St. George’s, October 17, 2022

A public-private delegation from Grenada attended the recently concluded 28^th Annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Cruise Conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The delegation included Randall Dolland, Chairman; Petra Roach, CEO; and Nikoyan Roberts, Nautical Development and Marketing and Sales Manager from the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA); Gail Newton, Accountant, from the Grenada Ports Authority and Anya Chow-Chung, CEO, and Sheldon Alexander, General Manager, Services Division from George F. Huggins Co. Ltd.

Over the course of the 4-day conference, the delegation engaged FCCA representatives and executives from cruise lines including Starboard Cruise Services, Royal Caribbean Group, Holland America Group and Norwegian Cruise Line. GTA CEO Petra Roach stated, “Grenada is open for business and now we are leveraging the industry in an effort to ensure higher returns on the per passenger spend and exploring the developmental opportunities that will arise.”

The 2022 – 2023 cruise season commences on Friday 21^st October with the arrival of Celebrity Summit, part of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, with a passenger capacity of 2590. Two hundred and two (202) cruise calls are scheduled this season, with an expected passenger count of 377,394, which represents an 11% increase from the benchmark 2018 – 2019 season.

Proactive efforts are also underway to have locally made goods such as honey, chocolate, rum and textiles on board visiting cruise ships, as well as utilize local talent as part of the employment and entertainment offerings.