Nassau, Bahamas - Minister of Tourism & Aviation, Senator the Hon Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said the number of cruise ship passengers has increased over the last year. 

The Minister was speaking during the opening ceremony celebrating the inaugural voyage of the Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the largest ship in the world.

“We don’t talk very much about our business in terms of counting cruise passengers but I assure you that for the first three months of the year in the Port of Nassau, we have received more than 120,000 cruise passengers in the Port of Nassau alone compared to last year,” he said. 

“The numbers are up something of the order to 28 per cent,” Mr Vanderpool-Wallace added.

It has been a collaborative effort among Government Ministries and agencies to improve the port facilities, he noted.

“In case you were wondering when you saw those persons with signs directing people for the tours; they are people who many years ago, were fewer in number and the number of tours that were available were far fewer than we are having today.”

Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said he was encouraged by the new addition to the port and was optimistic about its potential to assist many persons in the tourism sector. 

“We are most delighted and would like to encourage people to visit our hair-braiders centre,” Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said.  

“I remember very well many years ago hair-braiders were up and down the streets due to police chasing them away and now we have hair-braiders in The Bahamas who have mortgages and they can tell people exactly how much they can make in a given year.”

The cruise business in The Bahamas has changed dramatically over the years and is now a completely different business from what it was in previous decades, he said.

“So many people who are relying on cruise business – the taxi drivers, shop keepers, straw vendors, hair-braiders – are extremely grateful for the many of the policies that have been put in place to make such a substantial difference in the lives of so many people. “