Photo Chris Garner featured on front cover FCCA magazine “Travel & Cruise”
PHILIPSBURG — “When I first saw the cover, I became so emotional because I was incredibly proud that they would be showcasing the name “St. Maarten” on the cover and with one of my photos. I am not sure what was worse after having found out about the upcoming publication, the anxiety of having to keep it to myself until March 5th or the excitement of knowing what was about to be published.”
These are the words of the Canadian-born-to-be-in-St. Maarten photographer, Chris Garner, whose professional quality photography has even gotten the attention of prestigious world renown magazines such as National Geographic.
“I had taken the photo back in the fall of 2016. It was a long shutter night photo of the three ships that were in port. Garner explained. “Someone had seen the photo and thought I should send it to the FCCA, which I did.”
Garner: “It actually sat until February 22, 2017, with the editor at which time I was notified that they would be using the photo on their cover in their first quarter 2018 magazine. The publishing date was the first week of March to coincide with the Sea Trade Cruise Global Convention which was being held in Fort Lauderdale March 6 to 8, 2018.”
It was then that the official magazine of the cruise industry, “Travel & Cruise”, first quarter 2018 edition, featured on its front page the article ‘St. Maarten Serves as a Model of the Caribbean’s Post-Hurricane Comeback‘ using the long shutter night photograph of Chris Garner. The four-page feature can be found online here. Here is the cover of the magazine in question:
Port St. Maarten management is elated about the coverage the destination has received in this major magazine of the cruise industry. “It highlights the resiliency of the people of the country and at the same time the country’s best practices post-Irma to re-discover the destination as we rebound.”
Travel & Cruise is distributed to over 500 cruise executives; 5,000 industry partners representing all sectors of the cruise industry; and over 25,000 travel agents and 15,000 travel agencies.
Port St. Maarten along with the various stakeholders have been showcasing the progress on island over the last five months via a strategic marketing approach to ensure the industry that the country are true partners in restoring this unique vacation destination.
“We have used many channels over the last months not by only meeting with cruise executives, but it was important for our local stakeholders to have access to the executives as well during the Island visits to assure they get the message directly that we are all onboard.
“The hard work by our team was showcased with the prominent branding throughout the Seatrade Cruise Global conference locations. Our aim is to get the wording out there, ‘St. Maarten is Open for Business,’ giving us the opportunity to further tap into the industry market share in the Eastern Caribbean.
“We further informed that discussions are being finalized for confirmed numbers for 2018 which will be released within short to the stakeholders. We are pleased with the progress thus far and look forth to a solid 2018 cruise season.
The publication also featured Port consultant Mico Cascais entitled, ‘St. Maarten’s Return to Prominence and Lessons for Other Cruise Destinations’. The veteran shore excursions executive said that, “St. Maarten was always a go to reference when often asked, what destination does it right”. He further highlighted that, he is excited for the people of St. Maarten and Port St. Maarten; they have the right momentum needed to capitalize on the industry’s growth. The activation of citizens as destination ambassadors, along with their stories and the new and improved experiences will continue to keep St. Maarten as a leading destination of choice in the Caribbean.
Port St. Maarten management concluded by saying that the team will continue to push the brand of the destination in collaboration with the local cruise related stakeholders.
The FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization composed of 19 Member Lines operating over 100 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters. Created in 1972, the FCCA’s mandate is to provide a forum for discussion on tourism development, ports, safety, security, and other cruise industry issue and to develop bilateral relationships with destinations’ private and public sectors.
By fostering an understanding of the cruise industry and its operating practices, the FCCA works with governments, ports and private sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, crew and cruise line spending, as well as enhance the destination experience and increase the amount of cruise passengers returning as stay-over visitors.
Established in 1975, CLIA is the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, providing a unified voice and leading authority of the global cruise community.
CLIA supports policies and practices that foster a safe, secure, healthy and sustainable cruise ship environment and is dedicated to promoting the cruise travel experience.
CLIA’s mission is to foster its members’ success by advocating, educating and promoting the common interests of the cruise community; and by representing the interests of the cruise industry community.
CLIA has 60+ cruise lines as members, from ocean to specialty cruise ships who represent more than 95 percent of global cruise capacity. CLIA Cruise Lines serve more than 24 million passengers annually.
There are also 340+ Executive Partner Members comprising of key suppliers and partners to the cruise lines. Executive partners play a major role in the successful operation of cruising, including ports & destinations, ship development, suppliers and business services.
CLIA also as a network of 15,000 Global Travel Agency and 25,000 Travel Agent Members who include the largest agencies, hosts, franchises and consortia in the world.
Photo caption: The Port St. Maarten delegation that traveled to Seatrde Cruise Global which included stakeholders and was headed by Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Cornelius de Weever (4th from left). Photo provided by Port St. Maarten.
In a final word, Chris Garner says: “I always try to promote St. Maarten through my photography to the world every chance I get. I basically live and breath photography because I am so obsessed with it. Even when I am sleeping, I am dreaming about it!”
About Chris Garner
Chris Garner moved to St. Maarten in 1994 from Canada but left the year of 9/11 to move to Las Vegas to pursue a legal career and attend university. Garner came back to St. Maarten 8 years ago to be with family. Bored, Garner picked up a camera and subsequently won a photo competition in Destination magazine, placing 2nd. The photo was published and that’s when the bug really bit Garner. She has had numerous publications and is constantly enrolled in some kind of a photography course and at times, two at a time, she told StMaartenNews.com. Garner is convinced there is so much beauty through the lens of a camera that we don’t see with the naked eye. Even though she has a full time job in the legal profession, she spends all her free time taking photos of our beautiful island of St. Maarten. Her favorite genre of photography is long shutter night photography. It captures the beauty of slow motion, Garner explained.
