CLIA has announced the first two keynote speakers for its flagship conference.

Holland America Line president Orlando Ashford, and Group Voyagers chief marketing officer Steve Born, will speak at the event, taking place in Southampton from 26-28 April.

Prior to joining Holland America Line, Ashford was group director of human resources for 90 countries in Eurasia and Africa for the Coca-Cola Company.

Group Voyagers is the company that markets and sells the Globus family of brands – Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways – within the United States.

Born began his marketing career outside the travel industry more than three decades ago and for the past 20 years has been responsible for guiding all marketing and call centre initiatives for the Globus family.

The three-day conference will include ship visits, a trade fair and a full day of business sessions, followed by a gala dinner with entertainment. Delegates will have the chance to visit two ships in port – P&O Cruises’ Britannia and MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia.

There will also be two complimentary masterclasses during conference, to enhance the learning opportunities available to event delegates.  The masterclasses will focus on cruise sales techniques and social media and marketing tips to help grow sales.

The theme for this year’s conference is Cruise Heroes, designed to celebrate those in the cruise community. 

CLIA UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said: “The theme celebrates the individuals in our industry who go above and beyond to create incredible cruise holidays. As such, we’re inviting our travel agent members to nominate their cruise hero ahead of the conference.

“They could be a future or past colleague, or someone they know within the industry who has made a huge impact on their career. Those nominated will have the chance to win huge bundles of prizes.”

CLIA travel agent members can register for a space via https://cruiseexperts.org/clia-agents/uk-ireland-events/. Those wishing to nominate a cruise hero should visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk.