MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Tourist security measures “will be ready on time”
Builders are still working against the clock to complete new security measures at Stanley's public jetty in time for the arrival of the season's first cruise ship passengers on Tuesday.
The introduction this year of the Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea has seen ports all over the World introducing new safety measures, and even in the tranquil Falkland Islands, the metal detectors and security zones have to go up.
Tourism Board manager, Connie Stevens, says they will be ready the day before the first tourists walk down the jetty, and admits everyone is holding their breath to see whether tired, hungry queues will form on the quayside as departing passengers undergo random checks: "It will all be ready on time on Monday. Everything is here that they need to complete the work, so it should be on schedule and we have been talking about options if we get a backlog of passengers. Obviously it's a new thing for all of us and we are all going to play it by ear to some extent," she said.
The other challenge facing tour operators in the Islands this year is the continuing Argentine ban on charter flights from South America, which were used to ferry tourists in and out of the Falklands on passenger exchanges.
Mrs Stevens says companies are not sitting waiting for a resolution to the dispute: "I think the expression would be that they've got it in perspective. They understand that there's no movement at the moment and are looking at this season not expecting any movement. So if there is, it would be a bonus, but they are planning for this season without any expectations."
Debbie Summers, tourism development manager for shore agents Sulivan Shipping, would not be drawn on the potential loss of business to the company from the charter flight ban, but said they had been busy finding other solutions, including the use of scheduled flights: "We have got passengers coming through Lan ? there are four incoming flights of passengers with 50 to 100 people on each to pick up their cruise ships," she said.
Ms. Summers said Stanley would be maintaining last year's figure of 80 cruise ship visits, with marginally higher passenger numbers due to an increase in the number of large ships visiting. On the peak day, 18th February, Stanley's population of 2,000 will be braced for the arrival of 3,280 visitors, from two different ships. The QE2 is also eagerly awaited on 29th November after having to cancel last year's visit due to poor weather.
Sulivan Shipping is expanding the range of shore excursions it offers to passengers this season, including a helicopter visit to Sea Lion Island and audio walking tours of Stanley.
Tour companies seem to have the politicians on their side in the charter flight dispute, and vice versa. Councillors have indicated that they are prepared to discuss an "open skies" arrangement on charter flights, which would allow Argentina to compete with other nations to fly to the Islands. But they made it clear at a public meeting in Stanley's Town Hall on Tuesday night that the policy, if introduced, would only apply to one-off charter flights.
Councillor John Birmingham, who sits on the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, said: "Let me make it clear that there is no pressure from the tourism industry in the Falklands to enter into any negotiations on a scheduled flight from Argentina."
Councillors said their key concern was that an Argentine carrier, if allowed to operate regular, scheduled flights, would drop the price so low that Lan Chile would then pull out of its current commitment to fly to the Islands, leaving the Falklands dependent on Argentina for the only airlink to South America.
Councillor Steven Luxton commented: "I would sooner see us go back to a once a month boat to the UK before I'd see a scheduled flight to Argentina." That may not be necessary, but as the security barriers go up, it seems clear that neither the industry nor the politicians are dropping their guard.
Sue Gyford (MP) Stanley
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