Today’s story about a decline of between 25 and 30 per cent in cruise calls for 2020 is not the kind of news one hopes to hear ahead of the next busy period. It seems figures from the past two years were inflated because several other cruise facilities in the region had not yet been fully operational until now, due to damage caused by the September 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
It must be said, the ships are getting bigger and on average thus bring more passengers, as often pointed out by Port St. Maarten. However, this obviously can’t compensate for such a drop by a quarter or more in vessel visits.
The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) sees lack of clarity about the apparent intention to give out a concession for running the harbour as one of the problems. It said there needs to be transparency toward the cruise lines that want to know in advance who they are doing business with.
The people haven’t been told very much about the plans either, which is always a concern. After all, it regards not only a government-owned company but also a major player in the island’s tourism economy so far mostly reported to be doing great, although there have been suspected irregularities in which supposedly millions were embezzled.
Nevertheless, any process to bring in an outside operator should be conducted in good consultation certainly with crucial stakeholders like FCCA, but also the general public that to a large extent depends on this gateway functioning optimally for an important part of its livelihood. One must consider too that many cruise passengers are known to return longer as stayover guests.
The main thing is to keep them coming.
No Saturday newspaper
Due to the expected impact of Hurricane Jerry from Friday evening, The Daily Herald will not be published on Saturday morning. A combined Saturday/Monday edition, together with the WEEKender, is planned for Monday, September 23. Management apologises for any inconvenience this safety measure to protect the wellbeing of our employees may cause.
