Total calls on Bahamian ports by the cruise ship industry were down by 7.3 per cent for the first 10 months in 2005, data from the Ministry of Tourism has revealed.
Combined calls based on first and second port of entry were down from 2,054 in the period to October 2004 at 1,905 in the 2005 comparative period. This was slightly reflected in the total cruise arrivals figure for the same period, which had fallen by 1.8 per cent to 3.53 million from 3.596 million.
Cruise calls on Nassau/Paradise Island, by first and second port of entry to the Bahamas, were down by 2.3 per cent for the first 10 months in 2005, having fallen from 921 in 2004 to 900.
Calls
While total cruise calls on Nassau/Paradise Island were up by 4.8 per cent at 305 in the 2005 first quarter, they fell by 11 per cent in the second quarter to 258, compared to 290 in the same period in 2004.
Cruise calls to Nassau/Paradise Island increased upon 2004 during the 2005 third quarter, rising by 3.7 per cent to 250 from 241. However, this figure was achieved by a 28.6 per cent increase during September, a statistic probably influenced by the fact that there were no hurricanes during 2005, unlike 2004.
The decline in cruise calls by first and second port of entry was most pronounced in Grand Bahama, where they fell by 22 per cent in the first 10 months of 2005 to 442 from 567.
Total cruise calls fell by 42.2 per cent in the 2005 first quarter to 126, compared to 218 the previous year. They were also down by 27.2, per cent in the third quarter, but were up 3 per cent in the 2005 third quarter.
Again, the latter statistic is likely to have been influenced by the absence of hurricanes in September, 2005, as calls on Grand Bahama during that month increased by 100 per cent to 54 calls in October were ahead by 20 per cent at 54, something that might have been influenced by the cruise lines redeploying- ships away from hurricane-damaged Cozumel and Cancun.
The Family Islands, which contain the cruise lines’ private islands – their favourite destinations, remained the best ports of call by first and second entry, with calls for the first 10 months only down by 0.5 per cent at 563.
For the whole Bahamas, cruise calls by first and second port of entry were down by 13.3 per cent and 13.1 per cent respectively for the 2005 first and second quarters. They were up by 4.1 per cent in the third quarter, largely due to the absence of hurricanes.
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor
