The 64th General Assembly of MedCruise took place in Tarragona, June 11-14, coinciding with the inauguration of the new Tarragona Cruise Terminal and the 28th anniversary of MedCruise.

Nearly 200 delegates were present, including a record number of cruise representatives, port and associated members, media representatives and travel experts.

Delegates participated in over 648 meetings and networking events while exploring the city of Tarragona and the Costa Daurada region.

During its Internal Matters, MedCruise port members decided to establish a new “Atlantic Region,” comprising ports from three countries: Lisbon, Cadiz, Madeira, Tenerife, Azores, Leixoes, Cabo Verde, Portimão, Huelva and the Canary Islands. Starting from the upcoming elections in Malaga this September, Atlantic Ports will have a representative on the Board of Directors.

The Assembly also voted to rename and expand the current East Med area to include the Red Sea, officially designating this region as the “East Med and Red Sea.” This addition aligns with other established regions such as West Med, Black Sea, and Adriatic, further strengthening the association’s scope.

Figen Ayan, MedCruise president, said: “This General Assembly was even more special for many reasons. Tarragona has opened its brand-new terminal building and everyone at our General Assembly celebrated all together this exciting development. It was on the 11th of June the 28th birthday of MedCruise, who was founded by visionary ports.

“We had also a record number of participation of cruise lines since the foundation of the association in 1996. 26 cruise executives or decision makers from 23 cruise lines dived into this beautiful destination but also created ties with unique ports of the Mediterranean. We had an amazing 11 national and international media or travel experts participation, who carried globally the unique destinations that we all represent. Also, we are approaching the end of a very active and productive three-year mandate.”

“In this regard, I am proud to share that our association had an impressive growth of port members by almost 10 percent and associate members increase of almost 50 percent in only 2 years,” added Ayan.