Regional fact-finding cruise by Falkland Islands Port Agent

Saturday, April 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

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Debbie Summers, Tourism Development Manager of Sulivan Shipping Ltd, who are port agents for the majority of cruise ships visiting the Falklands, described the 2006/7 season as “the most successful to date”.

Miss Summers, who is currently in London to make a presentation about tourism in the Islands to the Falklands Forum, recently returned from a fact-finding journey for her company on the cruise liner Norwegian Crown. This journey lasted seventeen days and covered nine different ports in the Southern Cone from Montevideo down to Ushuaia, all of which receive the same ships that visit the Falkland Islands. One lesson learned from this tour, in Debbie's opinion, was the need for the port agents involved to work together as a region. One benefit of such a liaison would be the avoidance of unnecessary duplication of the experiences offered to passengers on shore excursions. Debbie was impressed by the amount of investment in port facilities she had seen during her voyage, which had "hammered home" to her the disadvantages implicit in having to use ships' tenders to get passengers ashore, which she perceived to be one of Stanley's "biggest challenges". Taking the opportunity to talk to many of her fellow passengers on the Norwegian Crown had led Debbie, she said, to an awareness of "how special the South American itinerary is" and how important the provision of up-to-date and accurate information was for passengers, none of whom were first-time cruisers and many of whom have spent years cruising in other waters. One of the challenges which the increasing popularity of Stanley as a cruise ship destination has brought in its wake is how to provide the best possible experience on days when more than one large ship is in port at the same time. The largest ship to arrive in Stanley this year was the Golden Crown, which with a complement of 2,600 passengers effectively doubles the population of Stanley for the day. Debbie Summers said that she was surprised and somewhat relieved to discover that the coincidental arrival of more than one large ship in port, which presents something of a logistical nightmare for a tiny port like Stanley, can create similar problems even in large ports like Buenos Aires, where consideration is being given to imposing limits on passenger arrivals. John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley

Categories: Tourism, Mercosur.

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