To: All News Directors and Interested Parties Contact: Amy Powers, Director, 207-310-0998

Date: August 22, 2003

Trek to Quebec for the 5th annual Canada/New England Cruise Symposium

Several CruiseMaine Coalition members will be trekking to Quebec for the fifth annual Canada/New England Cruise Industry Seminar. 

The seminar will be held at the Hilton Quebec in Quebec City on June 4th, 5th and 6th, 2003.  I have attended three of these seminars and highly recommend attendance to anyone who is interested in learning about the cruise industry on a larger scale.  Industry speakers from the larger cruise companies such as Carnival,Celebrity, Royal Caribbean International, Princess, Norwegian Cruise Lines, andHolland American will be there. CruiseMaine business sponsors Destination Canada/New England are major sponsors of the Quebec program.  The CruiseMaine Coalition will be hosting the closing reception on the afternoon of the 6th, which gives us the opportunity to invite attendees to the 2004 Cruise Symposium currently slated to be held in Bar Harbor.  A strong delegation from Maine at the reception will show the cruise lines how important the cruise industry business is to us and our strong desire to learn more about the industry. We are looking for small gift items to put into our information packages which will be given to the attendees during the closing reception.  Any and all donations will help us entice them to come to Maine for the symposium and to enjoy the beautiful coastline and generous hospitality that we are SO famous for! 

It is anticipated that the 2004 conference will bring close to 150 cruise line executives, port professionals, and industry media representatives to the coast. To find out more about the program and register for the seminar in Quebec, log on to www.saintlawrencecruise.com and simply click the “Cruise Symposium” icon on the homepage.   For more information on the motorcade heading north to the seminar, contact Amy.