NOVEMBER MARKED the beginning of Jamaica's winter cruise-ship season, and according to Director of Cruise Shipping William Tatham, the 2009 season will likely record no growth in visitor arrivals.

"We are looking at a flat growth rate in 2009," Tatham told The Sunday Gleaner recently, the same day Ocho Rios received the Oriana and Ruby Princess — two of 22 visits scheduled for November.

"In fact, there have been some cancellations," Tatham revealed. He added that recently, cruise lines had been forced to offer "tremendous discounts" to attract business.

He did not say how many cancellations had been made.

"We are in constant dialogue with the cruise lines and from our standpoint, we are doing all the right things," Tatham said. "However, challenges like the initial hike in fuel prices have hit hard. And as soon as fuel prices began trending down, we have been hit with a recession. The reality is that people don't have the money to spend on vacations," he added.

optimistic

Tatham was, however, optimistic, stating that "the industry tends to weather these storms fairly well".

St Ann Chamber of Commerce president Horace Wildes said in light of the forecast, stakeholders in the industry would have to seek alternative ways to fill the fallout of revenue from the sector.

"They should begin to look at not just ways to supplement their income, but also at ways to cut their expenses in order to try and ride out this expected downturn in cruise-ship passenger arrivals," said Wildes.

Ocho Rios has been a favourite cruise destination for vessels, despite the poor state of the Reynolds Pier, one of two available berths.

The town offers a wide variety of attractions and shopping opportunities.

Regular vessels such as Mariner of the Seas, Carnival Triumph, Freedom of the Seas, Carnival Liberty, Navigator of the Seas and Coral Princess are scheduled to dock in Ocho Rios this month.

Less familiar vessels such as the Braemar, which docked last week and The World are scheduled to arrive on Friday.