Michael Maura, Nassau Cruise Port's chief executive, and Dionisio D'Aguilar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation.
* Four cruise lines eye Nassau 'home port' deals
* Port chief says completion in 90 days targeted
* Would triple revenues; five-fold visitor spend rise
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas is close to sealing deals that will be "a game changer to jump start the tourism economy" post-COVID and provide an annual multi-million dollar boost, it was revealed yesterday.
Michael Maura, Nassau Cruise Port's chief executive, confirmed to Tribune Business that agreements for up to four separate cruise lines to use Prince George Wharf as a "home port" - and bring hundreds of thousands of extra passengers to New Providence every year - could be concluded within the next 90 days.
Declining to name the companies involved, he added that negotiations have moved "past the point of conversation" and are now at the stage of finalising operational plans for cruise ships to use Nassau as the start and end-point for cruises around The Bahamas.
Mr Maura said "the financial gain for a broad section of the economy is fantastic", as cruise passengers will have to fly in and out of New Providence to join their ships and also when they return after the voyage.
Besides increased traffic flows through Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), he explained that "home porting" passengers may also spend a several nights in Nassau prior to their cruise ships departing and when their itineraries end. Hotels and multiple elements in the tourism industry, such as ground transportation providers, stand to reap significant financial gains.
The Nassau Cruise Port chief also asserted that using Nassau as a home port was not an attempt by the cruise lines to evade the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID-19 health regulations and restrictions on sailing from the US, while Bahamian measures - such as the need to produce a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within five days of travel - will also still apply.
And, with cruise vessels likely to resume voyages at around 50-60 percent capacity, Mr Maura said Nassau would likely attract around 4,000-5,000 home port passengers per week to start with the potential to ramp up to hundreds of thousands annually once the industry gets back to full loads.
"It's actually four cruise lines," Mr Maura told this newspaper, after Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, revealed details of the 'home port' talks in the House of Assembly. "It's exciting from a national perspective. It's wonderful from the perspective of our visitors flying, as they do today for a hotel stay, and passing through LPIA.
"LPIA gets a piece of the action. Those home porting passengers would be using a taxi to get to the hotel and stay a night before the cruise starts, or going direct to the port. There are so many areas of our local economy that get to touch that home port passenger, both on arrival and departure.
"The financial gain for a broad cross-section of the economy is fantastic. For every dollar we [Nassau Cruise Port] would make from a transit passenger that arrives in Nassau on a cruise vessel, stays for eight hours and leaves, we'd make $3 from a home port passenger. A big part of that is the luggage handling; it's like checking into a hotel checking out of the hotel," he continued.
"This is a big game changer for New Providence and The Bahamas. A cruise line looking at Nassau as a home port is going to utilise and leverage what Bahamians enjoy every day, which is our Family Islands. It's fair to anticipate we'll see an increase in cruise passenger traffic in The Bahamas, not just in New Providence but the entire Bahamas will benefit from a home port in Nassau."
Cruise line "home porting" in The Bahamas is not a new concept. It was previously mulled as an answer to Freeport's tourism woes, but never gained the traction it now appears to have received, with the cruise lines staying firmly attached to their Florida home ports of Miami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.
The timing suggests that the move may have been influenced by COVID-19 and its devastating impact on the cruise industry, which will likely restart with shorter sailings - the three to four-night cruises - in The Bahamas while it gains its sea legs again.
Asked how serious the talks were, Mr Maura replied: "It's four cruise lines that have approached us. We have passed the point of conversation and are finalising the operational plans, including the procurement of equipment to deal with luggage, scanning equipment, security equipment and other equipment required to safely and efficiently support a home port operation."
With a return air fare to The Bahamas also added to the cruise vacation cost, the Nassau Cruise Port chief added: "The home port passenger's value is going to be greater than those who would otherwise drive to Port Everglades. That equates to the potential for greater spend in Nassau. You are dealing with passengers who have already made the decision to invest more in a vacation.
"This is an economic opportunity for us. My understanding is that the Ministry of Tourism has been working closely with some of the larger resorts with a plan to encourage cruise passengers coming in to do a cruise and stay, or stay and cruise, and spend a couple of nights in a hotel to experience Nassau.
