The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.ne

IF THE Bahamas is to remain a top cruise destination it must work to reinvent itself, providing new alternative excursions for cruise passengers and not relying so much on amenities at hotels like Atlantis, according to a leading cruise line executive.

“The Bahamas, with millions of passengers, needs to look at this industry with great interest,” Giora Israel, Senior Vice President of Port Development for the Carnival Corporation, told The Tribune.

“You always did, you always had a lot of business, but being one of the top destinations in the world for cruise lines does not mean to take it for granted.”

Mr Israel thinks that the country’s two main ports, in Nassau and Freeport, are “lacking a great deal of alternative excursion” for passengers.  

“In Nassau, we have a lot of short cruises, we have a lot of repeat passengers, and I like to go up the Queen’s Staircase and see the Octagon and the Court House, and walk up and down Bay Street. But there are only so many  times I can do it,” he said.  

He reported that, on average, 50 per cent of their customers are repeat or return customers. “So when a 3,000-passenger ship comes, it is very likely that half of them have been once, twice, or three times to Nassau. So we are lacking a great deal of alternative excursion and opportunity for the people to do.  

“Today, one of the biggest attraction is Atlantis. Let’s think about it – Atlantis is an amenity of a hotel, Atlantis is not the Bahamas; they did a great job there, but at the end of the day our best-selling tour is to visit an amenity of a hotel.

“Let’s create another offering where we take people to experience other tour opportunities, whether by land or by sea. So this is very important for Nassau because there are cruises where 60 to 70 per cent of the people have been there, and … not everybody gets off the ship in Nassau; they have been there, they have been up and down Bay Street.”

The Carnival executive said old cities like London and Paris have something new every year or two. “So, for a destination to remain current, it needs to reinvent itself, and I think that is the issue for Nassau.”

In Freeport, he pointed out that the current location of the port is a challenge. 

“It is a challenge that it is far away, it is a challenge that our crew do not have enough opportunity to travel themselves. Freeport is not necessarily the most beloved destination for our crew, and the crew is very important on a big ship with 1,200 crew members that come back once a week. If the crew is happy, then it means the passengers are happy.”

“So we need to make sure in Grand Bahama that we have a more robust body of tours. It is a big island and we can do much more than we have.”

Mr Israel believes that Freeport has more opportunity for long-term development than Nassau, which is heavily populated, and open spaces are limited.

He said that there needs to be more development in Grand Bahama by private enterprises. “It is the job of the government to encourage the GBPA (Grand Bahama Port Authority) to encourage and allow development of those businesses so we can have a great robust product,” he added.