ST. GEORGES, Grenada
-- Although Grenadas hotel inventory currently stands at 55% as
properties renovate and repair following Hurricane Ivan last fall,
Grenadas cruise picture is very bright.
Cruise passenger
numbers 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.
There is still some
work to be done at the cruise port, which will be carried out this
summer without inconveniencing passengers, the spokesman
said.
Meanwhile, some of
the islands 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.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Gay Nagle Myers at
[email protected].