"It's trying to add value to a cruise. It's a great way to kind of jump start our economy for anyone involved in the tourism industry."
Mr Maura said the home port agreements may be complete within 90 days, a timeline that could coincide with US president Joe Biden's May estimation for when all US residents will be vaccinated against COVID-19, as doses administered are presently running at 2m per day.
"The light is clearly shining in front of us, and we're close in terms of getting back to normal," he added, although the cruise industry has currently pushed US sailings back to end-May as it awaits the CDC go-ahead. Nassau Cruise Port, too, is presently in the middle of its $250m upgrade, although this was designed to still accommodate passengers.
Mr D'Aguilar, in revealing the home port move yesterday, said: "Cruise companies are approaching us about the possibility of home porting in Nassau. Mr Speaker, three [four] companies have approached us about starting and ending their cruises right out there at Prince George Dock. And they want to start ASAP – as soon as possible.
"Mr Speaker, the economic implications of this development are significant. Cruise passengers would fly into Nassau, naturally complying with our current health protocols, either spend a couple of nights at a local hotel here in Nassau or just proceed directly from the airport to the cruise port to board their cruise.
"Then, they move about The Bahamas to Freeport or their private island or to other islands in The Bahamas, and then return to Nassau where they can decide to extend their stay at one of our many hotels or proceed directly back to the United States via LPIA," he continued.
"Mr Speaker, this is new. An extremely exciting development that the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Health, the Nassau Cruise Port, NAD are all working together diligently to see if we can pull it off.
"Persons who start and end their cruise in a particular destination end up spending five times' more than they typically spend in a destination where they pop in for a couple of hours. So, we are anxious to make this reality."
Mr D'Aguilar said some $50m has been spent on Prince George Wharf's revamp to-date, with 2,000 feet of new pier currently under construction. Once completed, he said the cruise port will have six berths, three of which will be able to accommodate the world's largest vessels.
With the cruise industry hoping to resume sailing by the 2021 third or fourth quarter, the minister added that Nassau berth bookings for the year's second half stood at 810 - an increase of 120 or 20 percent over 2019. And, for the 2022 full year, berth bookings currently stand at 1,284, which Mr D'Aguilar said was an increase of 101 or 9 percent on 2019.
Turning to blast the Opposition, he added: "Let us also not forget that, under the former administration, the port was so run down that the Government actually paid the cruise companies millions upon millions of dollars in incentives annually to come to Nassau.
"Mr. Speaker, can you believe it? They took over $10m of scarce taxpayer money every year, sometimes as much as $15m a year, and gave it to the cruise companies, begging them to come to Nassau by throwing my money and your money - money we all worked hard to pay in taxes - by throwing that money at them in incentives."
Arguing that The Bahamas sometimes "undersell ourselves", he added: "Let us not forget that the cruise passengers will now be paying $8.50 plus VAT to come to our new port whereas, under the former Government, the cruise passengers only paid 70 cents to get off a ship in Nassau."
Comments
shonkai 3 years, 1 month ago
It is always "shall" and "will" and "plan" and "expect". Why not "do" something first for a change, and then you can boast about it.
Btw, Will Bahamasair fly them in and out? Then yes, ever passenger will need hotel stays.
observer2 3 years, 1 month ago
Amen.
A friend of mine forwarded to me a link to the PLP's 2022 Election Manefesto. My comment to him was "I definitely will not be reading it. Every five years the PLP and FNM write magnificent manifestos. If they could execute one tenth of their visions the Bahamas would be a first world country".
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 1 month ago
In Freeport it'd be an excellent idea. In Nassau doomed to fail.
Proguing 3 years, 1 month ago
Can't do it in Freeport, you don't have the same airline connections as with Nassau
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 1 month ago
Actually it can only be done in Freeport. All we'd need is an airport and we can build a new airport much faster than a new port....
Proguing 3 years, 1 month ago
Great, looking forward to the long lines at the airport...
BTW if cruise ships start using the Bahamas as "home port", this must be to avoid compliance with something in the US. Can the Tribune find out what it is?
moncurcool 3 years, 1 month ago
That is what I am wondering. After all these years all of a sudden they want to use the Bahamas as home port? WHat gives?
