The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Tour and excursion provider are voicing concerns over the cost and ease of execution associated with implementing portions of the tourism industry’s post-COVID-19 Readiness and Recovery Plan.

Captain Mike Russell, owner of Chubasco Charters, told Tribune Business: “I hope it works. I don’t know how easy these changes are going to be to implement, but it’s something that is going to have to be implemented and we are going to have to do it.

“Some of it is kind of sketchy, especially for us in the charter fishing business, as to exactly what is going to be expected and how much of it is going to be expected of us. A lot of it, like de-sanitising the boats, is something we have been doing for years. We always use bleach and water to wash the boats down. As far as keeping hand sanitiser on the boats that is something that is going to be new.”

Mr Russell added: “This is going to be an additional cost. We have been out of business now for three months, and I think the last charter we did was at the beginning of March. It’s hard. Hopefully the biggest thing here, as far as I’m concerned, is if the tourists come. I’m not sure how quick we are going to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully it happens quickly.

Expressing hope that persons booked for charters before the lockdown will reschedule and decide to come at a later date, Mr Russell said: “You have tourists on a boat, and you can’t go behind them every time they touch something and wash it down and wipe it.

“That’s going to be kind of crazy. I have already looked into buying temperature guns to make tourists a little more at ease when they come on the boat. We will take their temperatures, wipe the gun off of them to take our crew and captain’s temperature. That kind of thing may make people more secure.

Me Russell said “a lot of this is going to have to be worked out”. He added that it would be impractical to go behind a fisherman and wipe down his fishing rod and work station every time he catches a fish.

Afeez Junaid, manager of Luxton Ace, said: “These things are going to be hard to implement because we are a small company and we have small cars, so spacing is going to be tough. Normally for city tours we charge $90, and the maximum we can take is seven passengers, but now we are going to be forced to take four passengers.”

He said he is “probably” going to have to increase prices to $120 per person now, but is unsure if visitors are going to be willing to pay this.

“Whatever the case may be it looks like my company is going to have to run at a loss,” Mr Junaid said. “When people come they want to escape the coronavirus and they want to get something cheap, and if they have been here before they know that it is $90 per trip, but now I am telling them $120.

“The bigger companies can offer them cheaper tour fares. I may have to add more stops, but the money is what the passengers are worrying about. They don’t worry about stops.”