Competitors poised to dominate cruise shipping Max E. Lambie, contributor
Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism Wykeham McNeil recently announced the expansion of the already congested Ocho Rios cruise ship port with the boast that it intends to be the 'best in the Caribbean'. Even allowing for political hype, it is not clear what is meant as the best but what is of concern to observers close to the industry is that the government's tourism hierarchy might be so much out of touch that they might actually think that making a few improvements will by itself attract more passengers or even hold its own. It is a tall order. At present, Jamaica receives the lowest arrivals of the five ports in the north-western cruise loop which includes The Bahamas, Cayman and Cozu-mel. Ironically, after exploring the issue with analysts who specialise in the finances of the cruise lines such as Carnival, the greatest challenge to Jamaica's recent growth is not harassment - significant as it may be. There are two blockbusters that have silently invaded the market. First, in the last two years Cozumel has tripled its cruise ship landings to the point where it is now the largest port in the world with 2.4-million visitors. Where five years ago it had about the same arrivals as Jamaica, now it receives over two-and-half times. The Bahamas was the leader, three years ago, in the Caribbean and in the central americanloop of which Jamaica is one of the ports of call. It had a 21 per cent decline in the last three years as Cruises sifted to Cozumel en masse. But Bahamas will be booming again by next year and though it will attract new business it will also take some away from Jamaica especially if the market remains tight because of the downturn in the US economy. But what is the magic wand that Cozumel and The Bahamas have found?. Both have taken a page out of Las Vegas' book and have gone for theme attractions in a big way. In the case of Cozumel, they already had the ancient ruins of the Mayas and with slick promotions they have made the attraction sound as significant as the pyramids of Egypt. From one lands at Cancun airport even the immigration officers are promoting the Mayan monuments. But it is the Bahamas' Atlantis attraction that will explode their cruise business. In fact, Disney is even releasing a film on the 'lost city of Atlantis' and predicts that the release will be second only to Pearl Harbour. Disney cruise lines a have also signed an agreement with the government of The Bahamas to transport visitors from Disneyland to Atlantis. The Bahamas should see a jump in cruise ship visitors of at least 50 per cent in 2001. The message for Jamaica is that they have depended for too long on Dunn's River and even that they have failed to monitor it properly. In terms of new attractions, they have talked incessantly without action, The much vaunted Port Royal attraction is yet a dream because much of the concept is flawed. In any event the attractions are needed on the north coast. Max Lambie is a management consultant.
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