Cruise Ship Interiors Expo, the world’s first highly focused event dedicated exclusively to interior design, architecture, and outfitting for the cruise industry, has announced its first conference session to kick off the inaugural two-day event. Professionals at the forefront of the industry will share their expertize in ‘Cruise Industry Outlook: Leaders Debate’, starting at 10:50am on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.

The event’s first conference session will focus on the newbuild order book and the impacts of newbuilds, how shipyards can respond to capacity issues, challenges around recruiting staff, economical concerns, and growth in the expedition market. Industry experts speaking on the panel will include:

Moderating:
– Newton D’Souza, chair and associate professor, department of interior architecture, Florida International University
Speaking:
– Stephen T. Fryers, consultant, Royal Caribbean Cruises
– Colin Gant, vice president of vessel refurbishment, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
– Petu Kummala, senior director of interior design & architecture, Carnival Cruise Line
– George Scammell, director of interior design, Princess Cruises

When asked what to expect from his session, Petu Kummala, senior director of interior design & architecture, Carnival Cruise Line, commented: “Expect the unexpected. There are many new projects in the works for Carnival Cruise Line, so I am confident we’ll have an interesting and exciting conversation.” He also told the CSIE team that the event is “filling a void in [the marine interiors] community.”

Chairing and moderating the session will be Newton d’Souza, chair and associate professor at Florida International University’s department of interior architecture. Over the past 20 years, d’Souza has practiced as a professional architect, interior designer, and educator. He is also in the process of writing his first book, ‘The Multi-Skilled Designer’, making him the ideal candidate to chair the conference’s opening session.

Led by industry experts, the Cruise Ship Interiors Conference has been specially curated to inspire delegates, with forecasts on upcoming trends and insights into opportunities and challenges faced by the cruise interiors industry. As such, a debate on cruise industry outlook on a more holistic level will aptly set the tone for the rest of the two-day conference.