ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – The world’s largest cruise ship, ‘Harmony of the Seas’, is scheduled to make its inaugural call at the Falmouth Cruise Shipping Port in Trelawny tomorrow.

The vessel is expected to take more than 6,000 cruise passengers into Falmouth and will continue to make bi-monthly calls at that port.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told JIS News that the arrival of ‘Harmony of the Seas’ is a result of careful planning for the development of the Falmouth cruise port to accommodate mega liners.

“We are structuring things so that it is going to be possible for you to have a ‘Harmony of the Seas’ on one side and an ‘Oasis of the Seas’ on the other side, all coming in one day,” he said.

Meanwhile, with cruise-shipping business set to increase significantly, the minister said a “fit for purpose” approach must be adopted by tourism stakeholders as they move towards sustainable development of the town.

He said the Artisan Village for Falmouth remains on track with the feasibility studies being done, and that construction is expected to start early next year.

“This will be a game changer as it will enable the small and micro tourism entities – the craft entrepreneurs as well as the artisans – to have a place in the port. The softscaping and the ‘seascaping’ that are currently on stream will be completed and we are working with the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Urban Development Corporation to build out the experience of Falmouth,” Mr. Bartlett said.

Bartlett is appealing to the residents of Falmouth to support the efforts of the Ministry and tourism stakeholders in moving the town to the next level of sustainable development.

“When the passengers come off the ships and when the tourists from the hotels come to Falmouth, we want them to be blown away not only by the warmth and friendliness of the people, but also by the beauty and cleanliness of the town,” he urged.