Shaun Stevenson, the vice-president of marketing and business development for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, was the speaker at the February 16 Chamber of Commerce luncheon and focused on the cruise industry and how it can be grown and restored in Prince Rupert.
To start Stevenson went over the history of Prince Rupert’s involvement with the large cruise lines, noting that “Prince Rupert as a cruise destination and operation is still in its infancy” and that the industry took a hit in 2006 when Alaskan voters passed a ballot measure that included a head tax, environmental monitoring, gaming shares and other costs on the cruise lines. That was followed by an announcement by Royal Caribbean that they would stop making regular calls in Prince Rupert and last December by the announcement that Norwegian Cruise Lines would stop making regular calls in Prince Rupert in 2012.
But Stevenson said that the community has to be an active part in maintaining the cruise industry in town.
“What has eroded since 2006 is our ability and capacity to look after guests that want to explore Prince Rupert independently…We’re doing really well with guests who go on shore excursions and see what may be the highlight reel of Prince Rupert. Where we’re not doing so well is with independent passengers who are independently looking for meaningful content and experience in Prince Rupert,” he told the crowd, noting that Norwegian Cruise Lines have made it clear they will be looking for progress in that regard.
“That is only going to be made possible if there is an alignment of interest among the stakeholders. The Prince Rupert Port Authority can’t do it alone, the City of Prince Rupert can’t do it alone, the Chamber of Commerce can’t do it alone. But if we align our interests as a community it can be done.”
To that extent a number of stakeholder groups, including the City, the PRPA and the business community, have formed a Cruise Task Force to look for ways to improve orientation and way-finding, content and story telling, community and passenger engagement, asset utilization and market appeal.
“What’s exciting about the progress with the task force so far is that it is very results-focused and very action-oriented,” said Stevenson, adding that the task force could go a long way to developing the cruise asset.
“There are ships coming in 2012. What we have lost is Norwegian Cruise Lines. We don’t have a regular ship call in 2012 and, to be honest, that is unlikely for 2012. We may be able to look at 2012 as an opportunity to re-align our interests and re-invent Prince Rupert as a cruise destination.”
The Prince Rupert Port Authority has also hired Global Destination Development out of Miami as an independent third party to assess Prince Rupert’s strengths and weaknesses as a cruise destination, with that report expected by the end of February.
Stevenson also said that there remains interest from cruise lines in Prince Rupert and that the Alaska cruise theatre appears on the rebound with new cruise lines - Disney and Oceania – entering the market.
Oceania, in fact, will be making a call in Prince Rupert as somewhat of a trial.
“We still believe that there is great opportunity for Prince Rupert. We have all the raw resources – we have the natural beauty, we have the culture, we have the history and we have the people,” said Stevenson, adding that cruise in Prince Rupert has served as a catalyst for projects like the waterfront walkway and has contributed $40 million in direct economic benefits.
“It has probably made the difference between some businesses staying open or turning out the lights.”