Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez is urging the public to strategically position themselves to reap the benefits that can be derived from the cruise tourism industry.
With the tourism stakeholders just having celebrated the country surpassing its one hundredth cruise call in just two months, Fernandez has expressed satisfaction with the government’s success in rapidly rebounding the cruise tourism sector post-COVID.
With additional growth projected, the tourism minister insists that Antiguans and Barbudans, and particularly entrepreneurs, should benefit economically from this success by offering their services to cruise passengers.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that our people get something out of it because as we say, tourism is everybody’s business, and we have to ensure that that is what it redounds to,” Minister Fernandez said.
“We are right now trying to see how many local Antiguans to add in terms of tours for the industry because come next season, we will definitely need to expand it.”
Fernandez also encouraged those interested in getting into business for themselves to make use of government programmes that support new start-ups with training and financing.
“The government has the Entrepreneurial Development Fund to assist you to get a jumpstart. You come with a good idea, you have some collateral, and we will work to see what we can do to promote the [funding to] assisting you.”
Minister Fernandez added that improving the visitor experience is paramount if the cruise tourism industry is to remain robust.
He also noted that the cabinet has given its approval for a percentage of the funds reserved for marketing to be spent on enhancing the local visitor experience.