There has been good news for cruise tourism in the Eastern Caribbean and good news, too, in particular for Saint Lucia, despite the world wide recession. The island, according to Michele Paige, President of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, between 2005 and 2008 recorded a 75 percent increase in cruise ship passenger arrivals, bragging approximately 700,000 cruise passengers during the 2008 season.

But there was even better news for the cruise sector. During a press conference which was held as part of the FCCA annual cruise conference and trade show which took place in Saint Lucia (October 26-30), it was announced that cruise spending was up, even in a down economy.

The announcement came as part of an economic impact study conducted by BREA (Business Research and Economic Advisors) for 2008. BREA is an organization which was established in 2000 by Dr Andrew Moody to provide professional market and economic analyses particularly to the travel and leisure sector.

“The survey was done over a six month period” presenter Andrew Moody indicated adding that the Eastern Caribbean by far saw the largest share of visits and spend. Overall it was pointed out that Cruise tourism boosted revenues for ports and businesses in Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean in one of the gloomiest financial years since the Great Depression, according to the FCCA-commissioned study. One port which had been redeveloped and was reaping the rewards through greater cruise shopping and spending was that of St Maarten as indicated by Theo Heliger, the Commissioner there.

The cruise line spend was calculated by what actual passengers spent on shopping, food and tours as well as the spend of crew members which was recorded as an average of US$75.00 per visit. A typical seven day cruise Moody said, would result in about 3,000 passengers, 1,200 crew making four ports of call with US$1.3 million in direct cruise tourism spend. Overall, the study found that people were spending more on average particularly on things like food, electronic items, tours and jewelry. It was also discovered that the feedback on customer service was very good.

The bad news: There was a wide gap between what the cruise visitor expected and the actual experience. Overall it was revealed that the actual shopping experience received lower than expected marks. Some of the possible factors discussed included the lack of variety at certain ports and access.

Saint Lucia’s tourism consultant James Hepple posed the question to Moody as to whether the survey took into consideration the shopping experience on board the cruise ships which could have an impact possibly on what the passengers experienced on land? The response was that it did not. For this reason former manager of the IGY Rodney Bay Marina told the STAR that in this regard the survey and subsequent report appeared flawed. “I was concerned that the report did not highlight the shopping on board the cruise ships and what that entailed so as to compare the on land shopping experience,” Cuthbert Didier says. There were other areas he raised questions on, particular where the ranking of some of the islands were concerned.

However Didier did point out that here in Saint Lucia we do need to pay closer attention to giving the visitor that total experience when they arrive here. “We need to review Castries, the layout and the quality of shops, we also need to meet with the vendors and craft people to get them to understand that. We need
to work with them to create, push and promote products specific to the culture of Saint Lucia,” Didier added. He also pointed out that the way we greet and meet visitors at the ports needs to be more innovative, creative and exciting with entertainment and theatre.

In an interview with the STAR newspaper at an FCCA press briefing, tourism minister Allen Chastanet was asked does it concern you at