Garwin Davis, Staff ReporterPLANS FOR Montego Bay to receive 32 new ships for the upcoming winter season could be dealt a severe blow if the high crime rate in the city continues to grow, according to officials in the island's second city.
"It is definitely a concern," said Lee Bailey, president of the Montego Bay Cruise Shipping Council. "Cruise lines have an obligation to their passengers to take them to destinations that are perceived to be safe and we haven't been helping our cause with all this crime taking place," he added.
Mr. Bailey said, however, that he had seen nothing to suggest that cruise line officials were having a change of heart. He noted that they had pulled most of their vessels out of Montego Bay nearly three years ago as a result of visitor harassment and poor infrastructure, a decision that has been costing the city millions of dollars in foreign exchange earnings.
"Things were starting to look up to the point where we were promised 32 new vessels," said Mr. Bailey.
Michelle Paige, president of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, in an earlier interview, confirmed that the number of ships going to Montego Bay were scaled down because of the town's failure to meet certain standards required by cruise officials. She cited the lack of proper infrastructure and frequent complaints from passengers about the city, as two of the major deterrents.
However, Ms. Paige, who visited Montego Bay just over a month ago, said conditions in Montego Bay had improved significantly in recent times and she was optimistic that the city would find favour with other cruise line officials.
She said more than 50 new cruise ships were being built from which as many as 32 could be coming to Montego Bay. However, Ms. Paige cautioned against complacency, noting that the city needs to find ways of improving its tourism offering to cruise ship passengers.
"An environment has to be created where visitors feel safer walking the streets," Ms. Paige said. "People should know that the police will be there to provide assistance if needed. A happy passenger will probably come back as a stop-over visitor."
Ms. Paige also warned that cruise officials were driven by the satisfaction of their passengers and said that took precedent over any allegiance to a particular destination, a sentiment that had also been voiced by Carnivale Cruise Line's executive, Brendan Corrigon.
Edmund Bartlett, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) spokesperson on tourism, said that "with all that has been happening, it is not farfetched to believe that the cruise lines have been taking notice. Montego Bay is today a city in crisis and we have to take swift action in curtailing the crime problem before it's too late."
Mr. Bartlett has also cautioned neighbouring Ocho Rios, which gets a majority of the vessels that come into the island, not to take anything for granted, noting that the crime problem reflected badly on the entire island.
Dr. Wykeham McNeill, Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, said last week that there was a boom in the island's cruise industry, particularly in Ocho Rios, which he said was enjoying a 23 per cent increase. He acknowledged, however, that things could have been better if the visitors did not have to face a growing perception that the destination was becoming unsafe.
