PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The relocated Carnival cruise port will create up to 1,000 jobs and become the company’s largest such facility in the world, the prime minister said last night.
Dr Hubert Minnis, addressing a Freeport town meeting to unveil the development, said the economic benefits produced by Carnival’s investment “will reverberate throughout” The Bahamas by bringing “millions more tourists” to this nation every year.
Billing it as “a significant catalyst for economic growth in Grand Bahama”, the prime minister said: “The new port will create hundreds of jobs in the short-term, and has the potential to provide more than 1,000 direct and indirect permanent positions within the next few years as we anticipate the bulk of the on-island construction work will be done by Bahamian contractors, and the bulk of the retail and restaurants will be owned and operated by Bahamians.
“This major project holds the promise of a myriad of opportunities for local businesses and entrepreneurs to fulfill their own visions of success and prosperity. Grand Bahamians should prepare themselves for the potential benefits from the additional cruise passengers, including for shops, tour drivers, taxis, musicians, businesses and restaurants, hair braiders, arts and craft artisans and stores, souvenir producers and stores, and other enterprises.”
Dr Minnis called on Bahamians to develop heritage and cultural-based tours and other products to cater to Carnival’s cruise passengers, and added: “This cruise port, which will be the largest Carnival cruise port in the world, seeks to make Grand Bahama and The Bahamas one of the best cruise destinations in the Caribbean.
“I am advised that this project promises to be one of the most technologically-advanced cruise ports in this region with a state-of-the-art, point of sale cashless system.”
The Carnival cruise port is a project that has been on the drawing board for more than a decade, covering both Christie administrations and the last Ingraham administration. It was originally set to be located at Williams Town before the last Christie administration signed an agreement with the cruise line to move it to eastern Grand Bahama.
The latest version moves it into the Port area at a site near the University of The Bahamas at Sharp Rock. “The development of the Carnival cruise port has been a long time in the making. It has been discussed by successive governments, and has gone through various changes to arrive at this impressive model,” Dr Minnis conceded last night.
He also “refuted emphatically” claims made in a widely-circulated video that The Bahamas is the most unsafe cruise destination in the world, adding: “We take the issue of visitor safety very seriously. Bahamians are known worldwide for our generosity, kindness and welcoming disposition.”
Comments
birdiestrachan 5 years, 2 months ago
doc has moved the port out of the East End area into the GBPA port area. doc is announcing with great fan fare a port that has been announced twice before and the site has been changed for the third time, The GBPA will benefit from this latest site,
This port announcement is a old story, it was hoped that he had something new. But a good time was had by the whole cabinet. because the tax payers will pay the bills.
birdiestrachan 5 years, 2 months ago
doc concedes. he admits it is true after denying or resisting. It is a old story doc. nothing new.
John 5 years, 2 months ago
Shouldn’t these cruise ships be paying hotel taxes casinos and restaurant licenses and other fees when they visit/overnight in The Bahamas? Why should local taxes be used to maintain ports or cruise ships operate private ports and the country doesn’t benefit. The cruise line is a multi billion dollar industry and the islands of The Bahamas are a major input in generating that revenue.
concerned799 5 years, 2 months ago
A viable tourism based economy can not co-exist with a cruise based product sucking out probably 90% of visitor spends as compared to visitors who visit by land based hotels. Its a fool's economy, and the more leverage the cruise ship industry gets is the less there is for a land based industry. Carnival should be welcome to invest in the Bahamas in land based hotels that hire Bahamians. Do we want crumbs or a real tourism economy with hotels, and hotel jobs and the ability to control our own tourism industry?
TheMadHatter 5 years, 2 months ago
Inside the Port Area? That sucks. Why are they spending their time doing research and marketing that the Port should be doing? Also, being within the Port area means it will be controlled by China which owns everything in Freeport. Has China threatened us with nuclear war unless we comply with their demands? This is insanity.
Islandboy242242 5 years, 2 months ago
I still don't understand why there wasn't more coverage over the fact that the cruise port moved out of East End Grand Bahama and is now near Lucaya? Wasn't the cruise port supposed to be a great saving grace for East GB, and share some of the commerce to areas outside of Freeport? Also I don't see any "Sharp Rock" on GB maps, I heard on the news they were saying 5 miles East of Lucaya, this puts the port somewhere near Fortune Beach or Peterson Beach? But based on the activity in Fortune Bay I would guess it still has to be a few miles east of there?
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