07th January 2010
Chastanet, NCL Talks Tomorrow
Stan Bishop

The future of a fair share of the island’s tourism product will depend on just how a high-level meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, turns out.
Tourism Minister, Sen. Allen Chastanet, will tomorrow meet with Norwegian Cruise Line officials once more, in Florida.
The meeting comes amidst the backdrop of some of the cruise line’s passengers recently being robbed at sightseeing spots while in St. Lucia. Three reported cases of robbery have occurred over the past two years; with two incidents occuring in Soufriere, home of the Pitons, and the latest case involving an attack on tourists near a waterfall in Anse La Raye.
Chastanet met with the officials of Norwegian Cruise Line late last year but despite efforts to assure the cruise line that efforts were afoot to prevent future attacks on tourists, NCL subsequently axed St. Lucia from its 2011/2012 schedule.
The move by Norwegian Cruise Line, Chastanet says, could hurt the island’s image --as well as its coffers -- immensely.
Recent figures indicate that cruise passenger arrivals to the island had sharply increased, despite a world economic recession.
According to figures released by the St. Lucia Tourist Board this week, cruise passenger arrivals increased by 15% in 2009 from 512,600 in 2008 to 589,451 in the same January to November period under review. There was also a 31.5 % increase in cruise ship calls to the island for 2009.