Barbados' Arthur urges creation of a Caribbean cruise line

Prime Minister of Barbados Mr. Owen Arthur

Monday, September 15, 2003

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Barbados Prime Minister Mr. Owen Arthur wants tourism partners in the region to unite and create a Caribbean cruise line.

The Barbados Nation quoted the prime minister as saying, "The Caribbean controls 58 per cent of the international cruise business but there is no Caribbean cruise line . . . the cruise sector is the one sector where we have a dominant market position, but there is no serious Caribbean presence in the industry," said Arthur.

The prime minister argued that the sector will help reposition region, amidst the back drop of discussion on the Caribbean Single Market Economy. 

"The CSME must come to reflect the creation and the operation of Caribbean enterprises that are regional in ownership and global in scope," the paper quoted Mr. Arthur as saying. 

He added getting the finance to develop the line would be simple. "The multinationals in the financial sector have already shown us how to do it," said the PM.

More than 100 ships, mainly owned by North American companies, operate in the Caribbean from bases in several areas in the southern United States. According to a study done on behalf of the International Council of Cruise Lines, the North American cruise industry generated a record US$20.4 billion in economic activity within the United States in 2002. 

Several tourism leaders in the Caribbean have called for the ships to contribute to regional marketing efforts and for destinations to institute measures to enhance their takings from the sector. 

Lelei LeLaulu, president of the Washington-based Counterpart International, recently said Caribbean traders were losing out to the pre-packaging of goods and services aboard these megaliners, which are often flagged out and owned by offshore corporations which are immensely profitable - but do not pay taxes on their earnings to any country. 

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