UBM, organizers of the Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific (CSA-P) conference and trade show in Singapore, announced the Rama Rebbapragada Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Cruise Industry in Asia.

UBM Cruise Portfolio Director Daniel Read made the announcement at the State of the Industry panel at the CSA-P show, following a short memorial to Rebbapragada, who recently passed away.

The first award will be presented at the 2013 CSA-P show.

Rebbapragada was vice president of regional for Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International and was also the first chairman of the Asia Cruise Association.

According to Kevin Leong, general manager of the Asia Cruise Association, Rebbapragada understood the role of the private sector in speeding up the development of the cruise industry, and he took on the challenge of organizing cruise lines based in Asia for the “common good,” and thus, the Asia Cruise Association was born.