CRUISE Shipping Miami - the equivalent of ITB Berlin to the cruise industry - will have an Asian version in Singapore starting next year.

Just as organisers of ITB, Messe Berlin, spun off  ITB Asia in Singapore, UBM International Media, which bought Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference and Exhibition in Miami from the Hong Kong Trade Fair Group in 1994 and renamed it Cruise Shipping Miami three years ago, will launch the Asian version, Cruise Shipping Asia, in November 2011. It will be held annually at Sands Expo & Convention Centre - yet another new event Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Singapore can add to its list.

UBM Asia Trade Fairs managing director Singapore and Thailand, Michiel Kruse, told TTG Asia e-Daily the first show was expected to be about 5,000m2 in size and, as inMiami, would have a high-level conference alongside the exhibition. Among sellers targeted are cruise destinations and ports, cruise lines, hotels, ship services and f&b operators, while buyers will comprise cruise line executives looking for new ports and cruise travel agents, to name two.

He said UBM had the support of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the Asia Cruise Association formed in Singapore last year and MBS. "STB is really supporting us to bring this show to Singapore and we want to keep it for many years here," he said, when asked if there was a contract to commit the show to the city for a certain number of years.

The Singapore support is hardly surprising as the city is sparing no effort to house mega trade shows and cruising is expected to surge further with the opening of the new Singapore Cruise Terminal next year. Cruise Shipping Asia’s tagline, Gateway to tomorrow’s marketplace, speaks for UBM’s ultimate goal of an Asian version that could one day be as big as the original. Last year, Cruise Shipping Miami drew 10,154 attendees and 941 exhibiting companies from 119 countries and regions.

Whether or not this will impact Seatrade All Asia Cruise Convention,  which will be held in Shanghai for the second time this year from June 24 to 25, remains to be seen. Aside from a two-day conference, this event also has a large exhibition showcasing ports, destinations, tourist boards, cruise ship suppliers and services. “In addition we run a day of travel agent training and a social networking program. In short, it is the largest cruise convention in Asia,” said John Foreman, Seatrade’s global head of marketing, when asked how the new entrant Cruise Shipping Asia will impact the Seatrade event in Shanghai, if at all.