Carnival commits 110 cruises to Jamaica
Published:Wednesday | September 29, 2021 | 9:30 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
Jamaica is set to receive over 200,000 cruise ship passengers between October 2021 and April 2022, and this commitment is coming from one cruise line.
The largest cruise company in the world, Carnival Corporation, has committed to 110 cruise calls for the period, and Jamaica's Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says in the reimagining of the cruise industry, every effort will be made to ensure no one is left behind.
Bartlett gave the assurance hours after he and a high-level team from his ministry met with Carnival's chief executive officer, Arnold Donald.
“The commitment is subject to continued close collaboration between Jamaican authorities and Carnival on logistics and public health considerations,” he revealed in a press release Wednesday morning.
The tourism minister stressed how critical a partner Carnival is to Jamaica's tourism and wider economic recovery.
While salvaging the industry which was decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bartlett said inclusiveness is a watchword and craft vendors can be assured of that.
According to him, this redefinition includes marketing arrangements and an effort to build capacity for content from vendors and small operators, so that the cruise passengers can have access to the information about where the products are located and prices.
He credits the return of vessels with the recognition that Jamaica's Resilient Corridors offer a safe environment for visitors, tourism workers and the general population.
The Carnival engagement is one of a series of meetings with several travel industry leaders, including major airlines and investors across Jamaica's largest source markets, the United States and Canada.
This is being done to drive increased arrivals to Jamaica in the coming weeks and months, as well as to cement further investment in the local tourism sector, argued the tourism minister.
The cruise industry was among the worst affected by the pandemic, shutting the industry down for over a year.
However, with the most robust health and safety protocols in the global travel industry including fully vaccinated passengers and crews, the industry has slowly resumed operations to multiple destinations including Jamaica.
The welcome news comes despite the slowing global travel demand triggered by the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and associated issues.
“With the return of stopover visitor arrivals since June 2020, we have been seeing steady growth towards pre-COVID-19 levels and now that cruise is back, we are looking forward to significant growth in our numbers. All requirements have been put in place to meet both United States and Jamaica's COVID-19 protocols in addition to passengers being limited to moving within the Resilient Corridors,” the tourism minister noted.
Bartlett underscored the fact that cruises have to meet strict measures governing the restart of industry, which sees a requirement for passengers over the age of 12 and crew to be fully vaccinated and for all passengers to provide evidence of negative results from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of sailing.
“In the case of unvaccinated passengers, such as children, a PCR test is mandated, and all passengers are also screened and tested (antigen) on embarkation,” Bartlett stressed.
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