A view of Royal Caribbean's 'Freedom of the Seas' docked at the Montego Bay Cruise Terminal. - File photosA new report on the performance of the world cruise sector says business from sea vacationers slowed in the Caribbean last year, but official Jamaican figures show that the island had a bumper season.
Cruise arrivals for calendar 2006 grew by 17.7 per cent to a new high of 1.34 million passengers, 63 per cent of whom dropped in at the Ocho Rios port.
The rate of expenditure, per passenger, was also up from US$85.21 to US$88.92 - the majority of which was spent at the shops.
Director of Tourism Basil Smith said yesterday that the bigger spending was linked to "diversification in the attractions sector and better on-board selling."
According to Smith, who heads the Jamaica Tourist Board, several attractions have improved their products over the past year.
That topped with promotion on the ships have helped to pull passengers off the vessels to explore the offerings, almost doubling tourist spend in this subsector in a year.
In 2005, attractions accounted for 7.6 per cent of passenger spending; a year later, they had grabbed 13 per cent.
The cruise growth momentum has carried into the first quarter of 2007, but arrivals have increased only slightly by 1.3 per cent over January to March.
"The number of cruise arrivals to the Caribbean in 2006 was estimated at 19.1 million," said the Jamaica Tourist Board in its annual report on travel statistics. That figure was only a one point improvement on 2005, it said.
Only Dominica surpassed Jamaica, with growth of 26 per cent, but that island's cruise business is less than a fourth of Jamaica's.
The Cruise Line International Association, in its report published last week, said the Caribbean had prospects for growth if it were to tap markets in Europe and Asia.
Last year, Ocho Rios, the most popularof Jamaica's three ports of call, had 327 ship calls with 840,923 persons on board.
Improved results
Basil Smith, director of tourism, says improved cruise spending is linked to improved product offerings at some attractions.
But it was Montego Bay's performance that drove the island's improved results.
Passenger arrivals in the western city, while trailing Ocho Rios at 485,325, represented a 48 per cent gain, while its 219 ship calls was 28 more dockings or 21 per cent better than 2005.
Port Antonio also had increased business, buts its 16 ship calls and 10,334 passenger arrivals was a fraction of the business seen by the entire sector.
In fact, since 2003, Port Antonio has had only 40 cruise calls in total, with just over 20,000 tourists visiting the seaside capital of Portland, a parish whose nature attractions and scenery are the pull for visitors.
Constraints on business have long been its inadequate infrastructure, including roads and utilities, but the harbour, which is in need of heavy dredging, is also incapable of accommodating large ships.
As a result, Port Antonio's business flows from boutique cruise lines.
Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, on the other hand, both generate most of their business from liners owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, followed by Royal Caribbean and P&O Cruises.
Montego Bay also has calls from Pullmantur's Holiday Dream.
lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com
