By DENISE MAYCOCK 

Tribune Freeport Reporter 

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

LOCAL business owners and tour operators claim they have experienced a sharp decline in visitors — as much as 90 percent for some — since the opening of Carnival’s new $600 million Celebration Key cruise port in East Grand Bahama.

The significant decline in foot traffic and bookings with local tour operators has left many struggling to stay afloat, prompting a series of meetings with tourism stakeholders and government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investment, and Aviation Chester Cooper.

David Wallace, operator of Pirate’s Cove Zipline and Water Park, said while he continues to believe that Celebration Key is an excellent project for the island of Grand Bahama, the economic fallout for independent operators has been greater than expected.

At Pirate’s Cove, the number of visitors has plummeted within the past two months.

He reported that when Carnival came to Freeport Harbour with one of their cruise ships, they could have gotten 400 tourists, 200 by tour bus and 200 by taxi.

“Now, we are getting about 26 to 30 by tour bus from Celebration Key,” he said. “That number for us, while it is better than nothing at all, cannot sustain this operation.”

Prior to the opening of Celebration Key, Carnival cruise ships called at Freeport Harbour about 15 times per month, bringing about 350,000 persons each year. 

The cruise line will now be calling about 40 times per week, making over 2,000 calls at the new port, and bringing about 2.5million passengers annually.

Many local businesses expanded their operations in anticipation of the new port opening. But within the first two months, they have seen great decline.

“A group of business persons, tour operators, transportation providers, and straw vendors came together to see how we can get a greater number of visitors and discuss what has been happening to our businesses since the opening of Celebration Key,” he said.

“We have invested our life savings into our companies, and we’re looking for a way to coexist,” Mr Wallace said.

The group met with Grand Bahama Port Authority president and Promotion Board chairman Ian Rolle, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president Dillon Knowles, and government officials.

“Just on Sunday, we had a meeting with the Government of The Bahamas, the Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, and Ginger Moxey, the minister responsible for Grand Bahama, to make them aware of some of the challenges and to give them some suggestions on the way forward so that we can both coexist,” Mr Wallace said.

Among the recommendations raised was that Carnival continue to have some of its ships call on Freeport Harbour to help drive more foot traffic to local businesses.

“If they can do two calls on Freeport Harbour while they are expanding Celebration Key, that will help because it helps with the foot traffic down at the harbour with the vendors and the tours being sold there,” he said.

Business owners are also seeking to work with the government, Promotion Board, and cruise line to encourage passengers to visit Port Lucaya Marketplace, the Straw Market, Garden of the Groves, and other attractions.

Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president Dillon Knowles said the problem is not that Carnival isn’t bringing visitors, but that most passengers are choosing not to leave the new port.

“After plunking down $600 million to build Celebration Key, Carnival has routed all of their cruise ships there, which is understandable,” Mr Knowles said. “The novelty of Celebration Key, however, has resulted in passengers finding it intriguing and interesting to stay there and not venture out into the wider Grand Bahama business environment.”

He said vendors operating inside Celebration Key are doing well, but those outside have seen a “drop off in foot traffic somewhere in the order of maybe 80 to 90 percent” compared to when ships docked at Freeport Harbour. “That is a serious challenge for them,” he added.

Mr Knowles believes the situation will improve once passengers tire of the new attraction and begin exploring the island. But he stressed that immediate action is needed.

“The short-term challenge that we have is to entice more passengers to leave the key and come on excursions into the wider Grand Bahama,” he said. “That’s mostly a marketing issue. We need the operators, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Grand Bahama Island Promotion Board collectively to engage in an all-out campaign to market Grand Bahama.”

Mr Knowles said some recommendations were for Carnival to route some its ships to Freeport habrour, and make it easier and more affordable for passengers to travel from Celebration Key to other parts of Grand Bahama. He added that it was suggested that the Ministry of Tourism should have a presence at the port to provide visitors with accurate information about the island, and that tour operators should have better access to the site to collect guests booked for excursions.

Mr Knowles said while Carnival is expected to bring millions of passengers to Grand Bahama over the next few years, with projections of up to six million by 2027, local operators only need a small portion of those visitors to benefit.

“We don’t need all of those passengers to come out of the key in order to flood Grand Bahama with prosperity. We only need a small portion,” he said. “This is not an insurmountable task, but timing is a problem for entities that are struggling. So, we do need to act quickly.”