Not much had been heard regarding the future of St. Maarten’s cruise tourism for a while, so it was good to learn of a meeting between about 40 cruise lines and 35 destination stakeholders from the Americas (see related story). According to Michelle Paige of organiser Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) “our partners are planning for the restart of cruise tourism.”
Although no date was mentioned, her words will be music to the ears of especially Philipsburg merchants and their employees particularly on Front Street, who to large degree rely on people coming off the ships at Pointe Blanche for their livelihood. At least one cruise line has already announced a resumption of operations in the region from August.
The island experienced a 2.2 per cent increase in passengers last year compared to 2018. However, the government-owned harbour company expected a 15.4 per cent drop during the high season from November 2019 to April even before the coronavirus pandemic paralysed the industry in March.
FCCA had also predicted of decline of between 25 and 30 per cent in calls for the entire 2020. Then came good news near the end of February that Royal Caribbean International (RCI) would add 15 stops between May and December, but it is not clear whether and to what extent this remains valid.
The “rebirth” of cruise tourism as appropriately termed by RCI’s representative is obviously important to both the Dutch and French sides. After all, a good number of the passengers cross the open border as part of their half-day stay.
Some have criticised the sector over the years, arguing that benefits for destinations are limited because of the short visit compared to stayover guests. They also point to a relatively high level of nuisance, with so many being present in the same few hours.
This view may have some merit, but tends to overlook one key aspect. A lot of persons who first arrive here on vessels later come back by plane. This “conversion rate” has never been properly studied locally, but several surveys among departing cruisers indicate that a sizeable group wants to return for a longer vacation.
There are many factors involved such as mandatory negative test results, screening, etc., for anyone disembarking. However, the bottom line is that continued lack of these visitors is causing “The Friendly Island” considerable socioeconomic pain.
