Tourism Minister Denise Charles has said that Dominica is expecting an 18 percent increase in cruise ship calls for the 2023-2024 cruise season.
She made the disclosure while speaking to stakeholders at the Goodwill Parish Hall on Thursday.
“Last cruise season we experienced a 24 percent surge in cruise visits with a total number of 186,750 passengers disembarking to explore our natural unspoiled gem, our country Dominica,” she said. “This year we are expecting an 18 percent increase in cruise stops over last year, including major lines such as Celebrity, AIDA, MSC, and Disney Cruise Lines, and returning to us Holland America and Carnival.”
According to Charles, this cruise season the country will receive 12 stops from Norwegian Cruise Lines directly from New York.
“Simply put, cruise-related livelihoods such as taxi, tour operators, vendors, hair braiders, restaurant owners can expect a very good season,” Charles stated.
In May 2023, the tourism minister reported that Dominica has witnessed significant growth in the cruise industry during the 2022-2023 season.
“I am delighted to announce that Dominica witnessed significant growth in the cruise industry during the 2022-2023 season with a 32 percent increase in calls to 189 and a remarkable rise of 44,749 passengers compared to the Pre-Covid 2019-2020 season,” she said.“As we look ahead the 2023-2024 season promises continued growth with an estimated 18.5 percent increase in cruise calls to 224 and a 15.3 percent increase in passengers to 270,000.”
A press release published on Dominica News Online (DNO) on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, indicated that as of April 2023, Dominica received a total of 190 cruise calls and 236,288 passengers for the 2022-2023 cruise season, compared to 189,334 passengers and 143 calls for the 2019-2020 season. This clearly points to an increase of some twenty-five (25) percent over the 2019-2020 figures and signals a strong return to cruise business in Dominica.
Meanwhile, another press release published on DNO on Tuesday, April 3o, 2019, stated that as of January 18, 2019, the projected cruise calls for the upcoming 2019-2020 cruise season was 164 cruise calls. This translates to 286,470 cruise passengers. There was hope expressed then that these figures would increase by the start of the 2019-2020 cruise season, in light of preceding meetings held with the cruise lines.
The 2023-2024 cruise ship season will open in the month of October.
Same Minister that said Kimberly King didnt do anything. Meanwhile she talking about pleased to announce an increase in arrivals? Thank you Kimberly again for your hard work on marketing Dominica. Denise and dem more about making things difficult and fighting people that not agreeing with them down. All you not seeing these people have a jumbi behind them? also why are we so focused on cruise tourism when it really is 1. seasonal. 2. doesnt bring in as much revenue as stay over? If i was the government id work on developing natural sites and making them more accessible and safer. also they can create some using out natural resources like the rivers. develop layou river for example with different basin spots. have a safe place for people to park. get some food trucks there and an area for changing with portable restrooms. have a few security people to ensure safety. locals and tourists would love that. but no. that makes no sense to them.
Make it easier and cheaper for diasporas to return home to Dominica so they could contribute to the economy. Too much tax at the port for people returning to their own country. The government prefer to take in Haitians and foreigners for Free rather than making it easy and less burdensome for citizens to return to their homeland. Israel 🇮🇱 has been helping the Jewish people to return to Israel 🇮🇱 and that place is blossoming with prosperity. New business have been opening and the people are doing well financially. But Roosevelt has no vision for financial growth for Dominicans but for himself.
Anybody reading the following can make sense out of that: Do not let your eye deceive you this is the Dominican Republic; and not the Commonwealth Republic of Dominica where I was born.
There is no Wesley in the Dominican Republic, where they do not speak patios, or broken English!
Dominican Republic reports record 8.5 million tourists in …
Web Jan 14, 2023 · Dominican Republic authorities on Thursday celebrated “a record” in tourism, the country’s main activity, with almost 8.5 million visitors in 2022, 37% more than the previous year. The Ministry of Tourism announced that 7.2 million people traveled by air …
“Last cruise season we experienced a 24 percent surge in cruise visits with a total number of 186,750″
You know I wonder if this wig-head woman ever stop to think of how stupid she sounds and look when she makes theses erroneous statements?
In the quote above she contends that she had 24% surge “a sudden powerful forward or upward movement, especially by a crowd or by a natural force such as the waves or tide:” that’s a surge! She however, fail to state 24% of what number of arrived ships; or people.
Her what appears to be an assume statement of fact; is automatically going to have an 18% increase bring the total amount of ships or people to a total amount of 220,365!
People or ships?
When one talks percentage, it must be a percentage of something; and she went on quoting crap which makes absolutely no sense; so the labor party gullible’ will take her crap and run with it repeating her garbage.
If she meant ships, 186,750 tourist ships has not visited Dominica in history!
Dominica’s Ministry of Tourism – an entity even more shambolic than Domlec.
Cruise 🛳 tourism economy is one of the most fragile economic moves. Just ask St.croix, still haven’t recovered from one incident in the 1970s. Go back to agriculture based economy! Or, do something grand like cheap geothermal electricity to gain foreign direct investment and prevent dependence on both. You have already invested heavily in geothermal, that’s bigger than cruise tourism; go big.
Even if they have ten, or a thousand geothermal energy plant in Dominica, that will not attract a single foreign investor into Dominica.
Secondly, an agriculture based economy will not cut it, if you are talking about the staples we eat, such as bananas, and all the below ground growing crops.
