Expensive Editor,
I would like to weigh in on the controversy pertaining to the Extensive Bay Landing cruise pier proposed to be developed by West Indian Corporation.
I definitely do not dispute that the cruise field is quite significant to the economic climate of St. Thomas. The authentic issue is how to balance the want for cruise ships to our shores with the impression on our island.
As the cruise ship sector has built bigger and more substantial ships to maximize their earnings, they have carried out so on the backs of the Caribbean ports they frequent. St. Thomas is a single of the scaled-down ports of connect with and 1 of the two most well known. The cruise sector has generally demanded that we make a new dock in our harbor to accommodate these mega (Oasis course) ships.
At existing, St. Thomas can accommodate three of the megaships carrying 6,000 passengers just about every, and more than 2,000 crew per ship. In addition, we can also accommodate one of the Voyager- class ships with 3,000 passengers and a different 1,000 crew resulting in about 28,000 visitors arriving on our shore in a solitary working day.
If we have been to develop the new dock to accommodate an extra two of the megaships, we would include another 16,000 people today arriving in a single day normally mid-week. We would have an influx of 44,000 people today virtually totaling our population of 50,000 arriving on one particular working day and this is in addition to the hotel, guest homes and Airbnb guests.
Realistically, we do not have the infrastructure to accommodate this range of people on our island in a offered working day. Most of our roadways are two lanes. We only have a minimal variety of attractions. Our buying districts are not able to accommodate such an inflow of individuals and even our gorgeous beach locations would be overrun. It would be the quickest way to discourage people from coming to our island whether or not on cruise ships or to continue to be in our resorts and guest residences. It would be practically nothing limited of reckless on our part.
Picture the gridlock as countless numbers of travellers disembark and check out to get to downtown, to points of interest and on tours. The traffic would be a nightmare. At the Governor’s Neighborhood Small business Forum on Wednesday early morning, the associates of Royal Caribbean could not or would not remedy direct issues about why this dock should be make, who is heading to pay for it and why it is essential.
The only reason to make a further dock would be to accommodate an supplemental two of the megaships on a supplied working day, making a nightmare on our island.
On top of that, I fully grasp that there is a possibility that the dock will be moved to the west of Very long Bay correct in the vicinity of the two court residences which would fully destroy the natural beauty of our harbor, arguably 1 of the most beautiful harbors in the Caribbean. Do we really want to wipe out the extremely point, our normal splendor, that incentivizes vacationer to occur here?
This new dock is projected to expense above $100 million and we are advised disingenuously, that the cruise companies will fork out for it. This is not true. Although the cruise corporations may perhaps front the income, they expect us to repay the price by WICO and the V.I. Port Authority not accumulating many of the charges we charge for each passenger that pay out for the operation of the ports of about $14.40 for every passenger.
We require to create more motels and we desperately have to have to have the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef Seaside Resort, Sugar Bay and Caneel Bay back again on line. Lodge visitors spend a large amount extra for every working day than $165 that cruise ship passengers allegedly spend below. Resort friends try to eat in our restaurants, they choose tours and taxis, they rent cars and trucks, they shop in our retailers and they patronize our points of interest.
If our authorities and senators labored 50 percent as difficult to get inns developed right here as they perform on behalf of the cruise ship corporations our financial system would flourish exponentially. It is a shame that a person of the most attractive islands in the Caribbean has not experienced a new resort designed in 40 many years.
Sure, we do want the cruise ships. They are an vital portion of our financial system but they are not the be all and close all of our economy. Of course, we will need to have new hotels developed and the kinds that were being ruined in the hurricanes should be rebuilt ASAP. Tourism is our marketplace! It is vital to every single Virgin Islander but we need to preserve it for us and our kids, and we should maintain what would make it desirable for persons to want to arrive below.
We want to battle to maintain the beauty of our specific island.
— Dorothy M. Isaacs, St. Thomas
About the Author
