The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
2022 cruise season should be smoother
N.S. port officials say federal decision will make for smoother sailing for 2022 season
SYDNEY — The recent decision to allow cruise ships back into Canadian waters in November will result in smoother sailing for Nova Scotia port authorities.
Last week, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra lifted a previous ban on cruise ship visits until February 2022, announcing that vessels can now return on Nov. 1, 2021.
Marlene Usher, CEO of the Port of Sydney Development Corp., said while that doesn’t mean ships will be docking in Sydney harbour this season, it’s now much easier to plan for next year.
“We do have 100-plus bookings for 2022, but until then it was open — it was difficult to do the communication and protocols,” she said. “Now we’re knee-deep in devolving a plan for cruise resumption.”
Usher said the cruise ship industry not only brings in about $3 million in direct revenue to the port, the overall spinoffs to downtown stores, restaurants, pubs and tours is estimated to be more than $55 million each year.
“We are very happy with the announcement,” she said, adding that Nova Scotia’s scenery, hospitality and reputation for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic will allow the industry to rebound quickly.
“I think our recovery will be much quicker than previously thought.”
Port of Halifax spokesperson Lane Farguson said the cruise ship industry is worth an estimated $165 million to the Halifax Regional Municipality and surrounding areas. Many ships also stock up on regional provisions such as Nova Scotia lobster and wine as part of the Atlantic Canadian experience when they drop anchor in Halifax.
“That’s the hole that’s been left in the economy as the result of no cruise ship sailings in the past couple of years,” he said.
Like Usher, he said the announcement to allow cruise ships to return earlier than expected will help the Port of Halifax and ports across the region to better navigate the 2022 season.
TIME TO NAVIGATE
“This allows all of us to start planning for next year. The reality is, here in Halifax and across all of Atlantic Canada, we don’t really see much cruise activity past the end of October. But in terms of planning ahead, this is very, very important for us because now we can start to look at what’s on the books for next year and start to pencil in those cruise calls and also start to work together as an industry and start to do that in partnership with the public health agencies to develop the protocols that we need to safely restart the industry,” Farguson said.
“Likewise for the cruise industry, this sends a very clear signals to their customers that they can start to take on those bookings and build those itineraries. So having that extra time to start to rebuild for next year, that’s really going to make a big difference in terms of being able to come back strong.”
Usher and Farguson both said Ottawa’s decision to lift the cruise ship ban means there’s more time to develop various safety protocols.
The Atlantic Canada Cruise Association has hired a consultant to work with the province and Transport Canada to plan for the safe resumption of cruise ship visits.
“The safe resumption of cruise ship visits to Atlantic Canada is important news for residents of our region. Before the pandemic halted visits, the cruise ship sector was responsible for 2,086 jobs and contributed $347.2 million to region’s economy each year. We look forward to seeing those jobs and that economic activity resume as part of Atlantic Canada’s postpandemic economic recovery,” the association said in a statement.
Lane said the extra time will make that task much easier.
“There’s a lot that needs to be done to develop those safety protocols because this is a challenging time that we’re in and we need to work together as an industry and work with the community to make sure that whatever cruise looks like in 2022 is something that people can accept and get behind and get comfortable with.”
Usher said communication with residents will be something the Port of Sydney Development Corp. intends to focus on.
“We need to communicate with all of our partners in cruise and even communities so everyone is comfortable that when a cruise ship pulls up in Sydney harbour, that no one is concerned about spread of COVID,” she said. “We can’t have that, we definitely won’t have that. Public safety is a prime concern.”