It’s back to the drawing board again for Jamaica, as tourism officials seek a ‘plan B’ to revive cruise tourism amid uncertainty over the port project in Grand Cayman.

The development of a cruise shipping port in Grand Cayman was seen as the shot in the arm to revive Jamaica’s cruise tourism, which has dropped significantly, despite building a pier in Falmouth in 2011 in partnership with Royal Caribbean to accommodate mega cruise ships. It was anticipated that the building of a port in Cayman would allow Jamaica to benefit from more cruise tourism business, as new berthing facilities in Cayman would enable mega ships to come back to the western route along which Cayman and Jamaica would be among the stops.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett cited the lack of a port in Cayman as one reason behind the decline in Jamaica’s cruise business, suggesting that Royal Caribbean would not put its larger ships on the western route unless and until Cayman builds a port.

“I have been having extensive discussions with Royal Caribbean lines about getting Falmouth back on track, and re-establishing the western Caribbean itinerary that would include Labadee in Haiti and Cayman, on the presumption that Cayman would build a port large enough to accommodate these mega vessels,” Bartlett said.

He was responding to questions about the 25% annual decline in cruise arrivals last year. According to Bartlett, “The itinerary of Falmouth, Labadee and Cayman would become, arguably, the most lucrative itinerary in the world, and the projections are that more than two million visitors would then come to Falmouth on an annual basis.”

NO RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON PORT DEVELOPMENT

When asked, representatives of Verdant Isle Port Partners, the consortium — including Royal Caribbean — which is bidding to build the cruise berthing facility in Cayman, declined to answer questions on that deal. A spokesperson said the Cayman pier project is “vitally important” to Royal Caribbean and all major cruise brands because the “strategic location” of Cayman means it is essentially the missing link in several possible itineraries.

The Ministry of Tourism in Cayman declined to respond to questions about the Jamaica port project and arrival figures in that country. However, Director of Tourism, Donovan White is quoted by Cayman Compass as saying that the drop in arrivals in Jamaica was caused by Royal Caribbean moving its Oasis-class ships to other routes.

Speaking during the recent Caribbean Travel Marketplace conference in The Bahamas, White said he believed new berthing facilities in Cayman would enable the mega ships to come back to the western route. He acknowledged that public opposition to the port in Cayman, with a referendum in the offing, could mean Jamaica has to find a new strategy to bring back cruise tourists.

NEW PLAN BEING LOOKED AT

“We are in constant dialogue with the cruise lines. Plan A included the Cayman port, but we are down the road looking at plan B and C, as well. We continue to have strategic discussions with the cruise lines,” White said.

Bartlett pointed out that Royal Caribbean was continuing to pay head taxes to the Port Authority based on higher passenger numbers, as part of an agreement with the Jamaican government.

CPR QUESTIONS, WHAT PROMISES WERE MADE TO JAMAICA?

However, for his part, Johann Moxam from Cayman’s Cruise Port Referendum (CPR) interest group contends that the comments from Minister Bartlett has raised questions about what promises had been made to Jamaican officials about the port development in Cayman. He also questioned why Royal Caribbean was paying taxes to Jamaica for ships that were not arriving in the country.

Describing the scheme as “ghost ships”, Moxam questioned whether arrival statistics were being deliberately manipulated to make the case that new facilities were needed in Cayman.

“It feels like the Cayman Government is taking instructions from a neighbouring government and Royal Caribbean as to what should be our national priorities because that country needs Cayman to move forward with the proposed CBF [cruise berthing facility] project which will help benefit Jamaica’s interests,” Moxam asserted.

Mario Rankin, a member of the CPR campaign group, said the impasse showed the importance of Cayman to the cruise companies. He expressed the belief that if Cayman rejects the port project the cruise lines will have to come back to the table to discuss tendering the mega ships, an idea that was proposed in 2011 but discarded.

Neither Royal Caribbean nor government responded to Moxam’s comments or more general questions from Cayman Compass.