The Tribune

• Cruise port chief ‘very confident’ enough visitors for all

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau Cruise Port’s top executive says he is “absolutely not worried” about Royal Caribbean’s $100m Paradise Island project sucking away passengers to the detriment of his facility and other Bahamian-owned businesses.

Michael Maura told Tribune Business he is “very confident” there will be sufficient visitor volumes to support his $300m project, Bay Street and downtown Nassau merchants, restaurants and straw vendors, and all cruise-reliant industries once the cruise giant’s Royal Beach Club opens in 2025.

Noting that there will be days when Nassau Cruise Port receives as many as 30,000-plus passengers, he argued that not all will want “to go and sit on a beach” but, instead, seek out authentic Bahamian experiences involving this nation’s culture, heritage, cuisine and other unique aspects.

For that reason, Mr Maura renewed his call for Bahamian investors and entrepreneurs to invest in tours, excursions and attractions that will deliver such experiences ahead of Royal Caribbean’s beach club project becoming operational, advocating that “there’s a lot to go around” in terms of sheer visitor numbers.

“I’m very confident,” the Nassau Cruise Port chief replied, when asked whether there are sufficient visitor volumes to support the Royal Beach Club as well as Bay Street, downtown Nassau and other cruise-reliant industries. “Not everybody wants to go and sit on a beach when they’ve sat on a beach several times during their cruise as well as likely gone to Coco Cay as well.”

The latter is Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Berry Islands, and Mr Maura added: “There’s a lot to go around. The challenge we continue to have, as of today, is we need more for people to do. We as Bahamians, as The Bahamas, need to invest in experiences, invest in the polishing of our heritage sites, invest in our downtown.

“Obviously we’ve [at the cruise port] made a significant investment in entertainment, food and beverage, and Bahamian authenticity at the port. But people want to see more than that. People take cruises to foreign destinations to experience foreign cultures, different people, to go back with stories about The Bahamas.

“While that includes having a lovely time on a beach, it’s hard to distinguish one beach experience from another when getting into the cuisine, heritage and culture of a people, of an island, is what they come from. Am I worried about the Royal Beach Club? Absolutely not,” the cruise port chief continued.

“Royal Caribbean will need to bring more people to Nassau, and the bookings we have for Royal Caribbean show they will be increasing their calls, they will be increasing the number of people and there will never be a ship that comes to Nassau and all the passengers go to the Royal Beach Club. It just never happens. We have a great opportunity in front of us.”

Bay Street merchants, restaurants and others who rely on the cruise industry have previously voiced fears that if Royal Caribbean’s Paradise Island project received the go-ahead it will have negative impact on their businesses, downtown Nassau and the wider economy by reducing the customer pool available to them.

This concern was echoed by Audrey Oswell, Atlantis president and managing director, who in voicing the mega resort’s opposition to the cruise giant’s plans wrote: “The proposed beach club project would ensure that thousands of Royal Caribbean visitors to Paradise Island will bypass our downtown, negatively impacting merchants, restaurants and other venues that rely on tourism...

“The increased volume of activity in Nassau harbour to support the beach club operations will potentially restrict further expansion of marinas, the re-establishment of seaplane service for Paradise Island, development opportunities on Paradise Island and in the blighted waterfront areas of downtown Nassau, as well as other commercial vessel activity.”

Mr Maura, though, said Nassau Cruise Port’s transformation into six berths, with the ability to accommodate two of the largest Oasis class cruise ships at any given time, meant there will be days when more than 30,000 passengers will in Nassau with most exiting the ship seeking activities to do. The cruise port has set a present daily record of 28,554 passengers, who were received on February 27, 2023, despite the ongoing construction work.

“We will definitely have spikes of 30,000-plus in a day,” Mr Maura said. “If you had to average it out, we probably average between 12,000 and 13,000 passengers per day over the year but, again, we’re going to have these spikes of 30,000 visitors per day.

“We have some days where we don’t have any ships; very few of those, and if we have one ship a day that’s 5,000. The bottom line on this is 12,000-13,000 visitors on a given day on average is a lot of people to invite to experience our Bahamas.

“They would have had several opportunities to visit a beach some place else. We will find, as we do when we vacation, they want to experience more than a beach. I’m absolutely confident we will do well by the Royal Beach Club, and do well by other investments in and around New Providence, and provide more things for visitors and Bahamians to do. When a destination has a lot to do, a lot of stories to tell, a destination has a lot of people.”

Mr Maura said the concerns raised in relation to the Royal Beach Club project had not surfaced when the likes of Atlantis or Baha Mar added new amenities, such as the latter’s Baha Bay water park. “The fact is we’re improving the destination,” he added. “These [projects] make our destination more attractive to families in search of a vacation.”

Royal Caribbean has yet to respond to the environmental and economic issues raised by Atlantis and Ms Oswell last week. She had argued that approval of the the cruise line’s $110m Paradise Island project is “premature” and urged Bahamians to call on the Government to “put the brakes on”.

She also argued that there are “too many red flags” and unanswered questions related to the development, adding that Atlantis had raised some 50 queries relating to environmental issues when the project was first unveiled for public consultation by the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) but had not received a single answer.

Tribune Business understands that Royal Caribbean was blindsided by Atlantis and Ms Oswell going public with their concerns and criticisms. It is understood that the cruise line had previously reached out to the mega resort over its plans, due to the fact the two will become western Paradise Island neighbours, and was seeking to respond to its queries, but in some instances is unable to do so because designs are still being completed for wastewater and other systems.

Referring to the Government’s announcement that Royal Caribbean’s project has been approved, subject to obtaining all necessary environmental approvals, the Atlantis chief said: “I believe the green light is premature, with so many unanswered questions regarding the project’s environmental and economic impact still to be addressed.......

“What is needed now, before it’s too late, is a heightened level of scrutiny and discourse. Too much is at stake to stay silent. It has not been confirmed that the Royal Caribbean project does not pose serious threats to our beautiful beaches, marine life and their habitats. If this residential land is overdeveloped or the beaches and coastline altered in anyway, the Paradise Island coastline, Cable Beach, Saunders Beach and our economic livelihood stand to suffer.”