CLIA, ICCL to Merge by End of 2006 under CLIA Name

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) will become one organization with the CLIA name, based in Miami, and headed by current CLIA president Terry Dale.

The announcement was made today by Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean International, and Andy Stuart, executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services for Norwegian Cruise Line, in a conference call. Fain and Stuart hold the chairman positions for the ICCL and CLIA, respectively.

“This will allow us to speak with a unified voice to travel agents and consumers as well as to regulators and legislators,” said Fain. “It is a logical evolution of the trade groups, and a way to be more effective to our industry.”

ICCL is currently based in Washington and has 10 employees, while CLIA´s New York headquarters has 23 employees. The merger is expected to happen by the end of this year. Stuart said that the interests of the 17,000 travel agent members of CLIA would be preserved.

Most details of the merger were not disclosed, including which members of ICCL and CLIA would be part of the new organization. Fain said that “key managers” were being asked to make the move to Miami, including ICCL president Michael Crye.