Bridgetown.
The House of Assembly yesterday evening passed the Cruise Ship (Opening of Facilities) Bill 2012 which give cruise ships permission to open their casinos in the Bridgetown Port.
Minister of International Business and International Transport, George Hutson, who lead off the debate on the Bill said once the legislation is proclaimed, cruise ships docked in the Bridgetown Port for more than 24 hours can open their duty free shops and casinos from 6p.m to 6 a.m.
Hutson made it clear that Barbadians will not be allowed to used the facilities unless they were passengers on a cruise ship.
"This development, allowing curise ship to operate their casinos and duty shops to operate in the Bridgetown Port comes as Government take steps to address concerns raise in the sector about the limited time cruise passengers spend on the island when the ships are docked here", Hutson told Parliament.
He explained that currently cruise ships arrived in the island around 6 a.m and left around 4 p.m and this had been a source of concern to stakeholders in the tourism industry including taxi drivers and beach facility owners, since by mid-afternoon passengers found themselves racing back to the port without fully enjoying what the island had to offer.
Hutson said a committe which included members from the Barbados Tourism & Hotel Assocation, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce, trade unions, his ministry, the Betting and Gaming Committe, repesentatives of the Bridgetown Port who had consulted with the cruise ship operators.
The committe recommended that cruise ships be allow to stay in the port for 24 hours or more and permission be granted for them to open their casinos, bars and shops in order to make up for any loss of such operations which would have taken place while they were on the high seas.
