Fabien Cousteau talks about conservation at CLIA Cruise360

Environmental conservation and social responsibility were
key talking points Thursday during a keynote address at the Cruise Line
International Association’s Cruise360 annual travel agent conference in Fort
Lauderdale.

In an address to the hundreds of travel agents gathered,
guest speaker Fabien Cousteau, founder
of Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center, spoke about ways travel agents can help educate
travelers on the importance of conservation.

“How can people protect what they don’t understand?”
he asked, noting that educating more people about the perils facing the world’s
natural resources is of paramount importance. 

That message of environmental and wildlife protection can be
communicated in unique and memorable ways through travel experiences on land or
on cruise ships, said Cousteau, grandson of the legendary late French ocean
explorer and conservationist Jacques Cousteau.

“Water connects us all and we have some major, major
problems,” he said.

Those problems include growing pollution of the oceans by
plastics and other nondegradable materials, which pose a serious threat to
marine wildlife and flora.

“We are quite literally trashing our planet with 35,000
pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean,” said Cousteau of the
Ocean Learning Center in New York, who started diving at four years old.

With Earth Day just days away and the undeniable importance
of the world’s oceans, rivers and waterways to the cruise industry and its
livelihood, and that of its travel agent partners, Cousteau’s talk on
conservation seemed timely.

He highlighted some areas of grave concern such as the
rapidly depleting supply of wild fish species around the world including the
Atlantic blue fin tuna and the proliferation of the use of plastic straws and how
they can easily end up in the world’s waterways, among other harmful “bullets”
impacting the planet.

“We have unfortunately emptied our natural resource
bank account and as such we need to be much much more conscious of the
decisions we make in hospitality and tourism. There’s a lot we can do.”

In closing, Cousteau offered a favorite mantra from his
grandfather:”People protect what
they love, they love what they understand and they understand what they’re
taught.”

In recruiting travel agents’ help as environmental stewards,
Cousteau added: ” When you go on an adventure on a cruise in a different
place, make sure that your guests are able to take away those wonderful
memories and leave those places in a better state than they found them so that
their children can benefit and enjoy what we’ve taken for granted.”

In a QA session following Cousteau’s presentation sales
and marketing executives from leading cruise companies were asked to highlight
some of their corporation’s conservation and social responsibility efforts.

They were also asked about key company happenings including
new ship deliveries and travel agent initiatives.

Moderator James Ferrara, president of InteleTravel, said
travel agents can arm themselves with examples of the cruise industry’s ocean
and marine life conservation to illustrate how they are giving back to the
communities where passengers visit.

“They are powerful marketing ideas for you… you can
take these values to your customers and show [them] that their travel dollars
will also do good,” advised Ferrara. ” Consumers today want to know
that they’re spending is meaningful.”

Here’s what some of the cruise executives had to say:

Princess Cruises has 14 ships in its fleet that are equipped
with cold-ironing technology, which enables the vessels to connect to shore
power in about eight ports around the world , By turning off their engines
while in port and relying on local power this, reduces emissions in the ports
of call, said John Chernesky, vice president, North America sales for Princess
and Cunard. 

Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International’s senior vice
president, sales and trade support and service, talked about the Miami-based
cruise line’s partnership with the World Wild Life Fund. “We believe
in protecting the oceans. It is our responsibility. We cruise in the waters and
we want to make sure the animals are protected. Beyond this partnership, Royal
Caribbean also has environmentally-friendly initiatives that directly benefit
the destinations its ships visit. she said. “For us, it’s our DNA to take
care of the environment.”

Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruses’ senior vice
president, sales and trade support and service, highlighted the line’s work
with the Malala Fund, and also its efforts to promote inclusion, equal rights
and diversity. “We have 12 ships and now we have five hotel directors and
captains that are women.” That’s bucking the industry trend where these
are traditionally male-dominated roles. 

Joseph Jiffo, senior vice president, sales for MSC Cruises
told travel agents about the line’s new partnership with Italian tenor Andrea
Bocelli’s foundation, which is focused on helping the people of Haiti.  Meanwhile Carnival Cruise Lines’ Mike  Julius talked about his line’s support of St.
Jude  Children Research Hospital and
their work with cancer patients.  

The other participating cruise executives were Eva Jenner, vice
president, sales, Holland America Line/Seabourn Cruise Line; Nikki Upshaw,
senior vice president, sales, Oceania Cruises; and Camille Olivere, SVP, North
America sales, Norwegian Cruise Line.