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The sun shines on St Thomas
Despite the global downturn, the future of the cruise business in the Caribbean remains bright.
The US Virgin Islands has welcomed some of the world’s largest cruise ships and the port of
St Thomas has been working on new infrastructure to make the island more accessible than ever.
The Carnival Dream approaching St Thomas on its inaugural call on 8 December 2009.
The economic downturn poses many problems for the
leisure and travel sector, not least lower discretionary
spending among travellers and pressure on bookings.
However, there are pockets of the cruise market that have
weathered the storm. The US Virgin Islands, for instance, has a
positive outlook for 2010 and beyond.
“We have been preparing for the visit of the Oasis of the Seas
– the world’s largest cruise ship – and also the Carnival Dream,”
says Edward Thomas, president and CEO of the West Indian
Company (WICO), which manages the cruise port in St Thomas.
“The Oasis will bring 5,000 passengers per week to St Thomas
for retail and tours, so that will have a big impact on our
economy. The Carnival Dream comes every two weeks and
brings over 4,000 passengers, so overall the port is seeing a big
rise in passenger numbers.”
The arrival of these large vessels has proved a challenge for
WICO and it is still busy with its development plans.
Nevertheless, significant improvements to the port’s
infrastructure have already been made, increasing its capacity
and enhancing its links to inland attractions.
“We have had to shift berths because some of the dredging at
the WICO port had not been completed, so the Oasis came first
to Crown Bay. We have, however, worked in dispatching tours in
a new way and part of the road system that was being built is
now open. It is now easier for passengers to get to the town,”
remarks Thomas.
“Some roads in the $20 million project around the part of the
island where we are located have been finished, which means
there is now a dedicated lane of
traffic from the port to town.
There are green lights all the way,
which is important because when
a ship disembarks all of the
passengers arrive at the same
time. When they come back, they
do so sporadically and from
different parts, the shopping
centres or the beach, for example,
so the outbound traffic is the
important thing to manage.”
Harbouring ambition
Discretionary spend among
passengers arriving in St Thomas
has held up well, no doubt helped
by the greater ease with which
people can travel from the port to
town, where they can access its
many high-quality retail facilities.
“We have a lot of people coming here on cruises, and that is
the backbone of our economy. Among Caribbean ports,
St Thomas leads in terms of passenger numbers and cruise
spending. There are also ongoing discussions on the use of
water taxis, though no decision has been made yet. We may look
at that more in the next six months, but any decision will be
informed by what happens this season,” says Thomas.
“For now, we have maximised what we want to do. St Thomas
is the shopping Mecca of the Caribbean, so we have created a
lot of shopping facilities, but we must not create too much. We
don’t want to be oversupplied with jewellery, for example, which
is one of the specialist areas that people look for here.”
The mood in the US Virgin Islands is certainly one of cautious
optimism. With more dredging planned for 2010 to accommodate
the large cruise vessels visiting the port, WICO’s Thomas
remains positive.
“The arrival of the new, big ships has been a success. As well
as the Oasis of the Seas and the Carnival Dream we have NCL’s
Norwegian Pearl, and the Norwegian Epic will be here in the
summer. The Celebrity Equinox visits regularly and there are
many more besides. Business is good.” �
WICO
WICO develops and promotes the attractions and
businesses of the Caribbean. For more information, visit:
www.wico-vi.com
World Cruise Industry Review | www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com 39