The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce's president yesterday said he is optimistic that Carnival Cruise Line will deliver two million passengers to the island annually once its Grand Port is completed.

James Carey told Tribune Business that merchants and other businesses attended a recent event where Carnival outlined its retail plans for the port and the requirements and standards that vendors must meet.

“They said they are projecting two million passengers on the ground a year, and I did ask what the expected onshore spending will be in whatever period they select. Basically they deferred to the cruise ship association’s estimated per person spending, but I reminded them that they offer themselves up as high end," Mr Carey added.

Carnival has not disclosed its full master plan for proposed cruise port yet, but will soon be forthcoming. “Their master plan is still under design. The pier hasn’t started construction yet, so that is where they’re at. Right now there is nothing visible except for the excavation and the piling and the debris on the ground,” Mr Carey said.

“It’s still early days, but Carnival is very committed, based on their words, to completion of this project and making the Grand Port their premier Carnival port. There are a limited number of [retail] places they have available right now and I don’t remember the number. But a few things they will insist on is properly-run businesses that will add the type of supply, and they are not going to allow any sort of duplication of business.

"These businesses need to be very professional, and they need all of the amenities for sales like point of sales systems and machines to take credit cards.... The question remains as to how many cruise passengers will leave the port and venture outside of the port, which becomes very critical for the island," the Chamber chief added.

"There are a lot of people interested. There was initial talks of everything being channelled through Carnival in terms of sales and the use of Carnival dollars or whatever currency they use on the ship. But that’s not going to happen at the onset. It will just be regular transactions as if they were guests purchasing outside of the port. I think persons are keen that they need to get their act together and get organised to be ready to participate.”