The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau Cruise Port is projecting 2025 revenues will increase by 59 percent to $78m, its top executive revealed yesterday, with passenger volumes now forecast to rise by a further 300,000 and hit 6.5m.

Michael Maura, the Prince George Wharf operator’s chief executive, told Tribune Business the improved predictions show how cruise tourism is continuing to expand despite last month’s hints that the Trump administration may launch a tax crackdown on operators such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean for using non-US flagged ships.

Disclosing that both Nassau Cruise Port and its controlling 49 percent shareholder, Global Ports Holdings, are continuing with their growth push, he added that some $2m is being invested locally to enhance both ground transportation and provide additional ferry terminal capacity that will service Royal Caribbean’s Paradise Island beach club that is set to open to visitors in December 2025.

And, with Nassau Cruise Port having set a new daily passenger record of 30,598 arrivals last week on March 11, Mr Maura told this newspaper that the projected 2.65m passenger increase above 2019’s pre-Dorian and COVID levels has to be benefiting businesses and their employees who cater to cruise visitors via increased revenues, tips and business volumes.

Asserting that Nassau’s ranking as a cruise destination has also improved in passenger surveys, although further improvement is required, the cruise port chief revealed that 2025 passenger numbers are projected to increase by almost one million or 15 percent compared to 2024 due to strong demand for this tourism segment.

“In 2024, we did 5.65m passengers,” Mr Maura told Tribune Business. “In earlier discussions with you, I had been sharing we expect to to 6.2m in 2025. That number has increased to 6.5m. Obviously that’s a huge increase [of 4.8 percent]. It’s a lot of people. It’s almost one million more than the prior year.

“The business is strong. Our revenues are climbing from $34m in 2023 to $49m in 2024 and to $78m in 2025. The figure for 2025 is projected.” Voicing optimism that cruise tourism, which accounted for 9.5m or 84.7 percent of The Bahamas’ total tourism arrivals in 2024, is shrugging off the uncertainty sparked by Donald Trump’s trade and tariff policies, he added that Nassau Cruise Port is investing in further upgrades.

“We continue to work closely with Royal Caribbean as far as their project on Paradise Island, and the investment we will be making to facilitate the transfer of passengers over to Paradise Island,” Mr Maura told this newspaper. “We are also about to break ground on an improved transportation system that will be part of the ground transportation area we have at Nassau Cruise Port.

“It will be able to efficiently handle the material increase in visitor traffic and people wanting to get a taxi or tour bus and get around New Providence. We’re not only moving people by water  to go to Rose Island, Blue Lagoon or other areas around Nassau.”

As for aiding Royal Caribbean with moving up to 2,700-2,800 passengers a day between the cruise port and its Royal Beach Club project, Mr Maura added: “To go across to Paradise Island, we’re building a ferry terminal that will sit adjacent to the existing ferry terminal that supports water trips around New Providence to other destinations.

“On the land side, we expect to facilitate more tourists that wish to get in or on to a tour by bus. So we will be able to process additional buses that will be able to take people around New Providence. We expect to see an increase in taxi traffic. We’re making improvements to the ground transportation that sits along Woodes Rogers Walk. It’s about taking our facility and changing he traffic flows so we move more people through the space.

“We’ll invest what will probably come to about $2m,” the Nassau Cruise Port chief executive continued. “It’s not a lot of money. We’re essentially enhancing our facility. It’s not as if we’re building a new pier and so forth. The investment is about safety and managing passenger flows.

“We can do it very easily. We’ve got engineers working on it. We’re moving forward. We’re excited about the opportunities that lie in front of us. The business is very strong and we’re very fortunate. Nassau is the busiest transit port in the world. Back on March 11 we had 30,598 passengers, which was a record, and that was a lot of people.

“Those people are most certainly getting into taxis, tour buses, walking through our downtown, going out to Junkanoo Beach, getting on water ferries and taxis to Blue Lagoon, Rose Island and Atlantis. They’re enjoying as much of Nassau and Paradise Island as they can in the time available.”

Mr Maura, pointing out that Nassau has improved on cruise passenger satisfaction surveys to the point where it is mid-ranked among all Caribbean destinations, as opposed to near-bottom, said: “Our passenger rankings are improving. The fact we have more for people to do and see. It’s considerable.

“Years back, Nassau ranked close to bottom in these passenger surveys. We still have improvements that are coming, but right now we are about mid-way. We are continuing to work, to refine our product, improve as to service and creating more exciting things for folks to do. We have all these people at our front door. Let’s encourage them to walk around and enjoy.”

Pointing out that Nassau’s 2025 cruise passenger volumes are forecast to be some 2.65m higher than the 3.85m arrivals in 2019, the last pre-Dorian and pre-COVID year, Mr Maura said much of this growth has been driven by the additional piers and berths added at the cruise port as part of its $320m-plus overhaul and redevelopment.

Cruise tourism has largely been viewed as a ‘numbers’ or mass market/volume business for The Bahamas, and some observers believe the explosive growth this segment has enjoyed since COVID - as well as the ever-increasing expansion and investments by the lines in their private islands - is actually working to this nation’s detriment by luring away visitors from becoming higher-spending stopover visitors.

Land-based tourists typically spend 28 times’ more in the destination than their cruise counterparts. Mr Maura, though, said the extent of the jump in cruise passenger arrivals had to be benefiting Bahamian businesses catering to this tourism segment through the growth in sheer numbers.

“I don’t know if this is the right way to describe it,” he told Tribune Business, “but I think it would be logical to assume, if you will, particularly over the last two years, we’ve added two million more people in 2025 than we had in 2023. 

“If you put two million more people in Nassau, the number of retail and food and beverage outlets has not been able to grow as fast as passenger volumes have grown. I think it would be logical to assume that those businesses that understand the cruise market would have seen their revenues increase from those extra two million people.”

Mr Maura added that, despite the global economic uncertainty, Global Ports Holding “didn’t hesitate for a moment. We’re looking at additional expansion and investment. I’m not talking about Nassau; I’m talking about around the Americas. We have projects that we are about to break ground on, we have projects we have broken ground on, Antigua and St Lucia, and we have a major investment in San Juan, which is US territory”.

As for Mr Trump’s impact, he said: “I think everybody is adapting to the new world.”