ICS 2026 - Programme

19.30 Welcome reception

Exclusive event for speakers, sponsors and press, by invitation

08:00 - 08:45 BADGES COLLECTION

09:00 - 09:10 OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRUISE SUMMIT 2026

Pedro García Navarro, Director of Operations PORTS OF SPAIN

09:10 - 09:20 WELCOME ADDRESS

Virginia López Valiente, CEO CRUISES NEWS MEDIA GROUP

09:20 - 09:30 INTRO TO THE ICS 2026

Figen Ayan, Founder and CEO AYAN CONSULTING - CONFERENCE DIRECTOR

9:30 - 9:45 Presentation: NUMBERS FIRST - WHERE THE INDUSTRY IS LEADING

Where the industry is actually heading, in numbers. Demand, capacity, and the economics underneath them, distilled by Oxford Economics into a handful of slides with hard data, independently sourced, and that set the factual ground the whole days argue from.

Michael Greve, Practice Lead, Cruise Port Development & Investment Advisory TOURISM ECONOMICS, an Oxford Economics company

09:45 - 10:00 PRESENTATION: TBA

10:00 - 11:00 THE GREAT DEBATE

Second edition, by delegate demand, inspired by last year's format. Cruise lines, ports and destinations debate one motion: the future of cruise growth depends on closer alignment between destinations and cruise lines. The audience votes and takes the floor.

Moderator: Virginia Quintairos, Managing Director INTERCRUISES SHORESIDE & PORT SERVICES
Speakers: TBA

11.00 Coffee break for all the delegates

11:30 - 11:45 Presentation: FIRST LOOK, REAL LOOK: THE BARCELONA TERMINAL REVEAL

Olga Piqueras, General Manager BARCELONA PORT TERMINAL G (BPTG)

11:45: 12:00 Presentation: MYSTERY CRUISES

A ship leaves port and nobody on board knows where she is going. The mystery voyage turns the itinerary itself into the product: guests book the ship and the promise, and discover each destination only en route. How the concept works commercially, what it asks of operations, port agents and provisioning when the schedule stays sealed, who books it and why it sells out, told with the stories only the crew can tell.

Helen Beck, Managing Director - Global Commercial WINDSTAR CRUISES

12:00 - 12:15 Presentation: UNDER SAIL - CRUISING BY DIFFERENT RULES

There is something deceptively effortless about cruising under sail: the wind, the sea, the intimacy of a smaller ship and that unmistakable French sense of art de vivre. Making it feel effortless is another matter entirely. Club Med has been operating sailing cruises since the 1990s, From the guests who choose it and what they are really seeking, to itinerary planning, weather, access to smaller harbours and what changes when the ship herself is the reason for the voyage rather than the means of it. A first-hand account from the operations side, and a subject this Summit has never heard.

Jean-Charles Thillays, Cruises Managing Director Club Med Exclusive Collection

12:15 - 13:00 PANEL: THE NEW MAP - THE FUTURE OF DEPLOYMENT

How Might Cruise Deployment and Itineraries Change Over the next 10 Years? A sustained level of cruise calls is essential for many ports, particularly those that have invested in onshore power supply and other technical and environmental developments. However, the world is continuing to undergo a period of change, uncertainty, and instability. In this panel of global cruise line players, we examine how both controllable and uncontrollable factors might influence deployment and itinerary planning over the next 10 years. Topics will include but not be limited to the order book and ship size, geopolitics, private islands, growth in Asia and much more.

Moderator: David Selby, Managing Partner TRAVELYIELDS
Justin Poulsen, Head of Itinerary Planning, Shore Experiences & Ground Handling EXPLORA JOURNEYS
Davide Truscello, Director of Itinerary, Pricing & Revenue Planning COSTA CRUISES
Luisa Gomez Albo Sanchis, Manager Itinenary AROYA CRUISES
Ugo Savino, Senior Director, Deployment & Itinerary Planning CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE

13:00 - 13:30 THE LEADERS’ HOT SEAT: THE SIGNATURE ONE-TO-ONE

A candid, sharp conversation with Samantha Stimpson, CEO, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, booked for the one to one with Virginia on stage.

Samantha Stimpson, Chief Executive Officer FRED. OLSEN CRUISE LINES
Virginia López Valiente, CEO CRUISES NEWS MEDIA GROUP

13:30 - 13:45 SHOWCASE: OCEAN HEALTH IN ACTION

A short positive case study - the MSC Foundation seagrass and sand protection. Proof, not promises.

Daniela Picco, Executive Director MSC FOUNDATION

13:45 - 14:00 WHEN THE MAP MOVES - AGILITY IN ACTION

What happens when the map around a destination changes almost overnight? Qatar offers a compelling case in agility: protecting confidence, adapting quickly and keeping tourism moving through regional disruption. This first-hand account looks at the decisions, sequencing and speed behind that response, and at what other destinations can learn when circumstances change faster than strategy normally allows.

Maryam Saoud, Head Of Tourism Product Support Section QATAR TOURISM

14.00 Networking lunch for all the delegates

15:15 - 15:45 Presentation: PRIVATE DESTINATIONS, HONESTLY: THE FULL SPECTRUM

Private destinations have become one of cruising’s biggest investment stories, attracting capital, attention and increasingly shaping guest expectations. Carlos Torres de Navarra looks beyond the headlines to define what these destinations really are, how the model has evolved and what the wider industry can learn from them, from guest flow and time ashore to destination design, confidence and value creation. Then the perspective shifts from shore to ship. Carlos is joined by Ugo Savino of Carnival Cruise Line for a candid conversation on how these ideas translate into deployment decisions: what earns a destination its place on an itinerary, where private and public calls complement one another, and what ports and destinations still misunderstand about the choices being made on the other side of the table.

Ugo Savino, Senior Director, Deployment & Itinerary Planning CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE
Carlos Torres de Navarra, Principal AZUL DESTINATIONS

15.45 - 16:05 MASTER ICS - THE SIGNATURE QUIZ – THE SEAL OF ICS

Figen Ayan, Founder and CEO AYAN CONSULTING - CONFERENCE DIRECTOR

16:05 - 16:45 PANEL: CHANGING THE MODEL - A NEW CHAPTER FOR DESTINATIONS

For fifty years the port call has kept the same shape. Alongside at dawn, away by dusk, the city met at the hottest and most crowded hour of its day. The guest has changed, the climate has changed, and the tolerance of the cities themselves has changed. The call has not. This panel takes the whole shape of the stay rather than the excursion catalogue. Evening arrivals and later departures, overnights and the hours ashore they unlock, pre and post cruise nights that turn a homeport into a destination in its own right, visits that begin when the light softens.

Moderator: Barbara Buczek, Ports, Cruise, Maritime & Tourism specialist
Leyla Öner Güncavdı, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer TURA TURIZM
Juan Trescastro, Vice President, Itinerary Planning, Destinations and Government Relations VIRGIN VOYAGES
Sandra Neffgen, Director Shore Excursion AIDA CRUISES
Andrea Ferla, Manager, Global S.A.L.T. Destination Experiences & Special Projects SILVERSEA
Craig Everett, CEO and Co-Founder HOLIBOB

16:45 - 16:55 Presentation: THE ORDERBOOK & THE NEW SHAPE OF THE FLEET

Figen Ayan, Founder and CEO AYAN CONSULTING - CONFERENCE DIRECTOR

16:55 - 17:30 PANEL: THE UNCLAIMED VOYAGE - WHO WINS THE ULTRA-LUXURY GUEST?

The ultra-luxury traveller has never had more choice. A private yacht, a suite enclave within a large ship, a villa, a boutique resort or a chartered expedition all compete for the same journey, and a cruise is only one of the options on the table.So who is the cruise industry truly competing with for this guest, what shapes their decisions, and how can cruise lines earn a greater share of their travel spend?
For destinations the question is just as pressing: what does this guest spend ashore, and what must a port, a city or a private experience offer to capture more of it?

