Taximen not all sharing in cruise visitor surge; some relying on local patronage

Some Bridgetown taxi operators are benefiting from a boom in cruise tourism arrivals; others are feeling the pinch.

On Monday, president of the Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-op Society Limited Adrian Bayley told Barbados TODAY that business was going “quite well” with no major concerns. He described the influx of tourists from cruise ships docking in Barbados as a “blessing” after a non-existent summer tourist season.

“On the business end of it, it could be better but we understand that we are coming out of a COVID-19 situation, where some of the ships are not fully booked. So while there have been some challenges there are not a lot of complaints,” he said.

“The area where we have capitalised on over the last three years is home porting. Both associations in the port have been receiving a bigger percentage of the work moving air to sea passengers, which is an area we would like to see expanded further in the next two years.”

Last month, Minister of Tourism Ian Gooding-Edghill reported that for the 2022/2023 winter season a total of 390 vessel calls were scheduled with a passenger total of 700 000.

Bayley also said there was an increase in people opting to go to mainly South Coast beaches instead of taking an island tour. He expressed his concern about the impact this would have on businesses along the West Coast and other areas across the island.

On a busy day he said about 4 000 to 5 000 people were on the beach at Carlisle Bay while about 400 people were going to the West Coast.

Bayley added that the only major concern at the beginning of the season was parking but the Barbados Port Inc. had addressed the issue.

Meanwhile, other operators in The City have painted a bleak picture.

Those based at the Fairchild Street taxi stand and near the Treasury Building said the benefits were not trickling down to them.

“We have not really been benefiting from the influx of tourists and we were getting more business from locals,” said Akobi McCollin who operates from Fairchild Street.

He and other taxi drivers said they have been getting by transporting clients to and from the supermarket and those shopping for Christmas.

Over by the Treasury, Norrel Webster and other operators also said their income stream was mostly derived from locals.

“There are a lot of tourists on the island but a lot of them are catching the bus,” Webster said. “A lot of them are either going to the beach or on a cruise so we have not seen any uptick in business yet”.

Marlon Pope said that the taxis from the port were benefiting more and they were only getting the “crumbs”.

Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport Roy Raphael, who also represents a large percentage of Bridgetown taxi operators, agreed that his members in the port were seeing some benefits while the others were not.

He said that the organisation wanted to see the majority, if not all taxi drivers learning a new language so they could interact and provide services to tourists who do not speak English.

He added that they were also interested in importing vehicles that would better cater to the disabled.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb