Home Cruise Porting Hailed as a “Win-Win”

The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) welcomes the opportunity for The Bahamas to be the premier “Home Port” for Cruise Ships who wish to use the destination as the starting and ending point for their Cruise itinerary. 

 “We see as it as a “win-win” scenario for the gamut of tourism entities who would benefit from the influx of Cruise Passengers into The Bahamas,” states Robert

“Sandy” Sands, President of the BHTA. “A collaborative approach to the “Stop, Stay and Cruise” business model will ensure a broad spectrum of businesses will benefit; Bahamian entrepreneurs, tourism businesses; Cruise Lines and Cruise Passengers.  A melding of a stopover and cruise experience could broaden the economic benefit for the destination significantly. Of course we would ensure our airlift capacity increases commensurately with the growth in hotel and cruise passengers; as the Stop, Stay and Cruise concept could indeed increase arrivals exponentially; if the potential is achieved.”

Mr. Sands goes on to state: “Given the myriad of offerings; a plethora of hotels each with unique offerings of their own, a number of culturally and historically relevant attractions;  a vast number of family island excursions; we are well-poised to provide visitors with an itinerary which showcases the best of The Bahamas; a mix of Land and Sea based experiential offerings.”

The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association looks forward to working with The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; Nassau Cruise Port, The Cruise Lines and other tourism industry participants to ensure the destination’s tourism industry as a whole is able to add the Stop, Stay and Cruise concept to it’s formula for the sustained successful recovery of its Tourism Economy.

Originally published in the Tribune on March 12, 2021.