Cruise ships banned for rest of season

MINISTER in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young has announced all cruise ship arrivals to Trinidad have been cancelled for the rest of the season because of concerns over covid19.

He was responding to a question in the Senate on Thursday from Independent Senator Dr Maria Dillon-Remy on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Dillon-Remy asked whether Caricom heads of government will hold an urgent meeting to discuss a regional strategy to respond to the coronavirus, given reports of several confirmed cases in the Caribbean. The question was asked before the Government confirmed TT's first case.

Young said Dr Rowley asked him to remind the Senate and the population that at the recent Caricom heads of government meeting in Barbados, covid19 was discussed.

"The heads of Caricom are in constant contact, as are technocrats underneath in the various Caricom countries with respect to this unravelling and very fluid situation."

He said there was also an emergency meeting in Barbados that the TT Health Minister and Trade Minister attended to deal with certain items related to covid19.

But, he said, "At the end of the day...this virus is going to be dealt with by each jurisdiction on its own."

He pointed out that at the earlier post-Cabinet media conference people were advised to limit travel to emergency and essential travel and that for the rest of the cruise ship season TT will not allow ships to dock here until April 24 (when the season ends).

"So yes, these decisions are going to have an economic impact, but at the end of the day, the priority is the delay of the virus from entering TT and the protection of our people of TT from our perspective."

The Tourism Ministry also addressed the cancellation in a media release. The ministry said through the multi-sectoral committee to treat with covid19, it had been closely monitoring the evolving situation and its overall impact on the tourism sector.

"Since the discovery of the virus in December 2019, the international travel and tourism industry has been adversely affected."

The ministry noted that one of its direct responsibilities is the management of the cruise ship season, which runs from November to April.

"As part of the urgent measures to protect citizens, Government has accepted the recommendation of the Cabinet-approved multi-sectoral committee to suspend the arrival of cruise ships for the remainder of the 2019-2020 cruise season which ends on April 24, 2020. Given the rapid infection of covid19 globally, the potential economic loss from the epidemic entering TT will outweigh the potential loss associated with the decision to suspend the arrival of cruise ships for the rest of the 2019-2020 cruise season.

Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell said: "Public health and safety of our citizens are of utmost importance and there is urgent need to place safeguarding measures in place to protect our citizens from the potential devastating effects of a covid19 epidemic.”

The ministry said it will continue to work with all stakeholders, including cruise line executives, tour operators, agents and port officials to ensure all relevant parties are kept informed as the situation evolves.

"The destinations have benefited from a successful cruise season due in the most part to enhanced collaboration with all stakeholders. Continued engagement and dialogue are important in moving forward as we address this urgent threat to our industry and country. The travel and tourism industry has faced similar challenges and has emerged stronger and more resilient for it."