Not saying is is not a good idea. It is a good very good idea, and would bring some added benefits. Just why now?
KapunkleUp 3 years, 1 month ago
Thinking the exact same thing. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that but seriously, what's the catch?!
Proguing 3 years, 1 month ago
Yep and can the Tribune also investigate if they will be buying their supplies and fuel at Nassau prices, or will they get them tax free? What will be the legal status of the employees etc?
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 1 month ago
They will not be buying provisions or fuel in Nassau. They use transshipment clearance for all their shipments, they never pay duty. But Nassau does not allow transshipment clearance, Freeport does. Employees will be mostly foreign by at least 99%, just as it is now.
observer2 3 years, 1 month ago
Yes, they want to get around CDC guidelines and US consumer protection laws and the US justice system and they can pollute or waters without interference from the US. Not to mention they US taxes they would save.
Imagine how much more money the cruise ships will make. The Bahamas and our environment will be the major looses.
All workers coming in will be foreigners. More fees for the Bahamas government.
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 1 month ago
what's the catch. They're worried about an outbreak. Don't want to be too far from the mainland should one happen The open question is what have we promised in reference to waste dumping, docking and handling of sick patients
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 1 month ago
Their fuel is in Freeport. We can clear their provisions and spares duty free using transshipment protocols. Our agents here are much more experienced. We can offer repairs here, Nassau cannot. We can deal with the millions of passengers, Nassau cannot.
This should have been passed to GB. Where the hell are our MPs??????? Sitting on their butts like lumps on a log again....
tribanon 3 years, 1 month ago
These so called "home port" agreements are all about the cruise ship operators avoiding litigation in the U.S. from passengers who contract the COVID-19 virus or any other harmful viruses and microbes while on board their filthy monstrous ships that serve as incubators for all sorts of pathogens. For the passengers, the start of their cruise will be The Bahamas rather than the US which likely means they would likely have to file any legal action against the cruise ship operator in our dysfunctional court system. Avoiding litigation in the US would be a big win for the cruise ship operators/owners.
And you can bet these agreements will allow for the cruise ship operators to receive the bus transportation licenses they will need to carry their passengers between the airport, hotels and ports. Our taxi drivers will get nothing from the greedy cruise ship operators. And just think of the added traffic congestion between the airport and the port downtown along JFK/Thompson Boulevard and West Bay Street.
How many times does this knucklehead D'Aguilar have to be told that the cruise ship operators/owners are not good for the Bahamian economy as a whole. These home port arrangement and the cruise line schedule will be fixed in such a way that few passengers if any will need to overnight in a hotel and they will spend little time if any walking our downtown area.
Only the cruise ship operators/owners and the few very wealthy Bahamian families who have a significant interest in the port under an unholy public-private-partnership (PPP) deal will be the big winners. And no doubt the cruise ship operators will end up paying little more than they would have otherwise paid to our government under the current woefully low passenger head tax agreement because of the airport related tax concessions they will get.
Minnis and D'Aguilar are foolishly continuing to put all of our country's very fragile economic eggs in the cruise line industry basket. For decades now we have been pandering to the greedy interests of the cruise line industry and doing so has done nothing for the economic well-being of the vast majority of Bahamians. An economy based mainly on cruise ship passengers simply does not bode well for us and one only has to look at the unsustainable level of our national debt even before Dorian and COVID-19.
Clearly Dumbo Minnis and Simpleton D'Aguilar have not woken up to the fact that the operators/owners of these behemoth floating hotels are actually in competition with our country for the limited amount of money their passengers are willing to spend on a cruise vacation. Bottom line: Our corrupt politicians continue to 'sell out' our country to the lowest of the bidders for our sun, sand and sea.
TalRussell 3 years, 1 month ago
Enough with the redshirtys Dioniso James's backstories.
Allow it sink-in that tourism as experienced before is gone forever.
It's goin' take 30 years to rebuild we colony of 1200 out islands, cays, and rocks.
