Big interview A new vision
Kelly Craighead was appointed president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in 2019, back when the industry was contributing $150bn to economies around the world. Since early last year, however, cruising operations have been delayed and cancelled as the sector strives to safeguard itself from further financial harm inflicted by the pandemic. Will Moffitt speaks to the CLIA president about the challenges of combating coronavirus and what recovery might look like.
“H
ow do you protect citizens and, at the same time, recognise how important travel and tourism is and ensure the safe crossing of borders?” asks Kelly Craighead, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
It’s a pertinent issue, and one that governments have been wrestling with ever since the outbreak of Covid-19. Craighead is contemplating the question from her sun-soaked kitchen in Washington, DC. It elicits several more: “What are the elements that impact tourism-related decisions? How do you navigate understanding what the government’s priorities are? And how do you shift your own priorities in a way that is responsive to what it needs to see and hear first?”
As the old adage goes, ask the right questions and you’ll start getting the right answers. As Craighead explains, it’s a trait she honed as deputy assistant secretary for travel and tourism at the US Department of Commerce when the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency on 17 July 2019. Through that experience she gained a granular understanding of how complex political machines operate – a trait that proved instrumental in elevating her to CLIA president in 2019, and one that is helping her navigate the chaos and disruption of the past year.
Craighead has got used to anticipating challenges before they arise. She warns me early on that our interview may be interrupted at any moment: “You will almost certainly meet my cat and hear my dog,” she says (I meet both soon after).
Of course, sometimes a crisis emerges that is completely unpredictable. Covid-19 was a threat very few saw coming and a heavy blow for a sector that was becoming one of the fastest growing in the global tourism space. With an estimated annual value of more than $150bn, the cruise industry had been forecast to hit a record 32 million passengers in 2020. “Covid is unprecedented. I think it’s unlike anything anybody living has seen. And where my experience having worked in government has been helpful is in [understanding] the importance of process and stakeholder
engagement,” Craighead says. “I think what we’ve learned from
10 World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
CLIA Press Room
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