Tobago Correspondent
As the 2023-2024 cruise ship season comes to an end, the Tobago House of Assembly(THA) is reporting a 56 per cent increase in visitors to the island.
At a Post-Executive Council media briefing yesterday, Tashia Burris, Secretary for Tourism, Culture, Antiquities, and Transportation, said there were more than 99,000 cruise ship visitors from November to April.
Burris said Tobago had mostly positive feedback from cruise lines about the destination and the tours offered to passengers. She added that some passengers have expressed interest in returning to see more of Tobago.
“And these are numbers that we received from the tour operator who works with the cruise ships that we have. Tobago has seen an increase of almost 56 per cent over last year’s figures and so far, the feedback that we have gotten from cruise ships cruise lines that have been calling to the destination is that the passengers have enjoyed destination Tobago. They have enjoyed the tours on offer. In fact, some of the feedback is that they want to see more of the destination.”
Burris the exception of a transportation issue during the first call, there have been no major incidents involving cruise ship passengers. She was referring to the cancellation of numerous tours in November for 300 tourists on board the Celebrity Silhouette after maxi taxis did not show up.
Burris said she is grateful to all stakeholders involved in making the cruise season a success.
Looking ahead to the 2024-2025 season, she said 40 calls are scheduled, 20 fewer than this year. She explained that most of the cruise ships that come to Tobago are home-ported in Puerto Rico, Antigua, or Barbados and due to a planned cruise ship terminal upgrade in Puerto Rico, there will be a decrease in the number of vessels docking in Tobago.
However, coming out of discussions during her recent visit to Sea Trade, Burris said to offset the decrease in cruise ship calls, the strategy is to target European cruise lines and smaller vessels.
Burris believes this approach will attract more visitors to the island and she has committed to aggressively pursuing this plan over the next two years.