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Carnival Corp & plc recently announced a
potential plan to build a $70million cruise port off Haiti’s northwest coast,
that would put three of its own destinations, totaling six berths, within a
hundred nautical miles of one another, something that would allow a range of
itineraries within fuel-saving distances from Miami.
Besides Haiti’s Tortuga Island, where the Carnival group has indicated its
latest interest, the other destinations are Grand Turk and Amber Cove near
Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, which is scheduled to open in 2015. Both
Amber Cove and Tortuga are on the island of Hispaniola. Although Tortuga
is not a particularly small island, Carnival describes it as offering white
sandy beaches and a desert-like interior with cacti.
Attractions in Port-au-Prince included the Champs de Mars, the “pretentious”
Presidential palace, Government buildings, the Cathedral and markets and the
winding assent to the mountain village of Petionville. For the more adventurous
there are the Sans Souci Palace of King Henri-Christophe of Haiti and the
Citadelle, both near Cap Haitien.
That is the French side of Hispaniola. On the other side, Santo Domingo has deep
Spanish roots and the Dominican Republic has the highest mountains in the West
Indies. As well as the National Capital, Santo Domingo could boast of the burial
place of Christopher Columbus, in its Cathedral at the Basilica of Santa Marta
la Menor.
In building a new cruise port at Tortuga, Carnival must ensure that islanders
have realistic expectations about a development that may take years to
materialize. No date has yet been set for any possible opening. The 65
square mile island has a population of about 27,500 but with few economic
opportunities.
Royal Caribbean International has had its own “private island” in Haiti since
1986, when it opened Labadée, which is not an island at all but a closed-off
part of the Haitian mainland. Royal Caribbean has contributed the largest
proportion of tourist revenue to Haiti since then, employing 300 locals and
allowing 200 more to sell their wares on the property for a fee.
Royal Caribbean pays the Haitian government a levy of $6 per passenger it
brings. Labadée’s attractions include beaches, a Haitian flea market, a
water-oriented playground, a roller coaster and a zip-line.
Meanwhile, another new port, the $85 million Amber Cove, a joint venture between
Carnival and the Dominican Republic’s Rannik family, is expected to open in
2015. It has a mountainous backdrop, water sports and whale-watching
opportunities, plus the cultural and historic attractions of nearby Puerto
Plata.
Carnival’s $55 million cruise ship centre at Grand Turk, meanwhile, which opened
in 2006, will reach a million passengers this year, arriving on forty-three
ships from fifteen different cruise lines. This facility has a beach, a large
pool, a surf park, a Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant and bar and a
large shopping centre.
Royal Caribbean recently cited Caribbean Tourism Organization research on
the future of Caribbean cruise travel. The CTO found that while consumers
consider on-shore activities to be more important than shipboard activities,
culture and heritage rank much higher than a traditional beach experience,
while there is an increase in interest in shoreside shopping opportunities,
authenticity is important.
Whether or not all this can be bundled up into
the new cruise ports is yet the open question. |
