Cruise Lines International Association

{{Short description|Trade association}}

{{Third-party|date=April 2020}}

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is a cruise line trade association. It merged with International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) in 2006, forming an expanded organization incorporating the existing functions of both organizations. The merged organization, which uses the CLIA name, is located in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cruising.org/About/contact-us|title=Contact Us|website=www.cruising.org|access-date=2017-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816003957/https://www.cruising.org/About/contact-us|archive-date=2017-08-16|url-status=dead}}

Established in 1975, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world's largest cruise industry trade association based on the number of passenger cruise ships operated by its members. However, there is a significant proportion of the wider cruise industry which does not subscribe to CLIA's member body and which transports a considerable volume of passengers.{{Cite web|url=https://cruising.org/en-gb/cruise-lines|title=Cruise Lines}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/761-cruise-ship-passenger-capacity-ratings|title = Cruise Ship Passenger Capacity|date = 26 November 2015}} There is no regulatory requirement for cruise operators to subscribe to the trade body, each year a significant number of cruise passengers are transported on a growing number of non-member vessels. The trade body has no representation across the entirety of Africa, for example.{{Cite web|url=https://cruising.org/en-gb/cruise-lines|title=Cruise Lines}}

CLIA works with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) to help port cities analyze how to manage tourism flows and map out a road map for a sustainable future. To date, the industry has partnered with the City of Dubrovnik,{{Cite web|date=2020-06-07|title=Dubrovnik achieves 70% excellence in global destination assessment {{!}} Croatia Week|url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/dubrovnik-achieves-70-excellence-in-global-destination-assessment/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=Croatia Week {{!}} Croatian news portal in English|language=en}} Corfu and Heraklion to collaborate and identify best practices for long-term destination management to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-03|title=Corfu and Heraklion Team Up with GSTC and CLIA for Sustainable Tourism Development|url=https://news.gtp.gr/2020/12/03/corfu-heraklion-team-up-gstc-clia-sustainable-tourism-development/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=GTP Headlines|language=en-US}} While it is unclear what level of support is delivered, CLIA is also a corporate sponsor of the Mercy Ship

program.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mercyships.org/get-involved/corporate-partnerships/|title=Corporate PartnerSHIPS | Mercy Ships}}

The trade body's marketing and education activities may be considered activities more closely related to influence or lobbying, however the organization holds no powers to set or enforce laws or regulations.{{Cite web|url=https://cruising.org/en-gb/about-the-industry/policy-priorities/cruise-industry-regulation|title=Cruise Industry Regulation}}

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CLIA voluntarily suspended sailings out of US ports on 13 March 2020, one day before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order. However, COVID-19 outbreaks continued on ships already at sea. Whilst CLIA had drafted a plan to hire a global rescue team to extract infected passengers, by 6 April this had not been realized and public health authorities had to intervene to evacuate critically ill people from ships.{{Cite web|author1=James Bandler |author2=Patricia Callahan|author2-link=Patricia Callahan |author3=Sebastian Rotella |author3-link=Sebastian Rotella |author4=Kirsten Berg |title=Inside the Fall of the CDC |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-fall-of-the-cdc?token=p-v0T1xjfOJ8jrJHzc08UxDKSQrKgWJk |access-date=2020-10-19|website=ProPublica|date=15 October 2020 |language=en}}