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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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Vanderpool-Wallace: New amendments will boost cruise tourism arrivals By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ kdl@nasguard.com: Amendments to the Cruise Ships Overnighting Incentives Act will result in a boost to the country's visitor arrivals, tourism minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said yesterday. Vanderpool-Wallace said that dredging the Nassau Harbour to accommodate larger ships that carry a greater number of passengers will create spin-off opportunities for taxi-drivers, straw vendors and other business persons in the Bay Street area. He was speaking in the Senate during his contribution to debate on the amendments to Cruise Ship Overnighting Incentives Act, which were passed Wednesday afternoon. The amendments are expected to facilitate new agreements with cruise lines which have expired, and encourage cruise lines to maintain and increase the delivery of cruise passengers coming to The Bahamas. The agreements with cruise lines will be extended from three to six years and cruise ships will spend 13 hours in port instead of 18 hours, nine of which must be daylight hours, Vanderpool-Wallace explained. In return for the incentives the government will require cruise lines to bring in a minimum of 350,000 passengers to Nassau and 175,000 to Freeport. They must also showcase a video of things to do in The Bahamas. Senator Frederick McAlpine said that while the cruise industry is competitive and The Bahamas is putting itself in a position to grow and take the lead, consideration must be given to a number of issues. "We must give consideration to having our businesses open longer. There is no use having the ships and people here and then at 6 p.m. everything is closed. We need to make sure that our people understand that if we are going to require more we too are going to have to give out more, making sure that there is some cultural entertainment, souvenir stores and the market remains open," he said. McAlpine added that those in the tourism industry must be more hospitable. "We cannot take for granted that people are just coming. We must give them an incentive that when folks come here they would want to return," he said. "They must understand the true meaning of 'It's Better In The Bahamas'." Thursday, July 2, 2009