The business sector here is looking forward to tomorrow's arrival of the Freedom of the Seas, the world's largest cruise vessel, which capacity is over 4,000 passengers.

The inaugural visit of the Royal Caribbean International's newest vessel will be marked by a ceremony aboard called 'the plaques and keys'.

Pauline Reid, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry says she is looking towards the economic spin-off that the cruise will bring to Montego Bay and Jamaica.

"It is a very excellent opportunity for us in Jamaica and for us here in Montego Bay because this is the world's largest ship with a capacity of over 4,000 passengers," Reid told the Business Observer. "It will definitely have a positive impact on our economy, tourism being our main foreign exchange earner. It will also be a boost for our local economy here in Montego Bay."

Reid said the plan by tourism interests was to place themselves in a position to convert some of the cruise passengers into stopover visitors.

"As you know our restaurant, attractions shopping and other tourism interests groups will benefit directly from these additional cruise ship passengers landing here in Montego Bay," she said. "I also think strongly that this an opportunity for us to sell Jamaica. This is a captured market that we have here of over 4,000 passengers and if we give them a positive experience, convert them to land-based passengers, each will have multiplying effects also. So it is a great period of opportunity also and we just have to make sure that we use it positively."

Melody Haughton, president of the Harbour Street Craft Market Association, said that the cruise ship, with such a large passenger capacity, had the potential to provide robust business to craft vendors.

"We welcome the Freedom of the Seas and we look forward to getting business from it," she sad. "It is a positive move and we are very glad about it. We have been in dialogue with other players in the industry and they have been keeping us abreast of the inaugural visit."

Garfield Williamson, president of the Montego Bay chapter of the Jamaica Union of Travellers' Association JUTA, was equally enthused over the arrival of the vessel.

"The fact that it is coming to Montego Bay makes us as a citizen quite proud," he noted. "Of course, the primary interest in the vessel is of. the revenue that it brings to Montego Bay, especially in the off season period when a lot of our members would suffer from the lack of cruise ship arrivals here. So we look forward to the boost in revenue base on the capacity of the ship 4,400 passengers."

John Byles, chairman of the cruise shipping committee of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that there was an advanced state of preparedness among all the cruise shipping interests for the arrival of the Freedom of the Seas.

"As far as Montego Bay's transportation sector is concerned, I know that the sector and the police have been working very hard. The Port Authority is putting together a very huge welcome. We are getting the systems in place to have the efficient movement of passengers," he said.

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