By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Grand Bahama business owner yesterday asserted the island is no longer benefiting from the economic “trickle down effect” of cruise tourism following the opening of Carnival’s $600m Celebration Key.

Tony “Zips” Hanna, owner of Tony Macaroni’s Conch Experience, said the number of cruise visitors participating in local activities at Taino Beach and surrounding areas has dropped significantly since the opening of the cruise line's private port. He added that most cruise passengers now remain within the private enclave, leaving local businesses cut off from a vital tourism revenue stream.

Speaking to Tribune Business, Mr Hanna said that since Celebration Key’s debut, Carnival and its affiliates have monopolised the cruise passenger experience, controlling nearly all aspects of guest spending including tours, transportation and retail.

“Carnival is making all the tourism sales, including souvenirs, transportation, tours - everything they control from that ship. Before Celebration Key came to this island, these local businesses shared a small portion from their cruises," he explained.

"Now, the only person benefiting from Carnival cruises are the vendors who they hire to work for them and Carnival itself. No money is floating down. The trickle down effect for tourism in Grand Bahama is gone since Carnival has opened up."

The shift has impacted not only beachside vendors but also operators at Freeport Harbour, who have seen cruise traffic decline as vessels now dock at Celebration Key instead. Dillon Knowles, president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, confirmed the downturn, noting that excursion operators and harbour vendors are among the hardest hit.

“Carnival has shifted its passengers from Freeport Harbour to Celebration Key. Freeport Harbour is definitely showing a huge downturn in vessel calls, and therefore passengers. That is having a significantly negative impact on the vendors at the harbour, as well as on the excursion operators, who would have had first dibs at the passengers that were coming to the harbour, because they were excited to leave and go somewhere else in order to experience Grand Bahama and experience The Bahamas,” said Mr Knowles

Despite the decline, Mr Knowles remains cautiously optimistic. He believes the current lull in demand for onshore experiences is temporary, as repeat visitors to Celebration Key may eventually seek new experiences beyond the facility.

“Most of the passengers that they're bringing are staying at Celebration Key for the time being. But the way I see it is as Carnival is now scheduling every one of the trips to cut through Celebration Key, it's only a matter of time before people start having Celebration Key as a repeat stop on their itinerary, and I would imagine at that point in time, people want to get outside of Celebration Key and do more than just sit in the pool drinking pina coladas,” said Mr Knowles.

“From my perspective, there's a short-term low in excursions and other on-island activities. But I don't see this lasting indefinitely.”

Mr Knowles added that although the industry is facing “growing pains,” he sees opportunities for local businesses to adapt. He urged tour operators and vendors to innovate and collaborate to draw passengers beyond the borders of Celebration Key and into the wider Grand Bahama community.

“The operators need to come together and figure out how to weather this short-term storm, and develop themselves in a way that they can encourage these passengers to come outside of Celebration Key and experience Grand Bahama. From the Chamber's perspective, we see lots of opportunity, but there's some growing pains, too,” said Mr Knowles.