Southern Cone Nations Plan Unified Cruise Pitch for Miami

Tourism ministers and cruise stakeholders from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile put joint destination marketing, new Southern Cone itineraries and tighter cost control at the center of the 11th Regional Cruise Meeting in Punta del Este. Port authorities, cruise lines, shipowners and tour operators also discussed connectivity, port-city coordination and the use of artificial intelligence.

Regional promotion and route planning

Uruguay Tourism Minister Pablo Menoni advocated presenting the Southern Cone collectively at trade events, including Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, instead of promoting individual countries and ports separately. He also addressed the need to control cruise operators’ costs, improve connectivity and pursue opportunities arising from current geopolitical conditions.

Brazil Tourism Minister Gustavo Costa Feliciano focused on developing more regional itineraries, a subject also examined during a panel on building a Southern Cone cruise route.

The panel included José Miguel Cruz, president of Chile’s Corporación de Puertos del Conosur and chairman of Empresa Portuaria Austral, and Nicolás Belgrano, deputy manager of promotion and development for Argentina’s National Agency of Ports and Navigation. Elisa Kuster of the Argentine agency moderated the discussion.

Conosur’s network has 17 members, 10 of them Chilean state port companies and seven private or adherent companies. Its ports include Arica, Valparaíso, Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas.

Cruz called the meeting “a valuable forum for exchange and dialogue” that supports regional cooperation, stronger institutional ties and joint development of cruise and port activity in South America.

Ports, cities and cruise lines discuss cooperation

Eric Petri, executive secretary of Conosur, addressed links among ports, communities and tourism organizations during a presentation on sustainable port-city integration.

Cruise line representatives also participated in the program. Dario Rustico, general manager of the Americas for Costa Cruises, and Marisa Schwarbock, MSC Cruises’ operations manager for Argentina and Latin America, discussed alliances for development. Marco Ferraz, executive director of CLIA Brazil, covered cruise industry trends and challenges.

Petri called for lower port costs and concrete regional initiatives to market the region’s tourism assets internationally. “It is crucial to advance coordinated efforts,” he said, to develop “a more attractive and competitive regional system.”

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