Prospects for 2017 good ... the ships will come sailing in

THE PORT of Montego Bay, which was voted the Caribbean’s leading home port at the recently held World Travel Awards, is slated to receive 253 visits for the new season, 77 more than the 186 vessels for 2016; while Ocho Rios, which welcomed 166 vessels last year, now has a scheduled 199 mega-cruise vessels booked.

There are encouraging signs in Falmouth, home of the New Falmouth Pier, as infrastructural improvement continues in the popular Georgian town, but the chamber’s boss, Delroy Christie, believes his membership will only benefit if visitors are encouraged to walk the town.

BUSINESS OPPURTUNITIES

“The prospects are good for 2017 at present the town is being reformatted, and this is very important if our businesses are going to reap the returns for their investment,” said Christie. “The cleanliness of the town is very important, because if we have a clean town, our tourists will want to walk around, and this will mean businesses opportunities for our members.”

The Trelawny-based facility will again host 160 cruise ships, but is expected to enjoy the greater volume of passengers, due to its capacity to accommodate the world’s largest vessels. In contrast, picturesque Port Antonio can only entertain small vessels and could experience its best season yet, with seven ships booked to visit the north eastern parish.

“We rather to wait and see what really will happen,” said Daney-Ann Thomas, president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We have heard these grand announcements before and even though, there is a shift ... small signs that things might happen this time around, we prefer to wait.”

“We are feeling like the bastard child at a family reunion, but our focus is that the town be kept clean and that there is not a repeat of a ship turning back because of the state of the town,” added Thomas.