Boosting Cruise Ship Visits, a Priority for St. Vincent

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Port Authority will later this month sign a twinning agreement with Miami, that will allow the island to access the databases of cruise lines and communicate directly with the cruise ship operators, Tourism Minister Rene Baptiste has said.

The agreement will be signed in the framework of a three-day meeting of Caribbean shipping executives that gets underway Kingstown on May 23.

Ms Baptiste said that tourism officials in St. Vincent were engaged in discussion with Carnival and Norwegian cruise lines and that the Princess Cruise line has already booked 20 calls to St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the 2005-6 season.