Moderator: Figen Ayan, Founder and CEO AYAN CONSULTING - CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
Speakers TBA

17.30 Closing of the first day

20.00 Networking Party: Live music, dinner and drinks

Exclusive event for speakers, sponsors and press, by invitation

09:00 - 09:15 FOLLOW THE MONEY - THE NEW SHAPE OF CRUISE REVENUE

Davide Truscello, Director of Itinerary, Pricing & Revenue Planning COSTA CRUISES

09:15 - 09:30 Presentation: THE POWER OF ONE - RETHINKING THE SOLO TRAVELLER

Travelling alone is no longer the exception: it is one of the strongest currents in travel, from studio cabins to restaurants rethinking the table for one, and it now spans work, discovery and even matchmaking voyages that sell out in minutes. A short read on who the solo traveller is, why they choose to come alone, and what ships, ports and destinations must offer them, followed by the microphone going to the floor.

Beth Freedman, EVP, Global Integrated Marketing MMGY TCI RESEARCH

09:30 - 09:45 Presentation: TBA

09:45 - 10:00 Presentation: WORLD CRUISE - THE MOTHER OF ALL ITINERARIES

Months at sea. Dozens of destinations. One of the most complex products in cruising. One extraordinary customer. Who chooses to make a ship their home for an entire season? Who chooses to spend months at sea, and what defines this unique customer? How do you sell and price a voyage of this length? And what are the operational challenges of planning and delivering an itinerary that can span the globe?

Alessandra Cabella, Senior Business Development Manager Southern & Eastern Europe and Middle East OCEANIA CRUISES - REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES

10:00 - 10:45 THE SCENARIO ROOM - UNDER PRESSURE

Not a panel. A situation. A change in the geopolitical and operating environment unfolds live in front of the room, and a cross-industry group — line, port, agent, insurer — has to respond to it as it develops, without prepared answers and without slides. The scenarios are drawn from the pressures the industry is living with now: the Gulf's return, the Baltic reshaped by the loss of St Petersburg, and Türkiye's recovery as a case of how quickly confidence can come back. Delegates watch decisions being taken in real time, with the reasoning exposed, and the conclusions the room reaches become the published ICS takeaways that carry the Summit into the year ahead. The session ICS will be talked about for.

Moderator: Mark Robinson, Managing Director BC CRUISE SERVICES (Mobico & Alsa Group)
Speakers TBA

10:45 - 11:00 Presentation: THE SUEZ CANAL - WHAT IF IT DID NOT EXIST?

The Suez Canal Authority on stage, the Cape of Good Hope cost-and-time model and a clear map. Cruise incentives.

Dr. Anas Rakha, Senior Maritime Economist | Cruise Tourism Strategist SUEZ CANAL AUTHORITY

11:00 - 11:15 PRESENTATION: TBA

11:15 - 11:30 Presentation: THE INTELLIGENT INDUSTRY - AI IN OPERATION

Craig Everett, CEO and Co-Founder HOLIBOB

11:30 - 12:15 PANEL: MARKETING & SALES - THE GUEST WHO COMES BACK

Where growth is bought, where it is earned, and which of the two lasts. Every brand on this stage is trying to do two things at once: win a guest who has never sailed with them, and make sure the next voyage is decided before the last one has ended. Some open a source market to do it. Some work through the trade, some through their own channels, and some barely go looking at all, because most of the people who sail with them have sailed with them before.This panel asks which of those actually builds a business. Where growth is genuinely coming from at the moment, what it takes to open a market or a channel, and the difference between a guest who is bought and a guest who returns.The commercial leaders of four very different brands, from a small ship fleet to one of the largest in the world, say what is working on their own numbers rather than on the industry's. The closing session of the Summit, and the one delegates quote on their way to the brunch.

Moderator: Gemma Greenwood, Director CONTENT INC.
Yas McKechnie, Director of Sales UK, Ireland and EMEA PRINCESS CRUISES
Helen Beck, Managing Director - Global Commercial WINDSTAR CRUISES
Kevin Bubolz, Vice President & Managing Director Continental Europe, Middle East & Africa NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
Janet Parton, Vice President of Marketing, PR and Customer Experience CELESTYAL
Andreas Nüssel, Managing Director UK & EMEA SILVERSEA CRUISES

12:15 Closing Remarks

Figen Ayan, Founder and CEO AYAN CONSULTING - CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
Virginia López Valiente, CEO CRUISES NEWS MEDIA GROUP

12.30 Farewell Networking Brunch for all the delegates