The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell has pressed Carnival and other cruise lines to ensure Port Lucaya Marketplace gets its share of Grand Bahama's growing cruise traffic, after the closure of Agave Restaurant put about 40 people out of work.

Few of those cruise visitors are reaching the marketplace. Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president Ralph Hepburn has said that on average 7,000 passengers pass through Celebration Key, but fewer than 1,000 typically leave the facility. That limits how many cruise visitors reach businesses elsewhere on the island. Mr Hepburn said this lack of cruise traffic has left the marketplace on life support.

The marketplace’s struggle to draw cruise visitors is not new. In September 2023, when Carnival Dream and Carnival Sunshine brought more than 7,000 passengers to Freeport in a single day, marketplace managers said only one busload of guests, carrying at most 60 people, came to the marketplace. Vendors at the time claimed passengers were being discouraged from visiting, which Carnival denied.

Vendors have also blamed the marketplace’s owners. In January 2025, Mr Mitchell said the owners had failed to deliver the upgrades and investment promised when they bought the property.

Merchants and straw vendors at the marketplace have seen visitor numbers fall since the Grand Lucayan Resort closed, and the opening of Carnival’s Celebration Key has yet to bring the foot traffic many had hoped for

Mr Mitchell responded on Tuesday to the recent closures at the marketplace and the fall in tourist traffic. He said the marketplace’s current owners had committed to a strong marketing and promotional campaign to bring more business to vendors, but that this has yet to happen. The PLP is looking to the owners to deliver an ongoing campaign that creates sustainable traffic and business, he said.

He said the government has taken several steps over the years to support vendors at the privately owned marketplace, including relief grants and vouchers, and providing entertainment to draw visitors. He said Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey and the government are working to boost the island’s economy.

Mr Mitchell said Agave’s former staff have been directed to the Department of Labour, the National Insurance Board and other government agencies to make sure they receive the compensation, benefits and support they are entitled to.