Cruise boom bypasses taxis; drivers call for more work

Despite a rise in cruise ship arrivals, transfer passengers and smaller vessels fail to generate significant business for Bridgetown Port taxi operators, they said on Monday.

Stephen Clarke, president of the Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-operative Society Ltd, told Barbados TODAY that while the port may host up to five ships a day, the size and occupancy of the vessels do not translate into increased income for his members.  

“If you put five cruise ships in, but only one big ship and four small ships, you have approximately 5 000 people,” he said.  

Barbados expects an increase in cruise calls for the 2024/2025 winter season, with 698 580 passengers from 398 calls. 

But Clarke noted that several ships docking at the port are transfer ships, which usually do not use taxi services.  

“I don’t want people to go out there and say because we have five cruise ships in today, that boils down to a lot of work. No, it’s not. Cruise ships are very small. On Saturday, we had five cruise ships, but four of those were transfer ships. A lot of transfer work does not filter down to the taxi operators in the port,” Clarke explained.  

He explained that most of the ships that bring business to taxi drivers are American cruise ships. “If we don’t have American ships coming to Barbados on a regular basis, there’s very little work we’re going to get. The European ships are coming here, but they are transferring with the agent and not with the ordinary taxi driver.”  

The Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-op Society president added: “People get on the cruise ship, get off the ship in Barbados and fly home. A lot of that work does not filter out to our taxi drivers. We do get some, but not the majority.”  

Clarke said there has been an increase in European ships conducting transfers lately.  

“Recently, we’ve seen a lot of European ships instead of American ships. If the American ships are coming here, they don’t transfer for the American ships. So most of the work will filter out to us. But the European ships are doing mostly transfers.”  

He described how those vessel visits affect taxi operators: “We had a cruise ship on Friday, 3 500 people. Half of those people are going to transfer. If we cut 3 500 in half, we’re going to have 1 750. 1 750 passengers divided into the whole of Barbados does not stand to get a lot of work for our drivers.”  

Clarke is however optimistic that business will improve for Christmas and into the New Year, as taxi drivers have no choice but to accept whatever the industry offers.  

“Last month was not as good as we expected in previous Novembers. Hopefully, in December or January, the work will improve.” 

louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb