The St. John’s Harbour has now welcomed more than 100th cruise ship calls this year.
Less than two months into the new year, close to 200,000 cruise passengers have already visited the country.
General Manager of Antigua Cruise Ports Ltd. (ACP), Dona Regis-Prosper, made the announcement when on Saturday she revealed that the St. John’s Harbour had surpassed the 100th call of 2023 and welcomed 181,917 passengers.
In the same period last year, Antigua and Barbuda had only welcomed 82,232 cruise passengers.
Regis-Prosper noted that several factors contributed to the country’s strong performance a mere 49 days into the new year.
“Antigua and Barbuda’s strong tourism brand power, coupled with a strategic marketing and port development i.e. the Fifth Berth, and overall product development all contributed.
It is a collaborative effort between ACP/Global Ports Ltd. and the Ministry of Tourism, and Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority.
“The planning cycle for cruise tourism is about two years, and now, two years later, we have been working very closely with the Minister of Tourism, Charles Fernandez, along with the ABTA is meeting with various cruise operators both in Europe and North America. These discussions are now bearing fruit,” she said.
ACP’s general manager is also very optimistic about the immediate and medium-term outlook of the local cruise industry.
“The rest of the season looks very promising as we are projecting 600,000 passengers by the end of cruise season.
“The summer season looks better with eighteen calls compared with two last year.
“By November 2023, two additional vessels will join the Arvia with homeport operations in Antigua – the Emerald Azzurra and the Royal Clipper – making a total of three vessels that will homeport here,” Regis-Prosper said.
She is of the view that Antigua and Barbuda’s successful performance in cruise tourism is a testimony to the hard work put in across all sectors of the industry.
“It speaks volumes to the combined efforts of all cruise tourism stakeholders including tour operators, taxi drivers, retailers, restaurant operators along with ACP to deliver a superior passenger exotic experience.
“It also speaks to the successful partnership that ACP continues to have with the government of Antigua and Barbuda.”.
Regis-Prosper also provided insight into ACP’s plans for the cruise sector.
“Part of our strategic marketing is to promote an ‘Antigua Cruise’ where luxury vessels will homeport in St. John’s then sail to Falmouth Harbour and then Barbuda. The target for this would be high-end vessels with a capacity of 100 to 150 passengers.
“We are also targeting year-round cruises to boost traffic in the summer period,” she added.
