Mr. Speaker, I said back in February, “There is no tourism without transport”, and the future of Bermuda’s economic recovery depends on our air and sea visitation in 2022. Today I will share an update on the cruise industry.

Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda 2022 cruise ship season is shaping up better than originally forecasted at 50% occupancy when I officially reported the numbers during the budget debate.

Mr. Speaker, since April 4, Bermuda has received 27 cruise ship calls to date, with ships having visited all three ports. There have been approximately 45,600 passengers visiting our shores thus far, and ships have been sailing at occupancy levels between 60% and 75%.

Mr. Speaker, the estimated revenue generated so far for government taxes is $4M, Visitor Fee is $729,600 and passenger spending is $10.2M.

Mr. Speaker, it has been wonderful to have our regular cruise ship partners back after a two-year hiatus.

Mr. Speaker, business is getting back to normal, and streets are bustling again. Bermuda has had a ship in port almost every day since early April and this week - on Monday Bermuda saw three ships in port with one at anchor at Dockyard. This will happen again on June 2nd.

Mr. Speaker, it is anticipated that come mid-June and July that ship occupancies will continue to rise all the while cruise lines manage the covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, I attended Seatrade Cruise Global Conference in Miami on April 25 to 27 and the Bermuda contingency included Stacey Evans, our Cruise Line Relations contact within the Ministry of Transport, Charles Jeffers II, CEO, Bermuda Tourism Authority and Tashae Thompson, Director of Experience, Bermuda Tourism Authority.

Mr. Speaker, we met with our cruise line partners Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises/Regent Seven Sea Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seaborn, P&O, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Silversea Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, MassPort, Maryland Port Administration, Global Port Holdings Ltd., and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CPHA) over the busy 3-days.

Mr. Speaker, during the opening remarks of the State of the Cruise Industry on April 26th, we learned that the Cruise lines have worked tirelessly to resume service and leverage the power of partnerships with governments around the world, projecting 280 more cruise ships in service across 100 countries and regions in 2022, with every 24 cruisers supporting 1 full-time job, each cruiser spending an average of $750 in port cities. Six out of ten cruisers return to a city first visited via a cruise. Looking ahead to the fleet of ships in 2027 - 26 ships will be powered by LNG fuel, 231 ships will have advanced wastewater treatment systems, 174 ships will have shore-side power connectivity and 176 ships will have exhaust gas cleaning systems.

Mr. Speaker, the future of cruises for Bermuda is bright. Given what we learned at Sea trade that four to seven-day itineraries are considered the industry sweet spot, and that fuel is an important driver for North American home ports, cruise partners will be looking for destinations as close to the eastern seaboard as possible. Bermuda as port of call, must prepare to be able to service the projected growth out of homeports such as Boston and Baltimore. This will also equate to Bermuda becoming less of a seasonal port of call and more of a year-round destination given that if we expand our season by one month, we will achieve year-round port of call status.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Transport is currently reviewing a proposed MOU with a contract cruise line partner to clearly define, a direct path for Bermudians 18 years and older who are interested in training and employment opportunities inthe hospitality industry, and I would not be surprised if the contract cruise partner is on the island prior to the end of our 2022 cruise ship season to host job fair activity.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.