May 1, 2003 – The St. Croix Cruise Ship Task Force reconvened Tuesday at the request of Senate President David Jones, according to a Legislature release distributed on Thursday.
Local community and business leaders met "to address outstanding community concerns about the return of cruise ships" and to discuss a long-term operating agreement between the territory and the cruise lines, the release stated.
Task force member Frank Fox, St. Croix Chamber of Commerce president, who was at the meeting, said on Thursday that representatives of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association plan to visit St. Croix next week. "Hopefully we will all be on the same page," he said.
Tuesday's meeting "was a good first start," with representation from the government and private sector, Fox said, but much work remains to be done.
"We didn't come up with any great revelations or solve anything," he said. "But the fact that we met was a good indication."
Also representing the private sector were Unise Tranberg of Our Town Frederiksted, who co-chairs the task force; Kelvin Dennie of the Taxi Association; and former Sen. Bent Lawaetz, representing The West Indian Co. Public sector members present in addition to Jones included Sens. Lorraine Berry and Luther Renee; Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards; Darlin Brin and David Mapp, representing the Port Authority; and a Police Department representative.
Those present were in agreement that imposing a head tax on ships calling at St. Croix would not be prudent at this time, the release said. It also said that the recent visit of the cruise ship Constellation was without incident; that recently installed security cameras in Christiansted and Frederiksted have been "extremely resourceful"; and that police have been out in full force with bicycle and K-9 units.
According to the release, initiatives planned by the group include:
– Designing and packaging tourist activities with a "brand" that represents features and attractions of St. Croix.
– Building alliances with arts and cultural institutions in the community to create special programs and events as tourist attractions.
– Expanding land-based tours and excursions and establishing a committee to help facilitate this expansion.
– Supporting hospitality training.
– Developing links with major tourism agencies and businesses.
– Creating innovative and unique marketing strategies to encourage tourists to buy products and service on St. Croix.
– Establishing an ad hoc committee to establish standards for ground transportation.
Starting last April, three cruise lines in as many months announced that they were taking St. Croix off their Caribbean itineraries. Carnival Cruise Lines, the first, cited ongoing crime concerns; all three mentioned lack of visitor demand.
For the 2003 summer season, which began Thursday and runs through Sept. 30, the St. Thomas-St. John district is scheduled to receive 224 calls by cruise ships which are projected to bring some 450,000 visitors to the territory. During the same five months, no ships are scheduled to call at St. Croix.
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