MIAMI, March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The 29th annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference and exhibition opened today at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The show runs through Thursday, March 14.

UBM Live, owners and organizers of the Cruise Shipping Miami conference and exhibition, anticipate a strong increase in attendance at the cruise industry's premier event.

The annual cruise industry gathering usually draws around 11,000 attendees, but is on track to welcome an increase of more than 8 percent in visitors and delegates to the three-day exhibition and four-day conference. The trade show will feature more than 900 exhibiting companies from 123 countries.

Cruise Shipping Miami kicks off today with the World Cruise Tourism Summit, a series of roundtable discussions led by industry experts. The conference continues Tuesday, March 12, with the State of the Industry plenary session, followed by four concurrent sessions in the afternoon. The exhibition officially opens Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. and closes Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

In addition to the debut of a Green Cruising Pavilion and presentation lineup, the exhibition also features the premiere of the Amusements and Recreations Attractions Pavilion, featuring the latest in computer, arcade and video gaming, and amusement park, slides and water rides.

Other industry sectors represented in the trade show include destinations, ship equipment, information and entertainment technology, design and refurbishment, ship services and hotel operations and food and beverage. Major country pavilions include Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

The 2013 conference program has been revamped with a series of more concurrent 90-minute sessions and a host of first-time panelists. Developed by UBM Live to be more in-depth and content-rich, the conference lineup is the result of solid research and feedback from Cruise Shipping Miami attendees, cruise lines and industry organizations. Conference sessions are organized into four "streams" that will thematically link sessions daily Tuesday through Thursday. The streams are Shipbuilding, Operations and Technology; Destinations and Ports; Market Segments, and Product Development.

Online delegate and visitor registration is available at http://registration3.experientevent.com/ShowCRU131/Default.aspx.

For information about exhibiting or attending, visit http://www.cruiseshippingevents.com/miami.

WHERE: Miami Beach Convention Center
1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139 USA

MEDIA REGISTRATION: Media credentials are issued to bona fide journalists covering the convention. Review the media policy, request a media registration online or contact Buck Banks.

MEDIA CONTACT: Buck Banks, +1-305-461-3300, press@cruiseshippingmiami.com.

CONVENTION CONTACT: UBM Live, 300 American Metro Blvd., Suite 125, Hamilton NJ 08619 USA
Phone: +1-609-759-4700; fax: +1-609-759-4774; info@cruiseshippingmiami.com

Social Media
Additional news, information and announcements about Cruise Shipping Miami is available at http://www.cruiseshippingevents.com/miami. Find Cruise Shipping Miami on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CruiseShippingMiami, on Twitter at twitter.com/@CruiseShipping, and LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1938947&trk=anet_ug_hm.

The Cruise Shipping Portfolio
The Cruise Shipping Portfolio organized by UBM Live includes Cruise Shipping Miami, Cruise Shipping Asia and Seatrade Med.

Since 1985 Cruise Shipping Miami has been the world's premier annual event for the global cruise industry, featuring a three-day exhibition and four-day conference that draw more than 11,000 attendees and over 1,000 exhibiting companies from more than 120 countries.

About UBM Live
UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premier brands such as Routes, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.