Barbados is poised for smooth sailing this winter season with the projection of record-breaking cruise arrivals for which it has been making preparations, says Minister of Tourism and International Transport Ian Gooding-Edghill.
These include getting taxi operators on board with mobile payments, improved customer service at the Bridgetown Port, repositioning scanners there for security purposes and remedial work on one of the cays between the sheds.
In the winter season – which starts December 21 – the country is expected to benefit from a more than 20 per cent increase in cruise arrivals, with more than 800 000 cruise passengers scheduled to
visit the island along with more than 400 cruise calls, exceeding the 389 recorded last winter.
“The Ministry’s overall objective is to further increase tourism earnings with the cruise sector continuing to play a significant part in achieving that objective.
Financial benefits
“This goal is not just about numbers but seeks to ensure that the financial benefits pour through the economy to the advantage of the taxi operators, small vendors, and other small and medium-sized businesses all over the island in the tourism sector. As we are aware, cruise passengers and crew not only visit but actually spend money on shore activities and these transactions contribute to increased foreign exchange earnings,” he told the DAILY NATION.
Part of the preparation involves working with port taxi operators to improve their capacity to earn more “by providing options for mobile electronic payments for their services, from debit and credit cards and such other mobile payment options”, the Minister stated.
Hired consultant
The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and the Barbados Port Inc. hired a consultant to work with the operators on enhancing their marketing and provision of services to increase their earning capacity, leading to the generating of higher national earnings from tourism.
In addition, said Gooding-Edghill, Government has made a number of operational improvements at the Port to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction, including replacing of the old pipeline with a new bunker pipeline to facilitate the fuelling of cruise and cargo ships.
“Furthermore, the water supply pipeline was replaced and improved. It would be recalled that last year, we reconfigured Shed 3 for luxury vessels home-porting at Bridgetown and that enhancement was well received by the cruise ship executives. We have also repositioned the security scanners for cruise passengers to improve the operational flow and maintain strict security at the port,” he explained.
Later this month, the entire breakwater area is to be repaved to avoid trip hazards and facilitate smoother wheelchair access, as part of providing universal access for people with disabilities, in keeping with the country’s ongoing customer service improvements.
Following the July 2024 impact of Hurricane Beryl on Barbados, the Port comprehensively upgraded the facilities for the small vendors and taxi operators, Gooding-Edghill disclosed.
Berth facilities
The area near the sugar berth facilities, which was affected bymBeryl, is also undergoing significant repairs for further use, without adversely affecting the regular berthing of vessels.
“In any event, contingency measures have been put in place to accommodate all vessels. Also, getting remedial attention was the area by the cay between Sheds 2 and 3 which was repaved to ensure smoother access and to reduce the possibility of injury to staff and operators.
“We remain encouraged by these improvements to satisfy the core objectives of earning more, increasing cruise arrivals and creating more employment in the sector,” the minister said.
He also stated that a new cruise strategy is being finalised for submission to Cabinet. It is intended to examine current data and present strategies to increase cruise ship calls and passenger arrivals, economic benefits, employment expansion, infrastructure upgrades to Port facilities and partnerships, and examine potential risks, threats and the building of a sustainable cruise tourism industry.
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