The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A DOWNTOWN Nassau restaurant owner is hoping cruise tourism can make a full rebound earlier than 2021 given that 60 percent of his business is generated by that industry.

George Mousis, the Athena Café’s general manager, told Tribune Business: “Late 2022, not even for next year, but late 2022? Well, that’s unfortunate news. That’s late, especially for downtown merchants and the tour operators and the taxi operators.

“Yeah, that’s a big one. We have to think. We have outdoor dining now; that helps. So, you know, it’s OK, I guess. We have just got to shift our model and, I guess, target local customers. That’s bread and butter. They’re always here.”

Mr Mousis was responding after Mehmet Kutman, chairman of Nassau Cruise Port’s developer, Global Ports Holding, predicted in a recent conference call with analysts that the cruise industry is unlikely to make a full recovery from COVID-19 until the 2022 second half.

He added that the sector is finally likely to resume sailing between February 2021 and April/May next year.

However, that was before the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this weekend raised its warning about taking cruise ship travel from ‘Level 3’ to the highest ‘Level 4’ at the weekend, meaning there was “a very high level of COVID-19” infection possibilities.

“CDC recommends that all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide because the risk of COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high. It is especially important that people with an increased risk of severe illness avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises,” the CDC said in a statement on its website. That, of course, only adds to the uncertainty around the cruise sector’s return.

Asked how much his business depends on the cruise ships, Mr Mousis said: “It depends with the season. But I would say like 60 percent to 40 percent for cruise ship passengers versus the locals. So, obviously now, I guess, you just have to hold on. We’ve got to hunker down and hold tight.

“Just make the best of every situation, and just keep improving and staying on top of things. And, you know, make sure I got a lot of my employees on. We just have to ride this wave out.

“We should have some cruises come in hopefully by early next year. The first quarter. We’ve got a whole lot of things to be positive and optimistic about. So you know we have to try our best. Everyone has to be on their ‘P’s’ and ‘Q’s’ no matter what.”

A Bay Street clothing retailer, speaking on condition of anonymity said: “Well, we’re trying to get the locals. COVID is here and it’s not going anywhere. So it’s expected. It’s not a surprise that the cruise ships will not be coming in.

“I predict that the cruise ships are probably the last people that are coming in since they’re in such a confined space. So we’re actually hoping to get more locals. We’re currently working on our website and we should launch that soon. Hopefully, we’ll start catering to more local clientele. We used to be a local client business many years ago, and everybody now has moved down to Carmichael Road.

“We still have a few locals that have shopped with us, but now we’re trying to get online and I think I think that should help. If it doesn’t, then we’ll close down. Yeah, it’s just that we can’t hold until we know vaccines are in place. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for the vaccine to come. I just don’t know,” they added.

“We’re just holding on. We just opened actually. This is our first week back and we opened on Tuesday. We have we had a few tourists trickling in from yachts. We said we have to give it a try. Because we’ve been closed since March and we had to either open or close down because obviously the expenses are still coming in.”

Edward Robinson, owner/operator of Bonneville Bones, said: “It’s one of the things you really can’t do anything about; you just have to wait until changes come about.” He added that getting local shoppers to come to his location downtown has been “challenging”.

Cathy Moultrie, operations manager at Coin of the Realm, said: “I know there’s no cruise ships right now.

“Right now we’re focused on local business, and trying to promote local business and ShopLocal.

“So that’s our number one thing we’re focusing on right now. Because of our business we are more local business than tourists.

“So the cruise ships being held off until late 2022 really applies more to the jewellers on the street because a lot of them are 100 percent tourists.

I can tell you that we’re happy to be open and we’re really promoting ShopLocal and, you know, promoting local business downtown,” he said.