President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Ian Rolle urged Grand Bahama businesses to band together in order to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise from Royal Caribbean International’s (RCI) home porting initiative, beginning in June.
Rolle said during a press conference on Friday that on their own, many Grand Bahama businesses may not have the capacity to service a large cruise ship carrying almost 4,000 people. He therefore called on business owners to form associations in order to build capacity, so that they do not miss out on the opportunities that will be available.
“That (home porting) will bring about significant opportunities for licensees in Grand Bahama, in that, that ship is also coming to Grand Bahama not only for the guests to experience the unique opportunities that exist here, the unique excursions etc. and tourism-related products, but what’s most important is that ship will be provisioning here in Grand Bahama, and by that what I mean is that the ship will have to buy supplies to service the 3,500 to 4,000 guests on a daily basis,” Rolle said.
“This is the time for us to join forces because a single entity might not be able to meet the capacity of the 3,500 or 4,000 passenger vessel, but together we can.
“So, I would like to encourage all of our licensees, farmers, fishermen, those in manufacturing, to form an association, a partnership with each other, so that we can create the excellent products that are needed to excite the guests on board the Royal Caribbean ship.”
Rolle said while Royal Caribbean’s home porting initiative will only be for six months, he is convinced that if Bahamians make a good showing of what they can offer and how they can offer it, Royal Caribbean could extend its home porting time frame.
He explained that while home porting may be a finite endeavor by Royal Caribbean, businesses have to also prepare themselves to offer their services to Royal Caribbean, when it takes control of the Grand Lucayan resort and redevelops Freeport’s cruise port; and for when Carnival Cruise Line begins development of its port.
“The end game is even beyond the cruise line,” said Rolle. “There is a hotel that is about to be purchased by the same group and if manufacturers and various business persons could formalize relationships with Royal Caribbean now and do a great job, in my mind the end game is to also participate in providing services and products to the hotel.”
Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce representative Mick Holding, who also participated in the press conference, added that tour operators must prepare to meet the needs of the cruise passengers who will disembark the ship, as Grand Bahama is a port of call for passengers.
The post Rolle: GB Businesses should band together to supply Royal Caribbean appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/rolle-gb-businesses-should-band-together-to-supply-royal-caribbean/
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