By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau Cruise Port's top executive yesterday said The Bahamas must target the "top 10 percent" of cruise visitors with a compelling "value proposition" to realise a "huge" stopover conversion opportunity.

Mike Maura, the Prince George Wharf operator's chief executive, told Tribune Business this nation must develop a "turnkey marketing package" to convince passengers that they will get "a longer, deeper and better experience of The Bahamas" centred on cultural and heritage elements if they return as land-based stopover visitors.

Speaking after the issue of converting cruise visitors to the higher-spending, higher-yielding stopover variety was again raised at last week's Bahamas Business Outlook conference, he added that this nation also needed to focus its efforts on "top tier" passengers who spend thousands of dollars per night for their cabins.

Joy Jibrilu, the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board's chief executive, estimated at the Bahamas Business Outlook conference that converting just 100,000 of the capital's cruise arrivals to stopover visitors would inject an extra $260m in spending - around a quarter-of-a-billion dollars - into this nation's economy per annum.

With Nassau Cruise Port receiving just shy of 4.5m visitors for the 2023 full-year, and projected to set a further record in 2024 with 5.5m arrivals, Mrs Jibrilu signalled that the opportunity for increased cruise conversion will only expand. She added that she had already spoken to the cruise port operator on this, and suggested all tourism promotion boards need to have a presence at Prince George Wharf.

"From an economic standpoint, if you look at 5m people, could you imagine if we get just 1 percent, just 1 percent, even 0.5 percent," the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board chief said. "Let's go to 1,000 people.

"If we put that in dollar terms - I was trying to do some back-of-the-envelope calculation so the accountants don't look at me - that's $260m per annum more; over a quarter-of-a-billion dollars more. That's the incremental growth we're talking about, converting just a minute amount.

"There are constraints. We have to be mindful of that. Those constraints, very quickly, are hotel rooms. Where are we going to put another 100,000 people? How many rooms do we have?" Vacation rentals were one possible solution.

Mr Maura yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that Mrs Jibrilu had been in contact to discuss "how we can advance and support together this conversion of millions of cruise passengers. He acknowledged, though, that cruise conversion - getting passengers to come back to The Bahamas as higher spending stopovers with a greater economic impact - has been discussed for decades.

"Given that Nassau was blessed with about 4.5m passengers in 2023 and with over 5.5m forecast for 2024, what an awesome opportunity to get even a small percentage to return as land-based tourists," he told Tribune Business.

"I think there needs to be a formal marketing campaign that would help these visitors to wake-up to the possibility and opportunity to return. I think the marketing may have to go beyond simply Atlantis advertising Atlantis and Baha Mar advertising Baha Mar. Maybe there could be some combined package with Bahamasair, which many times has built marketing campaigns to get people to visit The Bahamas.

"It really does need to be a turnkey marketing package that gives the air and hotel, or air and accommodation, solution to these cruise passengers to make it as easy as possible for them to consider the value proposition of an air and hotel stay in Nassau or the Family Islands. Nassau Cruise Port is very much open to that."

Mr Maura revealed that the cruise port operator is working with the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation to establish a guest services desk at Prince George Wharf and, rather than have the various private sector promotion boards in different locations which might "confuse" cruise passengers, he suggested they share the same space with the ministry.

However, he reiterated: "I think it's got to be more than simply a a desk or station at the cruise port. There has to be that marketing element and tie-in with hotel properties that is supported by airlift. Mr Maura said that, apart from its proximity to the Florida home ports, Nassau's popularity as a cruise destination also stems from its "value proposition" with passengers able to visit multiple places at 15-20 percent the cost of a hotel stay.

"That's why the marketing campaign is so important," the Nassau Cruise Port chief told this newspaper. "We cannot advertise just come back and stay at one of our hotel properties. We need to give them a price point so they they recognise that they can get a longer, deeper and better experience of The Bahamas by staying more than a day and really immersing themselves in the culture and heritage of the country while enjoying a top-tier hotel experience.

"That's why this marketing campaign needs to increase the price/value proposition for a returning hotel stay experience." Nevertheless, Mr Maura described the cruise conversion opportunity's economic potential as "huge", and added: "In my view we stand a better chance at conversion if we market.... with air and hotel bundled together."

He also sought to dispel the perception that cruise passengers, because they have "taken the affordable way of vacation" via a multi-destination cruise, "don't have the capacity to take an air and hotel vacation. That's not the case at all".

Mr Maura said cruise cabins are sold at multiple different price points. He added that some suites are sold for thousands of dollars per night, and told Tribune Business: "On every cruise ship coming into port you have cabins selling for more per night than Nassau.

"The top tier cruise passenger is the demographic we're talking about going after. The top 10 percent most expensive cruise passengers on board, on that vessel. Ten percent of the cruise passenger population has the potential for the highest-end package.

"We're looking at the top 10 percent, that primary component, and saying come back and stay because at that level you have the greatest potential. You come for a day, and we can give you something compelling from a price perspective but provide a greater immersive experience in The Bahamas."

Based on Nassau Cruise Port's numbers, that 10 percent would translate into around 450,000 based on 2023 arrivals and 550,000 using 2024 projections.