07 Apr 2014
Cruising into the May Fair Hotel in Central London on 24th March, an array of travel journalists, bloggers and key members of the cruise trade gathered to find out the winners of the Cruise Lines International Association UK & Ireland Cruise Journalism Awards (CLIA).
This was the third staging of the CLIA awards and the ceremony was sponsored this year by Cruise Jamaica, the marketing arm of the Port Authority of Jamaica. Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) District Sales Manager, Torrance Lewis, was present at the event, keen to show JTB's support. The evening's activities were hosted by veteran BBC television presenter and cruise fan Michael Buerk.
Over 300 entries were received and 10 awards were presented, including Best First Time Cruise Feature and Best National Newspaper Cruise Feature. The awards were judged by a panel of experts led by Lynn Narraway, UK Managing Director of Holland America Line and Seabourn and also Chair of the CLIA UK & Ireland UK PR Working Group.
The Telegraph's cruise editor, Teresa Machan, was the big winner of the night, taking home the prestigious “Contribution to Cruise Journalism” award, with Travel Weekly cruise feature writer Jane Archer, winning the Best Cruise Industry / Travel Feature Accolade.
Cruising continues to grow in popularity worldwide, with the cruise industry reporting an annual passenger compound growth rate of 7% from 1990-2018. By 2018, 24.1 million ocean cruise passengers are expected to be carried worldwide of which 27.2% will originate from Europe. Jamaica saw a record 1.32 million cruise ship visitors in 2012.
Torrance Lewis said of the event, “Cruise ship visitors are key to tourism in Jamaica, with Jamaica boasting four main cruise ship terminals across the island in - Montego Bay, Falmouth, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio. This winter, Jamaica will host its first UK operated cruise ship, the Thomson Dream, whose home port will be Montego Bay. As our cruise capacity grows in Jamaica, it is vital that we continue to support and reward the best cruise journalists.”
For further information on the awards, please visit http://www.cruising.org/vacation/pressroom-research.
-ENDS-
For more information on Jamaica, go to www.VisitJamaica.com
Note to Editors
Photo Caption 1 (from left to right): Torrance Lewis (District Sales Manager, Jamaica Tourist Board), Teresa Machan (Cruise Editor, The Telegraph), Michael Buerk (Television Presenter, BBC) and Andy Farmer (Director of CLIA UK & Ireland)
Photo Caption 2: Winners group shot
For more information or images please contact:
McCluskey International
Fiona Anderson
T: 020 8747 2170
About the Jamaica Tourist Board
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), founded in 1955, is Jamaica's national tourism agency, based in the capital of Kingston. JTB offices are located in Kingston, Montego Bay, Miami, Toronto and London. Representative offices are located in Dusseldorf, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam and Tokyo.
Jamaica was named “Favourite Worldwide Destination” by the readers of British Travel Awards' Check-In magazine at the publication's new Readers' Choice Awards 2012. Jamaica was also voted the 2010 World's leading Beach Destination (Montego Bay) by the World Travel Awards.
For details on upcoming special events, attractions and accommodation in Jamaica visit the JTB website at www.visitjamaica.com, or call JTB on 020 7225 9090.
