Garwin Davis, Assistant News Editor
BUSINESS INTERESTS in some of the island's resort towns are reporting poor sales although cruise ships have been calling on the local ports in increasing numbers. They add that Jamaica was not being viewed by passengers as a preferred destination for shopping.
They note that while the Government was content with raking in billions of dollars by way of head tax and port fees, merchants had little room in which to manoeuvre, sometimes barely finding enough to cover expenses.
"Depending on whose calculation you are looking at, the Government is raking in over $2 billion this year in port charges and other fees," said Mark Reid, a restaurant and souvenir shop owner in Ocho Rios. "With these kind of figures, it is very easy for them to brag about the record number of vessels that are coming into the island. Now, compare this with merchants, particularly those in the duty-free business,who have to pay millions to the cruise ships for promotions. The reality is that people are not seeing the returns to justify their investments and that is the cold plain truth.
"Cruise ship arrivals for the last fiscal year was in excess of 800,000 passengers, giving the Government a little over $1 billion in head tax alone. Add to the mix port fees, water charges, ground transportation and revenues from the attractions, and the national treasury came away with well over $2 billion from cruise shipping last year.
This figure, with the island having experienced for the first time, one million visitors in a single season, is expected to according some estimates double at the end of this cruise shipping season. The head tax for each passenger visiting the island currently stands at US$15.
Some merchants are also complaining that while attractions such as Dunn's River Falls will always get a share of the business, cruise officials have become less inclined to encourage passengers to shop while in Jamaica.
"They will never admit to it, but passengers are being told that they will get better deals in the other islands," charged Mohan Khemlani, a Montego Bay merchant. "It all comes down to promotions and which island can best make the cruise ships happy. The fact is that while Jamaica is getting a lot of ships, we are not seeing the quality vessels with the big spenders - those are reserved for the other islands. Take a trip to Cozumel, Cayman, Bahamas or even Belize and you will get the picture. Those islands are getting the cream of the crop and are doing phenomenally well. The people will shop wherever the cruise line tell them to shop."
While acknowledging an obligation to inform passengers about the port they are visiting, cruise ship managers have long denied promoting any one port at the expense of another. "We have never tried to influence the behaviour of our passengers telling them where to shop and so on," Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) President Michelle Paige told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview. "In fact, Jamaica is one of our better ports of call and we say as much to our passengers."
PROMOTING JAMAICA
John Heald, a cruise director at Carnival Cruise Line, said he has been coming to Jamaica for many years and has never shied away from promoting the island as a premier destination for shopping.It is a fact that Jamaica is where you will get some of your better deals," he said.
However, a visit by The Sunday Gleaner to a number of business outlets in Ocho Rios last week saw merchants continuing to paint a gloomy outlook on the season.
"Yes the ships are coming nobody can blame the authorities for that but we are not getting people who are interested in shopping," explained Daniel White, a souvenir store owner. "People in this town invested a lot in anticipation of a great cruise shipping season but so far it is nothing short of disappointing."
Mildred McCalla, president of the Ocho Rios Craft Market agreed."We cannot and will never say the ships are not coming," she said. "What we will say though is that we have not been seeing much, if any, of the business. It's either the people are going somewhere else or they are staying on the ships but craft traders certainly have not been benefiting."
Jack Thakurani, owner of the Colors chain of duty-free stores, said a major part of the problem was that passengers were not given enough time for shopping.
"How much shopping can you do in 20 minutes?" he asked. "Whether it's the craft market or the plazas, they have to be out in 20 minutes to get back to their ship. What this means is that visitors are leaving with their money to shop in the other islands. This is really the heart of the problem."
