A life line for cruising

The Tourism and Indu-strial Development Com-pany (Tidco) may gloat over the increased number of cruise ships coming to Trinidad and Tobago, but they might as well wipe  that smirk off their faces. That’s because one of the most interesting revelations to come out of a study of cruise passengers arriving in Port-of-Spain is that the average expenditure per cruise ship visitor is a measly  (TT)$253.54 or (US)$42.25. Of that sum, the largest chunk —  some 34 percent — goes for taxis and tours, while the smallest goes towards meals and duty free shopping, accounting for only four percent in each category. Other shopping however, takes up about 21 percent of the expenditure, with pre-purchased tours accounting for 18 percent and craft and souvenir items, 13 percent. The study also showed that duty free shopping in Trinidad and Tobago is losing its appeal.

In 2001 28 percent of cruise visitors participated in duty free shopping and a steady decline has been seen in the years following. In 2002, the figure dropped to 23 percent and last year dropped dramatically to 15 percent. This suggests that the shops involved in duty free shopping might need to revisit their procurement and pricing strategies. The Trinidad Cruise Passenger Study (2001-2003) was conducted by the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TIDCO) over the past three years. The surveys were completed during the first quarter of each mentioned year at the Cruise Ship Terminal on Wrightson Road, since this was the time of the year considered as the peak period for cruise arrivals.

What the study also disclosed was that Trinidad and Tobago’s market share of Caribbean cruise visitors was really a teeny weeny piece of the Caribbean pie, jointly occupying the last position with Caricom partner St Vincent and the Grenadines with a mere .4 percent of the market. Put another way it means that if the two were added together, the total would still not make up one percent of market share. According to TIDCO, the primary objectives of the study were to provide data on the demographic characteristics of cruise passengers; insights on the factors and sources of information that motivate cruise ship passengers to visit Trinidad and Tobago, as well as insights on the major activities in which cruise ship passengers engage while in Trinidad.

The study also sought to provide information on places of interest (local sites and attractions) visited by cruise ship passengers and to provide information on visitor satisfaction levels with Trinidad as a Tourism destination and getting a rough estimate of  funds expended by cruise visitors while in Trinidad and Tobago. The big players are the Bahamas with 17 percent, the US Virgin Islands with 11 percent, the Caymans with 10 percent. Other destinations with sizeable market share include St Maarten with seven percent, Jamaica with five percent, Barbados with three percent and St Lucia and Antigua with two percent. With market share estimates of 50.4 percent in 2002 and 51.5 percent in 2003, the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, has become the leading destination for cruise ships in the world. However, this country is actually the smallest player in the cruise ship arrivals “game” in the region.

In spite of this, cruise ship passengers account for 15 percent of all visitors to Trinidad and Tobago as of June last year, according to the Central Statistical Office. The study also revealed that the largest source markets for cruise ship passengers visiting Port-of-Spain are the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Most of them are over age 55 as the study showed 57 percent of the respondents falling into this group. “However,” according to the study highlights, “the under-35 age group has more than doubles over the past two years. This may be a budding market and opportunity for some marketeers.” Most cruise visitors travel as a couple and this was reflected in the sample which showed that a whopping 64 percent travelled with their spouse or partner and 30 percent with their families, with a mere six percent doing the cruise alone. In terms of repeat visitors, the study concluded that 87 percent had never seen this country before. While ashore in this country the majority of cruise visitors prefer to stick to Port-of-Spain and its environs. Downtown accounts for 79 percent of the visitors with the Queen’s Park Savannah and the Botanical Gardens coming next with 53 and 42 percent respectively. Maracas beach attracts 34 percent of the visitors, while the Monastery at Mount St Benedict, Angostura and the Maracas/Saddle Road trip accounts for eight percent each.

Nature sanctuaries like Asa Wright in Arima and the Caroni Bird Sanctuary each attract five percent of the cruise visitors. But even though Port of Spain enjoys the largest slice of cruise visitors wandering through its main streets, the city only received a 66 percent approval rating for its cleanliness with comments like “dirty city,” “polluted atmosphere” and “beggars in the city,” coming from respondents. But Port-of-Spain showed marked improvement in the harassment of visitors. The numbers of respondents who had this negative experience dropped from nine percent in 2001 to six percent in 2002.

The findings of this TIDCO study is quite revealing in a number of areas and it would seem that the Ministry of Tourism, while boasting about the increasing number of visitors to our twin island Republic, needs to step up a notch or two in the areas of marketing and public relations. Another area of concern, which did not need a study to define it, is the cleanliness of our capital city. Again the ministry has to work closely with all the other stakeholders to ensure that this country puts on a “good face” on the morning when it awakes to find mega ships in port disgorging thousands of visitors to wander about our country.