Why is there so little to no media talk about how sightings of Elvis, are now being reported more frequently than are the colony's merchants' sightings of a US dollar in cash registers? *
Why hasn't the Mr,. Minnis, not thought to appoint Comrades Michael and Dioniso James as his vaccines procurement man's? Yes?
mandela 3 years, 1 month ago
It will be a game-changer when the UBP oops! the FNM loses.
themessenger 3 years, 1 month ago
This country is truly finished, no matter what the subject all we ever do is criticize or shoot the messenger but are incapable of presenting a single original idea of our own. If it’s a PLP idea it’s bad, if it’s an FNM idea it’s bad. If it’s a white mans idea he trying to manipulate and enslave us again.⛓ If it makes sense it’s definitely a bad idea. The only original thinkers we have left to turn too are Tal and Tribinon, Bahamians will smell shit in a rose 🌹.
TalRussell 3 years, 1 month ago
@themess, but isn't I'm smellin' the positive one. the Rose, yes?
Bigrocks 3 years, 1 month ago
Think of all that new trash for the local landfill every round trip. Garbage! USA running out of places to put it
TalRussell 3 years, 1 month ago
@Bigrocks, do you remember back in June 2019, when the Mr. Dioniso James, read the riot act after the Miami-based Carnival Cruises had pleaded guilty to six probation violations, including the dumping of plastic mixed with food waste in we colony's seas? Some forceful action taken by the Mr. Dioniso James, since his 2019 reading of the riot act? Let it sink in, fined for the illegal dumping into colony's waters of plastic mixed with food waste. yes?
Proguing 3 years, 1 month ago
So one can assume that the damage to the seabed near the Berry Islands is all forgotten now...
jujutreeclub 3 years, 1 month ago
These ships that will make the Bahamas their home base are Bahamas registered ships already The list of Bahamas-registered cruise ships includes some of the largest passenger ships in the world from the fleets of RCCL, NCL, and Carnival. "Flag State" is the ship's registration country under whose laws it is registered/licensed. Just like any marine vessel, a passenger ship operates under its flag state laws (also used if the ship is involved in an admiralty case). Flag states have the authority and responsibility for a ship, exercising control over the ships. They inspect the ships regularly, certify equipment and crew, issue safety and pollution-related documents, etc. If a passenger dies on the ship, if any accident with the ship, the Bahamian authority will have to do the investigation.
tribanon 3 years, 1 month ago
Oh, really! And who pays for all of this? Please, there's only so much laughter I can handle. LMAO
dwanderer 3 years, 1 month ago
So then, if there is an outbreak of any sort on these ships in a post-Covid era, as a home port will the Bahamas then be responsible for evacuating all ailing passengers & crew, and quarantining those remaining? As a country, are we capable of dealing with an emergency of this magnitude? In all reality, the only reason these ships want to home port here now is to circumvent the current multiple CDC requirements due to Covid. It might seem like a good proposition until the unforeseen happens.
SP 3 years, 1 month ago
For 3 decadesthe mountain of complaints generated by exiting vacationers was there not being enough for tourists to do in Nassau.
Before we double down on stupid with even more environmentally unfriendly cruise ships, and many thousands more complaining tourists, we need to figure out how to upgrade our product!
It would be suicide as a resort destination to bring in more tourists than we can adequately entertain. What is the plan to clean up Bay Street east of East Street to PI bridge & popular tourist stops like over the hill areas? What will be done about the notoriously disgusting well documented "F-" frontline jetski, hair braiders, souvenir hawkers, and hundreds of ignorant thieving taxi cab drivers?
People travel to experience different cultures. What is the plan to GREATLY improve nightlife, native shows, and overall cultural tourism experiences?
Just bringing in more tourists without providing the proper infrastructure to deal with them is a no-brainer sure recipe for failure, and the cruise industry will absolutely no problem throwing the Bahamas under the bus to make themselves look good!
The Bahamas could benefit tremendously from the basic concept of homeporting cruises. However, on the flip side, it could easily become a huge disaster if not managed properly.
I strongly suggest we tread slowly in this direction until we put things in place to deal with a massive inflow of tourists.
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 1 month ago
I really really hope they didn't bend over for this deal. These cruise lines want to get here as badly as we want to have tourists here. They want to test their outbreak risks and protocols as close to the US as possible. I hope we didnt tell them they could dump anywhere and doc anywhere or that we'd accept any costs or risks associated with sick patients
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID