rolled out 140 UnionPay-powered e-wallets, providing local residents with quality mobile payment services based on UnionPay cards.

MIRAMAR, Fla., June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is pleased to announce that the Dominican Republic will host the 2022 FCCA Cruise Conference, the only official cruise conference representing the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America. Taking place in Santo Domingo from October 11-14, the event will feature a series of meetings, workshops and networking opportunities with an expected 100 high-level executives from FCCA Member Lines, which represent more than 90 percent of global ocean cruising capacity. It will also allow the Dominican Republic to showcase its potential for increased benefits from cruise tourism and help the destination fulfill targeted objectives.

“I am thankful for the continued partnership with the Dominican Republic that paved the way to hosting the FCCA Cruise Conference,” said Micky Arison, Chairman of Carnival Corporation and FCCA. “This will be a crucial time and place for the industry gather to continue cruise tourism’s recovery, and it is a testament to the country’s commitment.”

All Conference participants will have access to workshops led by cruise executives and successful stakeholders, including ones focused on tour operators and increasing local employment and sourcing opportunities.

Participants will also have opportunities to interact with the expected 100 cruise executives during a series of meetings – including one-on-one meetings – and networking functions throughout the event, which will be celebrating FCCA’s 50^th anniversary.

Additionally, the Dominican Republic will showcase some of the best to see, eat and hear in the destination for cruise guests, along with what its opportunities for growth that hosting the event has historically driven.

Before, during and after the event, FCCA will work with the Dominican Republic toward its goals of developing a new cruise terminal in Samana and increasing demand for Sans Souci Terminal in Santo Domingo. FCCA is also partnering with the Dominican Republic on initiatives focused on cruise lines hiring citizens, cruise ships sourcing local goods, and increasing the already high percentage of cruisers that return as overnight guests.

More details about and registration for the event will be announced in the coming months and available at www.FCCAConference.com.

Created in 1972, FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization representing mutual interests of the cruise industry and destinations’ private and public sectors. For more information, visit F-CCA.com and @FCCAupdates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 29, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Dominican, Jose Luis Leonardo, has been promoted to Vice President – The Americas by Southeast Asian international hotel management group, Archipelago. The internal promotion also sees him joining the Global Executive Committee of Archipelago and is effective immediately.

“Since joining our Group, initially as General Manager of our first hotel in Cuba, GRAND ASTON Cayo Las Brujas and then as Director of Operations – The Americas, Jose Luis has shown incredible leadership skills in developing our business in the region, under very difficult operational conditions. From day one, Jose Luis understood the capabilities of our Group, our owner centric ethos, the vision of our leadership and the very ambitious tactical plans we had put in place to support our regional expansion. His new role supports and accelerates these plans. Archipelago has a strong track record of developing local talent and Jose Luis’s progression to Global Executive Committee is testament to that.” said Gerard Byrne, Managing Director, Archipelago.

Archipelago is currently experiencing rapid growth in its hotel portfolio in Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean with over 30,000 rooms operating and a further 10,000 under development globally. Following significant investment in its technology and digital platforms in recent years, Archipelago is now partnering with and significantly improving the performance of independent hotels and hotel groups with Powered by ARCHIPELAGO, its plug and play online connectivity, distribution and revenue management vertical, together with its 10 core brands that cover all hotel categories.

With a presence in the Dominican Republic already, Archipelago’s ambitious regional expansion plan will add 3,500 rooms to its portfolio across the rest of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Columbia by the end of 2023.

About Archipelago

Southeast Asia’s largest privately owned hotel management group, operating more than 150 hotels, with a further 200 hotels under development across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East. A trusted hotel company with a long track record and more than 40,000 rooms operating or under development in over 60 destinations with award winning brands including ASTON, Collection by ASTON, Alana, Huxley, Kamuela, Harper, Quest, Neo, fave, Nordic and Powered by ARCHIPELAGO.

archipelagointernational.com .

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