Tobago tourism secretary expects 40,000 visitors for cruise-ship season

SECRETARY of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris says Tobago is expecting an estimated 40,000 visitors for this year’s cruise-ship season.

She said 40 cruise ships will be coming to the island, 20 fewer than last year. The first is expected to arrive on November 5.

“Last year, we had a hugely successful cruise-ship season, with over 60 calls to destination Tobago, bringing over 100,000 visitors to our shores,” Burris said at a news conference on October 28.

“This cruise-ship season is a little bit quieter. We have just about 40 or 41 calls scheduled for this season between Scarborough and Charlotteville.”

She explained the reason for the shortfall.

“We get the majority of our cruises in the south of the Caribbean, home-porting in Puerto Rico, and right now there is an extensive renovation taking place at their port, so they are doing less cruise traffic over the next two years.”

Burris said once that renovation is complete, Tobago should see its numbers increase as a result of the new facilities and expanded services offered at the home ports in Puerto Rico.

“By that time it will give us the opportunity to build our capacity to attract other cruise operators, so that we would have more than one person in the space bringing cruises to destination Tobago.”

She said the division sees a possibility for cruises to be year-round.