McNeill sounds alarm
Published:Friday | February 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Dionne Rose, Business Reporter
Opposition Spokesman on tourism, Dr Wykeham McNeill, is warning that the ports at Ocho Rios in St Ann and Montego Bay in St James could see a significant fall-off in the number of ships making call at those ports when the Falmouth cruise ship pier becomes fully operational.
McNeill sounded the alarm on Tuesday night at the Stocks and Securities Limited's investor forum at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew, where he was one of the speakers addressing the topic: 'Falmouth/Cruise Ship Pier - Visitor Numbers and the Impact to the Respective Port Towns'.
"This means, with the advent of Falmouth this year, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay will suffer significant declines, in some cases 30 to 50 per cent of what they are used to getting," said McNeill.
He made the pronouncements after disclosing the projections for cruise ship arrivals for this year for the ports. Ocho Rios is projected to bring in 490,000 visitors, down from the high of 800,000 in 2006, McNeill said, quoting data from the Port Authority of Jamaica.
Meanwhile, Falmouth is projected to attract some 430,000 visitors and Montego Bay is projected to pull in 268,000 visitors.
Latest data from the JTB showed a decline of 1.4 per cent in total cruise passengers to the island for the January to December 2010, representing 909,619.
Cruise passenger arrivals visiting the port of Montego Bay increased by 6.1 per cent with 299,698 passengers for the period January to December, 2010 compared to 282,426 recorded for the corresponding period in 2009. There were 121 ship calls during the period, representing an increase of 5.2 per cent.
For the port of Ocho Rios, the cruise passenger arrivals showed a decline of 4.5 per cent, representing 609,153 passengers for the January to December 2010 period, compared to 637,665 for the same period in 2009. That port received 201 ship calls, a decline of 4.3 per cent.
McNeill is, however, encouraging the Government to put the necessary infrastructure in place to mitigate the fall-off in passengers to these ports.
"Work has to be done on Ocho Rios and Montego Bay; in Ocho Rios we have to develop the pier," he said. "For years, the cruise line has been clamouring to do a joint venture but, because of inter-ministerial rivalries, critical decisions have not been taken and, therefore, the port has remained exactly how it was years ago."
McNeill said Ocho Rios was still a marquee destination with several attractions in that town such as Dunn's River Fall, Dolphin Cove and Mystic Mountain.
"Great opportunities lie there, we cannot let these opportunities be wasted," he said.
McNeill said major work needs to be done at Montego Bay, but that it needed a marquee attraction such as the Appleton train tour.
"From far back as 2004, I have been calling for the re-establishment of the Appleton train tour in Montego. This train ride was one of the great tours in Jamaica and it would help to open up the south coast," he said.
McNeill suggested that the Tourism Enhancement Fund be used to re-establish this tourist attraction, pointing out that this could be a lucrative venture.