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CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
Cruise ships visiting Trinidad now have exclusive access to a dedicated docking berth, a venture which cost the Port Authority 26 million dollars. However with cruiseliners now able to dock whenever they wish and with the Port Authority having made millions in revenue over the last cruise-ship season, the Port Authority Chairman says, things are looking bright for Destination Trinidad. Rynessa Cutting reports.
Transcript
00:00Luxury cruise line Oceana became the first vessel to dock in Trinidad's
00:05waters for the 2024-2025 cruise season and the first ever to benefit from the
00:11dedicated berth. Earlier this year TNT received an excellent grade on its
00:16berthing infrastructure. We have achieved for the first time the mandate of the
00:22Ministry of Works and Transport to have a dedicated cruise berth for cruise
00:28vessels. In this regard the authority has expended the sum of 26 million
00:35dollars to undertake the relocation of the Cabo Star and all domestic cargo
00:41operations from the cruise ship facility. So that means to say this is
00:47the first time that we can tell all cruise vessels come to Port of Spain
00:52whenever you like. The berth is all yours. With berthing restrictions now
00:57gone even more cruise ship activity is expected. The CEO notes that last year's
01:03cruise season yielded millions in revenue for the country. On the heels of
01:09a successful 2023-2024 cruise ship season the authority generated revenue
01:16in excess of five million dollars. As such we remain committed to being an
01:22active participant in the development of Trinidad's cruise ship sector. Over 182
01:29thousand visitors came to our shores last cruise season and even more expected
01:35this time around with several cruise lines scheduled to make maiden voyages
01:40to TNT. This season destination Trinidad is also proud to welcome an anticipated
01:49total of 20 cruise ship calls representing 11 different cruise lines.
01:56Significantly these include six inaugural calls from leading cruise
02:04brands such as Seabourn Carnival, Oceana Cruises, Seven Seas Cruises, Princess
02:13Cruises and Hopper Glide. In addition we will host four calls from Princess
02:21Cruises and a series of five consecutive calls from Epic on Royal Caribbean. These
02:30achievements are said to be the result of various strategies executed by our
02:34local tourism authorities. In closing I would like to declare that destination
02:40Trinidad is indeed thriving. Destination Trinidad is indeed a forerunner in
02:47Caribbean cruise shipping. Renassa Cutting TV6 News