[Coral-List] [EXTERNAL] Re: please comment

Tue Jul 7 09:12:29 EDT 2015

I know that key West just did a report recently looking at this issue of cruise passenger vs longer stay hotel guest. I don't have a copy, but I think it might be helpful. Their chamber of commercemight know more.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
  Original Message
From: Dennis Hubbard
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2015 9:10 AM
To: Douglas Fenner
Cc: Coral List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [Coral-List] please comment

I did a project back in the Pleistocene for the Virgin Islands Port
Authority (sorry, but I'm headed out the door and am not even sure if I
have a copy of our old report). However, the gist of it was that back in
the 60s an average tourist off a boat in Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas)
spent $125 in a day in town. Many others that were on boats based in STT
spent MUCH more. By the mid-80s, that was down below $15 (I can't remember
the exact number, so I'm estimating on the high end). One approach is to
look at the packages for cruises and the size of the vessels that will use
the port. Most of them are  "all inclusive" which means that it's cheaper
to eat breakfast on the boat, walk around town with your camera and then
head back for lunch. Also, larger boats (>1000) have marginal profits that
rely on large numbers of guests. As a result, the cruises are relatively
cheap. Not that only well heeled folks should be able to travel, but if
your goal is maximizing income, you don't want large boats with people who
scraped together every last nickel to pay for a cabin. As a rule, 300 ft is
a pretty good cutoff below which expendable finances drop pretty quickly.

Best,

Dennis

On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 3:22 PM, Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Elizabeth,
>      I think a fair number of cruise ship passengers will buy a bag full of
> trinkets during their day ashore.  However, I bet even one day of diving
> will cost that much or more.  Most divers probably stay around a week.
> Even at 5 days of diving, that may be about 5 times as much as the cruise
> ship passenger spends.  Then add the hotel and meals, all of which goes
> into the local economy.  You might end up with the average diver spending
> 10 times as much locally as the average cruise ship passenger, I wouldn't
> be surprised.
>      But actual data would be much more powerful than my guesses.  I wonder
> if either the Caymans chamber of commerce, or a government agency there
> might have data on how much is spent per year by divers in the Caymans
> compared to cruise ship passengers.
>      Cheers,  Doug
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:04 AM, Elizabeth Silleck <
> elizabeth.silleck at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Steve, that is an excellent point. I do not have numbers, but if anyone
> has
> > contacts with a local business who would testify, in specific detail,
> about
> > their revenue streams relative to dive/long-term stay tourism vs. cruise
> > ships, it could be powerful also. I know my friends in Cozumel who run a
> > dive shop will tell you the same thing--many of the cruise ship tourists
> > get their wrist bands, spend the day lounging at an all-inclusive
> consuming
> > free drinks, and MAYBE buy cheap trinkets in town.
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Steve Palumbi <spalumbi at stanford.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Ellen and all, The other aspect of this kind of thing is that
> cruise
> > > ship tourism brings very little new income to local merchants,
> > restaurants
> > > or hotels. The costs are paid by the town to build the pier and then
> the
> > > tourists stay on the ship and spend very little. So that is my question
> > for
> > > the virtual group - does anyone have numbers for tourism value for an
> > acre
> > > of good reef per year vs local value for cruise ships? Gathering these
> > > numbers up and passing them along may help.
> > >
> > > Steve
> > > **********************************
> > > Stephen R. Palumbi
> > > Harold A Miller Director, Hopkins Marine Station
> > > Jane and Marshall Steel Professor of Biology
> > > Stanford University
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > On Jul 1, 2015, at 8:03 PM, Ellen Prager <pragere at earthlink.net>
> > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Dear Coral listers
> > > >
> > > > The Minister of Tourism in Grand Cayman is pushing a plan to build an
> > > extended cruise/port pier. The Environmental Impact Statement is very
> > > clear, it will destroy acres of coral reef and the indirect impacts
> > remain
> > > questionable.
> > > >
> > > > Grand Cayman's nearshore reefs are surprisingly healthy (relatively
> > > speaking) and still have fish, sea turtles, sharks etc. The plan
> mentions
> > > coral transplants and relocation as mitigation - but you cannot
> > transplant
> > > or relocate entire reef structures (this is not just a few coral
> heads)..
> > > >
> > > > Please take a moment if you would and comment on the plan to their
> > > Department of Environment.  Sorry for the short notice….the comment
> > period
> > > closes July 3rd.
> > > > Here is the link to the plan and information:
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.doe.ky/proposed-cruise-berthing-facility-eia-consultation-june-2015/
> > > >
> > > > The Cruise Industry was not aware of the plan and is now reviewing it
> > > and I have urged some of the major players to oppose the plan from
> their
> > > end as well.
> > > >
> > > > Sincerely
> > > > Ellen
> > > >
> > > > Dr. Ellen Prager
> > > > Earth2Ocean, Inc
> > > > @elprager
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Elizabeth Silleck
> > (914) 391-4250
> >
> > <http://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethsilleck>
> > <http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.silleck.5>
> > <https://twitter.com/LegalEcoDiva>
> >
> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing!
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>
> phone 1 684 622-7084
>
> Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
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>
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>
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>
>
> http://www.nature.com/news/hope-from-the-pope-1.17824?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20150625
>
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>
>
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>
> website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
>
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--
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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