In a thorough tourism media presentation, Antigua and Barbuda confirmed that they had six cruise calls schedule for July, up 100 percent from 2012.

With most ships in the Europe and Alaska, any amount of summer traffic for a Caribbean destination could be considered successful.

Nathan Dundas, president of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association and general manager of Brysons Shipping, said the cruise sector was performing quite well.

“We saw four new vessels making their inaugural call to Antigua and Barbuda during last year season including the Riviera from Oceania Cruises, the Carnival Breeze, Celebrity Eclipse, and the Jewel of the Seas. We maintained a sufficient amount of calls from the European Lines including Costa and MSC, while Royal Caribbean continues to be our number one customer.”

The destination continues to train service providers and is working on the enhancements to the downtown cruise facilities in St. John’s.

“We believe that the cruise tourism product is one of the most dynamic in the tourism industry and as such there is a constant need for upgrading skills and service,” Dundas said, talking about a new training program for service providers and shore excursion personnel. “Our best marketing tool is our people. There is nothing more important than our people selling our country with top class service excellence.”