Cruise ship arrivals for the entire bahamas were 4.7 per cent of last year’s comparative at August 31, statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism revealed yesterday, with just over two million passengers entering the country for the period.
The increase in cruise arrivals from 1.915 million at August 31, 2002, to 2.004 million this year received a substantial boost from family Island destinations, which experienced an 11.2 per cent jump over the previous year. Total Family island arrivals increased from 648,360 to 720,675, an indication that cruise lines are increasingly taking their passengers to private island destinations such as Half Moon Cay.
Even with a slight reduction in cruise arrivals likely during the hurricane season – and a 25 per cent increase in tug boat fees – the scheduling of cruise ships coming into the Bahamian ports remains stable.
Sources said the new fee structure is not ecpected to have any significant impact on the number of ships calling on the Bahamas. The fees range from $300 for ships weighing less than 5,000 gross tonne, $875 for ships weighing between 25,000 and 30,000 gross tonnes, while ships weighing over 30,000 gross tonnes will now be required to pay $50 for every $1,000 gross tonnes.
Source: Yolanda Deleveaux, The Tribune