And even if they were to concentrate on agriculture, without a market, they would have to disposed all of what is cultivated on some garbage heap; because there are not enough consumers in the Caribbean, where every island in the Eastern Caribbean and the rest of the America’s produces the same agricultural products!
Now maybe if the emphasis was on the processing of coffee, cinnamon spice nutmegs, vanilla, the processing of grapefruits, and orange juice, and find a market for such, some people could survive on that; but the way things are under Roosevelt the nation is domed!
All I mentioned were exported to England: Europe; in the 1930/1940’s unprocessed along with bay-oil till bananas:
So you mean the government is on the right track with cruise tourism then?
@Geothermal or bust, isn’t agriculture a fragile economic activity? What happened when we lost preferential treatment on the UK market? Our banana industry tanked. We are always playing catch up with our agriculture industry as we are prone to frequent storms and the first casualty is always agriculture. We must not put all or eggs into one basket.
or agro processing to ensure production even if something like COVID hits again. tourism on a whole is a fickle industry.
That sounds great but she forget the cruise ship birth man and the Bayfront she talked about enhancing for the new season after the last cruise ship season end and in just about a months time the new season will be booming SMDH madame minister
Denise Charles, Minister of Tourism boasts that an 18% increase in cruise ships calls is EXPECTED for the cruise ship season 223 2024. Expectations are not facts.Don’t boast about your chickens before the eggs are hatched.
I wonder why our government considers cruiseship visits so wonderful. We provide them with water, dispose of their waste in our limited landfill, the Roseau Bayfront becomes almost unusable for locals, attracting new vagrants and beggars whilst a few trinket sellers and tour operators earn a few cents after the cruise ship has taken its cut. Drinks and meals are provided onboard so bar and restaurant owners are lucky to make an extra sale. With an 18% increase next season, expect a 118% increase in Covid cases and other transmissible diseases. Have we forgotten already how costly it was to contain then manage the spread of the Wuhan virus? Cruise ships are perfect incubators for such infections. Cruiseship operators need us far more than we need them. That puts us in a strong bargaining position for the introduction of, say, an environmental tax of maybe US$10 per person leaving the boat. Typically they will try to call our bluff but if we remain resolute they will likely cave in.
Why do you manufacture your own facts, and why the hysteria about COVID-19. Who told you that the Cruise Ships dump their waste in our landfill, lol. Every passenger on a Cruise Ship Visiting Dominica
pays a head tax whether they disembark or not, it’s one of the ways
the Government gain revenue, as the rest of you comment it’s all
silly, so long for your uninformed comment.
stay over tourism is where the real money is at. cruise tourist dont spend. we doh care if we get 1 billion, if they not spending it means nothing.
Lol Honorable Denise Charles. Dominica has seen better days when the island used to register in excess of 300,000 and up to 600,000 cruise ship passengers arriving at our shores.
DNO I urge you to do your own research between 1995 up to 2015 to see how the sector performed.
I also urge DNO to check with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) to get the estimated expenditure (covering spend on tours, shopping, dining, entertainment, site passes, passenger head tax) per cruise passenger in port.
It’s really disturbing when i hear the glowing stories which does not add up.
Anyway everyone who wants to join in the Lol-ing are free to join since that what we’ve become.
Another thing they never talk about is the average spent of each visitor that disembarks. I hazard a guess, it’s very little (and who can blame them).
What does not add up, lol. I’m glad that you referred people to do their research from 1995 to 2015, but why up to 2015. This Government has invested more money in The lucrative Cruise industry than another previous Government, and have gained tremendous returns to the Country and still continues to grow, what is it that does not add up. This is not about glowing stories, you just simple do not want to see things for what they are. You are entitled to your opinion but at least do not make up your own facts to suite what you believe, so long.
I hope they clean up that eyesore of a bayfront before the season starts.
Sounds like great news!
Denise Charles remember you are talking to the world, and not just clapping labourite armed with red trumpets, who will celebrate your gibberish even if it’s an insult to them. Even if we MIRACULOUSLY achieve the entire 18% increase, it will still have us languishing at the last KAR-KAR-RAT position relative to Antigua, St Kitts, Grenada and the other smaller states in our economic space. Stuppppeeeesssss!
What are you doing as a LAZY and INCOMPETENT Tourism Minister to spruce up the appearance and ambiance of ROSEAU…I still see a plethora of broken sidewalks, the place smells urine, the stagnant water is ubiquitous….It’s only a LAZY minister in a corrupt government that can be so shameless.
Denise you can’t do the job!!!
Where is the tourism village? In every other CARICOM country you and the STUPIDITY STARBOY would be sent packing for gross laziness and incompetence!
By the way, it’s only a LAZY Prime Minister that can depend so heavily on revenues from passport sales.
Well, even if your name is Meme; indicates, or mean “an element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by imitation or other nongenetic means.”
I am happy about the way you responded to Denise crap; She and Roosevelt and all the idiots in the labor party, believe they are over smart, and any rubbish they speak the world around them are so dumb their rubbish will be believed and swallowed!
She believes covering her head with that stupid wig makes her smart; but she is simply another joke in the Caribbean the same like Roosevelt; they are so smart, but they are unable to make any progress, with out the sale of passports they would go without salaries for the rest of their life!
She is not indolent, none are slothful, they just don’t have any ability to attract investments, and reliable foreign industries into the country, so their alternative is to talk rubbish as idiots do!
They are all inept waste of time parasite drinking peoples blood!