Jamaica tourism stakeholders welcome growing cruise homeporting domestically
The concerted efforts of the Department of Tourism to make Jamaica a major player in the home port of cruises have received overwhelming support from tourism stakeholders in the private and public sectors at local and international levels. The tourism partners are confident that the initiative will bring many benefits.
- The summer tourism season will be a pivotal time for the tourism industry to reopen in Jamaica.
- The last session of online forums hosted by the Knowledge Network of the Tourism Linkages Network explored the topic of “Cruise Homeporting: Benefits to Our Destination”.
- Homeporting offers Jamaica’s local cruise industry a significant transformation opportunity.
Among those who agree that Jamaica has what it takes to reap the benefits of home porting are Minister of State at the Department of Industry, Investment and Trade, Dr. Norman Dunn; Managing Director of Jamaica Vacations Ltd. (JamVac), Mrs. Joy Roberts; Falmouth Cruise Terminal Manager, Mr. Mark Hylton; Executive Director of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ), Ms. Imega Breese McNab; and Operations Lead Specialist for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Ms. Olga Gomez Garcia.
They attended the last session of the online forum series hosted by the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN) knowledge network. The recently held forum dealt with the topic: “Cruise Homeporting: Advantages for our travel destination”. The moderator, director of tourism, Donovan White, said the webinar was held against the background that “the summer tourism season will be a crucial phase for the reopening of the tourism industry in Jamaica and, as such, for initiatives that support and strengthen tourism Promote product through strategic information use will be vital to its success. “
Dr. Outlining the many benefits of cruise homeporting as part of the tourism recovery plan, Dunn said, “Homeporting offers a significant transformation opportunity for Jamaica’s local cruise industry, which may have been the hardest hit subsector in the tourism industry.”
Dr. Dunn said the Caribbean has the advantage of serving over 40 percent of the global cruise market and “Jamaica has a distinct comparative advantage for cruise passengers because of its geographic location and proximity to major tourist markets.”
Ms. Roberts stated that there were great benefits and that the Department of Tourism would work with cruise lines to promote these agreements. She outlined a list of requirements and expectations, and said Jamaica will work closely with cruise lines to remove any hurdles.
Ms. Roberts said there was no doubt that Jamaica would benefit from cruising home porting in a holistic way, “and we will need all hands on deck”. She also announced that plans are underway to develop a cruise home porting policy.
While Mr. Hylton agreed that Jamaica can get many benefits from home porting, he also identified some challenges, including the high cost of airline tickets and the demand for adequate waste and recycling facilities.
“Cruise companies are keen to ensure that they behave in accordance with global environmental requirements. So we need to ensure that solid waste disposal and storage / distribution meet international expectations, ”advised Hylton.
Ms. Garcia also pointed to environmental issues, but claimed Jamaica had what it takes to benefit from the higher multiplier effect of homeporting activities on cruises. Ms. McNab highlighted the importance of partnerships as a way forward and the need for sustainability to ensure that Jamaica not only secures the homeporting business, but is able to sustain it.
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