By
Rebecca Gibson |
As a cruise ship arrives at its port of call, guests line upper decks and fill balconies, to be rewarded with a bird’s eye view of their awaiting destination, the port and its host city spread to the horizon. They have high expectations of what they envision.
It is often at this moment, with the accompanying excitement of the sense of arrival that many passengers decide whether to disembark and spend the day in tropical paradise, or stay onboard and enjoy the many amenities of their luxury liner.
Traditionally, ports were developed as industrial complexes with a focus on
commercial cargo and ship handling, but many now find themselves handling passengers as well, if not exclusively. Ports must develop or reinvent themselves to handle their role as the front door for cruise tourism. Most governments and port authorities continue to treat ports as brown industrial sites, rather than seeing these valuable waterfront sites as an opportunity to meet the world. It is here, in the port, that arriving passengers gain their first impression of the destination.
If the guest’s first view of a destination is warehouses, container stacks, tank farms and back-of-house areas, the passenger’s mind is often made up: “If this is it, and it doesn’t look like the post cards, I think I’ll stay on board.” With that snap decision, the destination has a great opportunity for potential tour and retail sales revenue, but most importantly it could lose a potential ‘brand ambassador’.
In less visually desirable Caribbean ports we’ve seen a staggering 85 per cent of passengers choosing to stay onboard and not visit the destination at all. In visually attractive destinations, we have seen the reverse, with 85 per cent of visitors disembarking the ship. If each passenger spends on average US$125 landside, for a 4,000 passenger ship that could mean US$350K of potential income is missed for local businesses every time a ship calls with the vast majority of passengers remaining on board.
Developed from the point of view of the guest experience, new destination ports must be designed to ensure that expectations of arriving passengers are exceeded and that the logistics in helping them disembark, explore, shop and join excursions are to the passengers’ best advantage. A relationship between the waterfront and the city is necessary in order to create a great destination that people want to visit and spend time touring. It is time for ports of call to think about the message their front doors are presenting to the world.
My advice to all port authorities is to take a cruise and arrive at your own port. Stand on the top deck and see your city from the passenger’s perspective. Does this view promote the destination you are selling?