Wright predicts a slow crawl back for cruise industry

As Barbados gets ready for a possible mid-July resumption date for cruises, one investment and financial advisor is warning officials in Bridgetown and other Caribbean cruise destinations to start investing in key measures to accommodate a new-look industry.

At the same time, Executive Vice President of Standard International Group André Wright told Barbados TODAY that officials should be careful not to get their hopes up for any major boon from the cruise industry over the next 12 months.

Wright is predicting that it will be “a slow crawl” back to 100 per cent capacity due to several factors, including some scepticism among would-be travellers and crew members.

“A lot of the cruise lines are saying they would like to start after July 4 with fully-vaccinated passengers and crews. They are going to operate at about 50 to 60 per cent and they are going to try to increase that under the Conditional Sailing Order,” said Wright.

He said while this will be a “good start” and it was expected to help destinations to some extent, he was very reserved about the spillover effects that countries such as Barbados could get in the first several months if certain changes were not made now.

Chief among those measures, he said, was for governments to invest in retrofitting their ports to accommodate larger vessels and upgrade of port facilities.

“The vessels are getting larger . . . if your port cannot accommodate that type of vessel it is going to be difficult for that vessel to berth into your port. So we have been looking at expansion, [and] improvement to port facilities to accommodate these larger vessels that are coming on stream,” said Wright.

“I believe the host governments need to have very clear, written policies for health and safety not only for the cruise lines and their passengers, but also for the community. The community needs to be sure that when these passengers disembark in Barbados that they are going to be safe and they want to have that assurance,” he added.

He also suggested that Barbados and other homeport destinations will need to “revisit” their rates and charges to the cruise lines.

“This is a very good time for countries to look at the experiences that they are offering to the cruise passengers. That is where they fall the shortest. There are not enough experiences on the islands for the number of cruise passengers that come on those ships. Those are the areas I think are worth taking a strong look at and making the proper improvements,” he said.

Wright also cautioned that becoming a major homeport for cruise lines, countries should have plans in place to mitigate against possible logistics concerns relating to the transfer of passengers.

Just over a year ago when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, hopes of Barbados having a second record cruise tourist season were dashed as the industry came to a halt. In 2019 Barbados welcomed a record 853,000 cruise passengers.

With the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issuing new guidelines under the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, some cruise lines have already indicated their willingness to resume service from Barbados and other destinations this summer with fully COVID-19 vaccinated passengers and crew members.

The CDC guidelines for cruise lines require them to establish COVID-19 prevention agreement with ports from which they intend to operate. This would include routine testing of crews and plans to incorporate vaccination strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread among crew and passengers.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins recently indicated that she was looking forward to welcoming cruises back to Barbados’ shores and that she was “pleased” with the outlook for the restart of the industry.

However, she has insisted that safety will remain a priority for both visitors and locals as authorities seek to help restore confidence.

Wright said he believed the Caribbean was still a top choice destination for cruises because of the uniqueness of every island, competitive prices and the ease of access, when compared to other destinations.

However, in a conservative outlook, Wright told Barbados TODAY if cruises were to resume to the region in July he did not see any major pick-up in economic activity from that industry until around 2022.

“If they start in July . . . I don’t see them getting back to 100 per cent capacity until at least a year from now because there are still variants of COVID around.

He also warned “Not all passengers will disembark and spend money in Barbados. Some would stay on board and take advantage of the activities being provided to them on the vessel.”

(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)