The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister last night warned Bay Street will be at a "full dead stop" for longer after the cruise industry pushed its return into the 2021 second quarter at earliest.

Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that "devastating is the only word to describe" the fact that downtown Nassau, and all the businesses, vendors and employees that rely on the cruise trade for their livelihoods, will now likely go more than a year with the sector being absent.

"With the cruise industry my indications are that has probably been pushed to the second quarter, not the first quarter," he said of the sector's likely return to Nassau and Freeport, in addition to its Bahamian private islands.

"They'll probably start on their test runs kind of in March next year, and paid passengers will not be in April. This is what I'm hearing from the cruise companies. It's unfortunate."

The global cruise industry, which has lost billions of dollars due to its enforced COVID-19 shutdown, is still grappling with understanding, implementing and complying with all the health protocols imposed on it by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in return for a resumption of sailing.

Many observers view events of early 2020 as demonstrating that cruise ships are ideal breeding grounds for the virus, and Mr D'Aguilar said the outcome of the US election and Joe Biden's victory adds "another element of uncertainty to the market" as his administration may not be as eager as Donald Trump to see the industry's rapid return.

"This continues to be devastating," he told Tribune Business of the situation. "There's no other word to describe it. There's nothing going on on Bay Street, and until we get the cruise companies back it's going to be at a full dead stop.

"It's very devastating. There's nothing the Government can do to get the cruise companies to move any faster. We're at the whim of the CDC, and we have to wait patiently until they fulfill those requirements.

"The cruise companies are losing cash at a phenomenal rate so it's important at some stage they get back on stream without going back to the market to raise cash. They might be getting very close to another cash call. We've got to believe with the arrival of a vaccine that's going to open up a lot more options for them to return to service quicker."