These days, and I mean for some time now, this is what I see...
The Carnival Victory
One solitary cruise ship making its way into our Bridgetown Harbour.
I can depend on her arriving around 7.15a.m.
This happens every Wednesday morning with no fanfare...just an old girl heading for port.....
With a determination and a loyalty that becomes her, she cruises slowly into the bay, and then is met by the tug boat to guide her carefully to a safe docking.
Safe and sound for the day...... she is berthed..
Once we had our sugar as the number one revenue earner for this island. After the closure of all of the sugar factories, with the exception of one, we now only have tourism as our main revenue earner.
"Tourism is our business"......"let's play our part" is what we hear being drilled into our ears everyday.
If this is so, how come, we only have one cruise ship, visiting these shores once a week, for the past months and for a few more to come?
The person or persons to whom this job belongs, had better wake up...and soon.
I have to say that I always thought that tourism from the sea was one of the mainstays of tourism in the Caribbean so how is it that Barbados is losing out now? Is the same happening to other Islands?
ReplyDeleteGB, honestly our tourist season runs from December until April, and that is when we have the most tourist arrivals on the island (including cruise ships).
DeleteHowever, I think we did ourselves a disservice by over pricing ourselves out of what was once a very lucrative market. I don't think our visitors see our island as a "value for money" destination anymore...our prices are too high...living here is VERY expensive!!
She's a beauty though!
ReplyDeletem.
Yes Mark she is a beauty in her own right. You should see the other monstrosities that dock here during the peak season (Dec - April).
DeleteI think it's the economy. Most people just can't afford luxury vacations right now. Plus, a lot of weird things have been happening on cruise ships lately so maybe people are pursuing different tourist spots. I would LOVE to visit Barbados but just can't afford it with my daughter headed to college soon.
ReplyDeleteTammy you are right about the economy....and I hear what you are saying about recent cruise ship happenings. That is actually why my friends and I cancelled our cruise trip this year.
ReplyDeleteAnytime you are in Barbados, just pop on by, I would love to meet you.
Congrats on your daughter heading off to college...best of luck in her studies.