Grenada´s Pinning Hopes on Cruising

Although Grenada’s hotel inventory currently stands at 55% as properties renovate and repair following Hurricane Ivan last fall, Grenada’s cruise picture is very bright. Cruise passengers are expected to top 280,000 this year, a 20% increase over 2004 and well above figures for 2003 as well.

A tourist board spokesman said that the high volume indicates that Grenada already is benefiting from the new cruise port, which opened last fall after the hurricane.

Cruise calls traditionally fall off in the summer period, as some of the larger cruise ships are redeployed to other regions.

Meanwhile, some of the island’s hotels issued new timetables for reopening, including LaSource, which now plans to reopen in March 2006 instead of this December, and the Rex Grenadian, which will reopen in July instead of in May.