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Bahamas wants more reward from cruise ship incentives
Bahamas tourism minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said he plans to rewrite the way tax breaks for cruise lines are calculated to maximise economic benefits for local stakeholders.
Instead of basing tax rebates on the number of overall cruise passengers, D’Aguilar wants to pay out based on guests that actually set foot on dry land and spend money locally.
Talks with industry executives are planned during the Seatrade Global conference next month in Fort Lauderdale.
"A lot of their contracts are coming up for renewal and we want to make our relationship with them based on not the number of people they bring, but based on the number of people that come off the boat and spend money here."
He acknowledges port facilities require a makeover to encourage more people to step foot ashore and a better range of quality excursions are needed to lure them.
"We have to work together with the cruise ships to make that happen. I think they just bring them here, get their incentive and leave. They often complain that the port is not a pleasant experience, there is not much for people to do, and that’s why people don’t spend," he told Tribune Business.
"We want them to help us. This is an important destination for them. This is the largest listed cruise port outside the US. It’s important for them to make this work," he added, stating that cruise lines are more invested in promoting their own private island port calls rather than Nassau.
Now the tourism ministry wants to renegotiate contracts that include a ‘relationship between performance and pay.’
"We want to incentivise them to bring as many passengers as they can, and the more they bring the more they recover, as opposed to marketing support deals. We’re trying to move away from these fixed marketing deals that don’t reward you for performance."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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