The Euromoney Caribbean Investment Forum held in La Romana focused on how a destination can gain amidst the strong cruise ship travel trends in the market. During a tourism conference held as part of the conference, panelists discussed options.
Dominican Rafael Blanco, of La Romana/Bayahibe hotels feels there can indeed be synergies to turn what could be a negative into a positive. He points to the fact that the cruiseship market is the fastest growing segment in the Caribbean, and that cruise ships are today destinations in themselves or potential formidable competitors to land-based hotel operations. In the best of all worlds, he feels the Caribbean should unite to levy heavier taxes on the ships to help build and sustain facilities. He commented that any airline ticket to La Romana will leave US$62 in taxes and airport fees, while maritime passengers will only pay US$10 tourist card. Comparatively, the hotel guest will leave US$1,000 in the country, compared to US$20 for the cruise ship tourist.
But he feels that Caribbean sites can gain by becoming home port for cruiseships. He pointed to the case of the new La Romana terminal where now ships source local produce and guests stay over at the hotels. He mentioned the cooperative effort where a La Romana hotel school trains cruiseship personnel and provides the visiting ships with Dominican crews. Likewise, La Romana benefits because cruiseships bus tourists to Altos de Chavon and Marina shopping centers that are part of Casa de Campo.
Paul Brown of McKinsey Consulting urged Caribbean countries to work closely with the cruise ship operators to get across to visiting short-stay tourists the message that the destination is worth returning to.
Fernando Gomez, president of the Juan Dolio Hotel Association, concurs that the cruise ships need not be seen as competitors. ?What has to be done is to find ways to promote the Caribbean destinations more effectively on board the ships,? he told his audience. ?We need to draw bridges so that the governments and cruise lines can work together to make joint promotions.?