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Unique Cruise Solutions The news you need to know |
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Cruise News for the Corporate Travel Professional |
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Richard Fain awarded Seatrade Personality of the Year 2012 |
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 Richard
Fain, chairman and ceo, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was awarded Seatrade
Personality of the Year 2012 at a gala dinner held last night at London’s
Guildhall.Around 400 attendees from the global shipping fraternity gathered for the 24th annual Seatrade Awards ceremony, which recognizes companies in the areas of safety at sea, clean shipping and innovation, and individuals who have made significant contributions to the shipping industry. Seatrade chairman Chris Hayman told the audience how he first met Fain 25 years ago in London when he was joint managing director of Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Corp, owner and operator of cargo ships. ‘At that time he had been invited to move to Miami to become Royal Caribbean’s chairman and ceo and was not sure whether to take the job or not,’ remarked Hayman. ‘Well he did, and London’s loss became Miami’s gain as through his exceptional leadership and perseverance Royal Caribbean has blossomed in different directions to become a global cruise company operating 40 ships under the Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France brands. The Seatrade boss singled out two specific areas of Fain’s numerous achievements in his tenure at Royal: Firstly that of overseeing remarkable development in the hardware of the product, ‘not just size and volume but the transformation of the onboard experience incorporating elements that no one would have even dreamt about 25 years ago’; and secondly globalization, both in deployment of cruise ships and sourcing of passengers. ‘Under his leader ship the company has moved ships to Asia, Middle East, South America and other parts of the world which are now all considered as major destinations and sources of passenger growth,’ he added. During the walk from his table to the stage in the Guildhall’s vast Great Hall Fain, like all recipients on the night, was heralded by fanfare trumpeters. He said, ‘I take this award with great humility. To receive this honor from Seatrade, handed to me by the IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, is very much a reminder of how important it is that each and every one of us in this great industry to which I have devoted my business career, maintains a high level of excellence.’ Fain continued, ‘I am unusual in this room in that there are not many people who have crossed over from real shipping to cruising. When I first joined Royal Caribbean 90% of our ships sailed from Miami, within a few minutes reach of our offices, now more than 50% of our business is coming from outside the US.’ Acknowledging the other Award winners, including ‘good friend’ Robert Somerville, chairman of ABS and winner of the 2012 Seatrade Lifetime Achievement Award, Fain said, ‘it is important to maintain high levels of experience with the people who we work with and I have the pleasure to work with 60,000 men and women at Royal Caribbean.’ He added: ‘In shipping there is no such thing as perfect safety but perfect dedication to safety is paramount.’ Later Fain told Seatrade Insider. ‘I am thrilled and humbled to be honored in such excellent company.’ His accolade also proved to be a popular choice by other attendees from the cruising world which included UK-based Royal Caribbean executives, Jo Rzymowska, Dominic Paul and Steve Williams, amongst others; Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovideo, chairman of the European Cruise Council and Carnival UK chief, David Dingle, who told Seatrade Insider, ‘it’s wonderful when a leading figure in the cruise industry is recognized at this prestigious event. |
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Worldwide Travel & Cruise Assoc., Inc. 150 S. University Dr. Ste E, Plantation, FL 33324 - USA Tel: +1 954 452 8800 Fax: +1 954 252 3945 EMail: sales@cruiseco.com |
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