According to research by the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) - a not-for-profit trade organization comprised of 19 member lines operating in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters - "80 percent of cruise passengers think that cruising is an important vehicle for sampling destination areas to which they may return for a holiday", that is, for an overnight stay. The same study found that "over 50 percent of cruise passengers to the Caribbean were likely to return within the next three years, as overnight tourists."
During 2014, according to Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) statistics for that year, among 24 of their member countries, there were a total of some 40 million visitors; 46 percent of those were overnight stays, and the remaining 54 percent cruise passengers. The average cruise numbers per destination were 897,000, with an average of 760,000 overnighters. Eighteen of those countries actually had more cruisers than overnighters, with as examples: St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Turks and Caicos, and Saint Lucia having respectively 81 percent, 78 percent, 69 percent and 65 percent cruisers.
The biggest two revenue generators from cruise passengers are "watches and jewelry" and "shore excursions". And with a median income of $97,000, a median age of 48 years and 79 percent married, cruisers by and large have the wherewithal to take land-based vacations; and they tend to be families, translating into bigger spends on accommodations, food and beverage, taxis, departure taxes, etc.
In our region, average spending per cruise passenger ranged from $82.83 per passenger in The Bahamas to $191.26 in St Maarten, which is of course far below what an overnight visitor typically spends. Although, for example, that spending by 897,000 cruisers could amount to quite a few dollars. Turks and Caicos saw $78 million in 2014.
What the region really needs to do is to develop strategies to capitalize on the [captive] millions of cruise passengers, converting as many of those as possible to overnight visitors. That of course is not saying that this is not already being done; in Grand Turk at the Carnival Cruise Center for example - which by the way saw a record 971,838 cruise passengers in 2014 - there is a tourist board information desk, chock full of promotional materials and appropriately trained staff. Which I think it is safe to say is the situation of all other cruise ports.
This can perhaps best be done by preparing destination videos, especially bearing in mind that 1) passengers have a limited amount of hours on shore, and can therefore see limited amount of attractions; and 2) those passengers would not get an opportunity to savor the nightlife, and of course, the fine dining - which is also a night-time affair. Their limited disposable land time is also disadvantageous to multi-island destinations. Even if there is sufficient time to make an excursion to another island in that destination, e.g. Antigua and Barbuda, getting there may result in an appreciable increase in their cruise budget.
A well-produced destination video highlighting the touristic assets, such as places of interest, including heritage sites; cultural events; geographical assets including beaches, waterfalls, volcanoes, exotic wildlife; local and international dining; shopping for jewelry, destination paintings and artwork: and night-life, since overnight stays by cruise ships are rare in these parts, and especially younger tourists would have an interest in the local music and nightlife. These things would, of course, be in quick snippets, as in a music video, since we do not wish them to see enough to decide that they have seen enough of anything
We must bear in mind that "80 percent of cruise passengers think that cruising is an important vehicle for sampling destination areas to which they may return for a holiday". Which means that every effort must be made to make certain that they get the best possible sampling of the destination. This includes the service given during shore excursions by bus and taxi drivers, tour guides and at stores and restaurants. And this is where efforts such as the host training program - the BahamaHost and Montserrat's Host programs, for example - are of great importance.
The objectives of the programs are:
o To create self-awareness and foster positive attitudes among people actively involved in the hospitality industry;
o To promote proper working attitudes and professional behavior in the work place;
o To create amongst participants the desire to be professional in rendering service of any kind.
It is of extreme importance also that bus and taxi drivers and tour guides give out accurate information, which I have personally observed not always to be the case.
The destination video is indeed the best tool, short of actually visiting the various places of interest, which is not possible during the short stay, to give the cruisers a good sampling of the destination. I have seen destination brochures collected by visitors at countries' booths at trade shows, only to be discarded at the first opportunity after walking away.
The costs of handing out videos to thousands of cruisers would of course be prohibitive. So in addition to having them running at various locations at the cruise center, and at places included on shore excursions - stores, restaurants, etc. - they should be made available on the destination's website and on social media, such as Facebook.
It is important that we not let those 80 percent make their decision based upon just the very little of the destination they have seen and experienced during their very short stay.
And, we must bear in mind too that, if such positive and proper working attitudes and professional behavior by their hosts are not experienced by the cruisers when in port, then the efforts with the destination videos could very well go to waste.
Finally, traveling to trade shows and road shows is exotic, and makes for great headlines at home. But in fact, exposure at these events is limited, while getting your message out to tour operators, travel agents and travel writers is no doubt important. But at World Travel Market (WTM), for example, you get to showcase your products among exhibitors from 186 countries, the biggest of which get the most attention.
Trying to convert cruise passengers directly right at home is certainly not as glamorous as attending trade and road shows, but it is potentially far more effective, with bigger results - and certainly less expensive. You are in direct contact with thousands of potential tourists that are actually experiencing your destination, although a small part of it, versus the travel professionals that are being pitched by the whole world at the international shows.
The smaller countries get less attention and, as far as I can tell, there is no follow-up measuring what the benefits are coming out of those events. It could be well worth it for the same individuals that staff the trade and road shows teams to take time out right at home to do occasional presentations and meet-and-greets for our cruise passengers.
o John Skippings is a former director of tourism for the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board and marketing consultant with the Montserrat Tourist Board. This op-ed is published with permission from Caribbean News Now.
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