The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) will be relocating its primary cruise operations to Miami.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, made this disclosure today, during a press conference to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Royal Caribbean International.
“We are moving our primary cruise operations from Bridgetown to here in Miami. We will be starting the office during the course of this year with a Senior Business Development Officer, who is currently based at our headquarters in Barbados and they will transfer out to Miami; but then once the office is definitively set up, we will have the new director of cruise recruited, and they will be based here in Miami,” Minister Cummins revealed.
She highlighted that this move was shared with Barbados’ partners in the cruise industry and that it allows the island to interact with the industry’s partners in a timelier and intimate manner.
Senator Cummins also pointed out that this action was a joint collaboration between BTMI and the Barbados Port Inc., and they will work together to “attract ships, in terms of the marketing and how we facilitate ships, in terms of ships actually arriving on the ships call”.
“And so, that partnership is meant to evolve during the course of this month, [and] we’re expecting by late summer, we should have that fully operationalised, and that by the time the winter season rolls around our full operation out of Miami will be up and running,” she stated.
The Tourism Minister explained that there was no additional cost to relocating the primary cruise office operations to Miami as it would be located in the Barbados Miami consulate.
While in Miami attending the Seatrade Cruise Global conference, which runs from April 25 to 28, the Minister, along with officials from the Barbados Port Inc., will meet with owners of cargo ships to discuss matters surrounding cargo, including the supply chain.