Tourism blow as only two cruise ships due to visit Old Town

It is the lowest figure in recent history and the latest blow to the tourist trade in the Old Town.

The Veendam will continue to dock outside St. George’s at Murray’s Anchorage for its 24 trips to the island.

Last year the ship often had to bypass the town due to bad weather and continued straight to Hamilton.

St. George’s mayor Kenny Bascombe said the number of cruise ships coming to St. George’s is a disappointment.

But he is determined to explore other avenues to boost footfall in the town.

He added: “It is a disappointment in one aspect, but as I have said before we need to start looking at attracting the residential population into St. George’s.

“The Sunday market has worked well for the businesses in Water Street and we have other initiatives we are looking at.”

This year, the Seven Seas Navigator will call at Penno’s Wharf once in April and once in November.

Dock

The only other ship scheduled to stop at St. George’s is the Prince Albert II, which is due to arrive in October for a day.

Last year four cruise ships were due to dock at the Old Town, while in 2009 liners made 22 visits to Ordnance Island and Penno’s Wharf.

In 2008 there were 47 cruise calls to St.. George’s.

Mr. Bascombe told the Bermuda Sun it would have been more beneficial if the Veendam had gone straight to Hamilton so passengers could have been tendered to St. George’s directly.

He added: “It would have better for the community if the ship had gone straight to Hamilton so that everyone knew where they stood rather than being in a kind of limbo, waiting to see if it would stop at Murray’s Anchorage.

“But the business community wanted to work with the ship.

“I could sense the disappointment in places like Tobacco Bay when people thought the ship was coming in and then it ended up bypassing us.

“We are waiting to see what the results of the surveys on the Cut will be and that will give us an idea of how best to move on for the community.”