Cruise ship figures point to solid tourism growth

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Final cruise ship figures point to solid growth in tourism sector

[/size]Number of passengers docking in Charlottetown expected to rise again in 2007, with new ships carrying over 2,000 people each set to sail into port

[/size]By Doug Gallant, The Guardian

[/size]Final figures for this year’s cruise ship season point to another year of solid growth for that sector of the Island’s tourism industry.

Tracey Peters Singleton, director of sales and marketing for Tourism Charlottetown and the Prince Edward Island Convention Partnership, says the number of cruise ship passengers docking in Charlottetown rose from 23,025 in 2005 to 28,340 this year.

Those passengers spent an estimated $2,288,455, while the crews of those ships spent an estimated $368,282.

The number of cruise ship passengers projected to visit next year is 32,848.

Twenty-four cruise ships are slated to dock in Charlottetown in 2007, the same number as this year, but a number of the ships will be larger and carry more passengers.

Singleton says two new lines will visit next year.

The Princess Cruise Lines is coming back with two new ships that carry 2,600 passengers.

“That’s like having two Maasdams dock at once,” Singleton said.

Celebrity Cruise Lines, which is part of Royal Caribbean, will also be coming in with a ship that carries 2,300 passengers.

Singleton said there will be at least one day next season when one of the Princess Lines ships and the Maasdam dock on the same day.

“That’s 3,900 passengers in port on one day.”

She said it was important to note that the two new cruise lines coming into port are coming in with ships that will spend the entire day in port.

That’s not the case now.

“When Holland America’s Rotterdam would come to Charlottetown, it would stay the whole day, but when they switched to the Maasdam, it’s a smaller ship and doesn’t travel as fast so it only stays in port a half-day. The people on that ship don’t have that much time to explore. When the larger ships from the new new lines come in, they will stay in port a full day which means those passengers will have time to explore both the city and the shore.”

Singleton said they’ve also had visits from Norwegian Cruise Lines representatives who’ve viewed the port facilities and the Island’s tourism product.

That line has not scheduled any cruise ship visits yet but she’s hopeful that will happen.

“These cruise lines are all in competition with each other. Up until now Holland America has had exclusivity here. But with the expansion of our port facilities the port will be opened up to other lines, and once one new line comes in others often follow. Just getting Prince Cruise Lines and Celebrity Cruise Lines will prompt other lines to look at us.”

Another positive development on the horizon is the designation of Charlottetown as the host city for the Canada-New England Cruise Symposium. That event will draw port officials from across Canada and New England and a number of cruise line officials.

“We expect that event to bring major exposure to Charlottetown and to P.E.I. in general.”

Singleton said the future of the industry here is bright.

One reason for that optimism is the completion of improvements to the waterfront. Scheduled to be completed in time for the 2007 cruise season, the project will more than double the current berth length for cruise ships from 230 to 603 feet, allowing for much larger vessels to visit in the future.

The project also will include construction of a brand new visitor welcome center, as well as repairs and upgrades to several of the seaport’s existing facilities.