Trade Shows
          
        
        
          78 | 79
        
        
          
            Seatrade Med
          
        
        
          International Event on Mediterranean Cruises
        
        
          
            16-18/September
          
        
        
          Gran Via. 10th edition (1st at Fira)
        
        
          Seatrade Med is the most important event
        
        
          devoted to Mediterranean cruises. The biennial
        
        
          show chose Barcelona to host its tenth edition,
        
        
          as the Catalan capital is the leading city in this
        
        
          market in Europe, with 2.6 million passengers
        
        
          in 2013, and one of the major world powers,
        
        
          behind only Miami, Port Everglades and Port
        
        
          Canaveral in the Caribbean.
        
        
          The show featured the new developments
        
        
          launched by companies providing services
        
        
          to the Mediterranean cruise market. Those
        
        
          present included shipping companies,
        
        
          operators, shipbuilders and firms specialising
        
        
          in navigational systems, technology, interior
        
        
          decoration, hotel equipment, catering and
        
        
          leisure activities. The participants also included
        
        
          tour leaders, hotels, airlines, ports and airports.
        
        
          Besides the exhibition area, Seatrade Med
        
        
          also included an important congress programme
        
        
          in which more than 750 delegates from 40
        
        
          countries took part. In the more than 200 talks
        
        
          and networking sessions organised, the themes
        
        
          discussed included, amongst others, the future
        
        
          of the cruise market, which has expanded
        
        
          considerably in recent years, particularly as
        
        
          regards Mediterranean routes, which reported
        
        
          growth of 24% in 2013, with passenger numbers
        
        
          reaching a total of 27 million.
        
        
          At present, the Mediterranean is the second-
        
        
          most popular destination for cruises in the world.
        
        
          In Spain, up until the start of the crisis, the cruise
        
        
          industry as a holiday option had grown by more
        
        
          than 20% per year. Whilst in 2000 only 90,000
        
        
          Spaniards holidaymakers chose cruises, in 2010
        
        
          this figure was nearly 700,000.
        
        
          Seatrade Med was visited by professionals
        
        
          from more than 50 countries.
        
        
          •
        
        
          +info
        
        
        
          
            Area
          
        
        
          26,600 m
        
        
          2
        
        
          
            Exhibitors
          
        
        
          180
        
        
          
            Type
          
        
        
          Professional
        
        
          
            Activities
          
        
        
          Conferences,
        
        
          networking sessions
        
        
          
            Organised by
          
        
        
          UBM Live in cooperation
        
        
          with Seatrade
        
        
          Communications Ltd
        
        
          +200
        
        
          conferences