The delegation of Port St. Maarten that just returned from Aruba had been informed about the increase in cruise calls that is likely at the FCCA Platinum Associate Membership Advisory Council (PAMAC) Conference.
Currently, the Caribbean holds some immense opportunities.
Having said that, the destinations were informed at the conference that they need to raise their marquee value and appeal.
The strength in regional development also fuses with the satisfaction of different destinations in the itinerary chain. The representatives of the Port said on Thursday that if a key destination is lacking in industry development, it might be a threat to St. Maarten as a cruise tourism destination. They also added that the Caribbean needs to advance their ideals to compete with emerging markets like Asia.
Today, MSC Cruises announced that they would be penetrating the Caribbean market and St. Maarten is among the destinations in which they did show a level of interest.
MSC Cruises would have its inaugural call for the very first Seaside class vessel in St. Maarten later this year.
Michele Paige, the president of FCCA said that the Caribbean continues to impress passengers as well as cruise lines and this has led the planned capacity of the industry to share an increase next season. She feels that destinations like St. Maarten have gone a long way in boosting cruise tourism thanks to an increased attention on infrastructure, services and products.
However, bigger cruise ships are known to usher in a lot more opportunities and also they bring in fresh challenges.
Port management said that it is engaging with the stakeholders to make sure that the Port and the destination is ready to welcome this fleet of new cruise vessels. The management of the Port said that they would continue to develop the products of the country with an aim to maintain the competitive edge of the destinations in the Caribbean. St. Maarten is still among the leading cruise destinations in the world.
The cruise industry predicts that almost 26 million passengers would be cruising globally in 2017.
