The Antigua government has for the first time admitted that the recent pull out by Caribbean Cruise Lines has a lot to do with its agreement with Global Port Holdings or GPH.
GPH recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government to negotiate a long-term concession for cruise port operations in the country, including St. John’s cruise port where most of the passenger traffic is concentrated.
The thirty-year agreement includes the financing of the fifth cruise pier to accommodate the OASIS Class vessels, and additional investments aimed at improving the shopping and other entertainment amenities for disembarking cruise passengers in and around Heritage Quay.
When Carnival Cruises cancelled all of its stops to Antigua, it said it was simply due to a change its itinerary.
But now Information Minister, Melford Nicholas told reporters in St Johns that its decision to enter into the multimillion-dollar agreement with the London-based company may be the real reason.
“It (the pull out) was because of their concern with the GPH agreement and it is their perception that it would be bad for their business, “Nicholas said.
Carnival had four cruise ships scheduled to visit Antigua through 2020.
Now, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic, Carnival Legend, and Carnival Pride will visit an alternative port instead of Antigua.
Last weekend, the Antigua and Barbuda government said it was prepared to hold talks with the Carnival Cruise Lines this week.
The meeting could be held in Antigua or Miami.
Dominica needs to be aggressive and grab this opening. We should be always prepared to do what’s necessary for our citizens.
LIke asking all Dominicans in Antigua to come back home since Carnival and all its sunsidiaries have moved out of Antigua and Barbuda. Domnijet cette really famally wetchet
Strange to see a government admit to something, we dont have that there in Dominica. Cause it is , and i quote “None of your D*** business”
Good point Iamanidiot about Government admitting the facts. When I read the article, I wondered if Antigua and Barbuda sells Truth serum. Love your handle by the way. It takes an intelligent person to use such a handle.
So there is no comment about the inclusion of Carnival in the new port for Dominica What hypocrisy.
Tourism is like a sieve,, there is too much seepage of revenue out the country. It’s a lot of money for government to maintain the air and sea ports. It’s no wonder the Antigua government is making plans to privatize the day to day operations of their sea port. Now, even more of the revenue collected will go overseas. Our governments invest too heavily in the tourism sector, we need to invest much more in the agricultural sector, our human resources and in local small and medium size businesses.
Not very often I support a post that has been flagged. Governments in the region must watch where they invest. A lot of companies are taking decisions based on geopolitical positions. As a result you can be left in the cold after spending so much money to upgrade tourism plants. There needs to be more investment in areas which are not affected by external shocks brought to bear by corporations. So I concur with you. Invest in cottage industries, agriculture etc. These countries to d it convenient to black list us because they don’t want us to assert our economic independence. At the same time we import so much goods from these countries that create health problems for our population. On another note I fully endorse the $US10.00 imposed by DASPA for all persons entering Dominica by sea or air. If we cannot make it one way we must try another.
I agree with you wholeheartedly except for your mistaken assertion on the imposition of higher taxes by DASPA. This is a case where more will be less. The anemic economy is already overburdened with taxes. The ordinary person will now be disinclined to travel as frequently as he did before especially as a family group. Therefore, the government coffers will suffer.This exorbitant tax is a disincentive to leave port.
Can thay renegotiate