Sir, – On behalf of the recently formed All-Ireland Cruise Ship Action Group, I write in response to the piece published in your Cantillon column ("Claims our cruise ship tourism will 'sink' do not hold water", Business March 28th).
Aside from accusing the Irish cruise industry of being “melodramatic” in the face of our businesses being destroyed, the article makes the fundamental error of assuming that cruise ships will continue to visit other ports in Ireland if they are unable to dock in Dublin. This is not the case. The cruise companies market Ireland as a destination, with Dublin the star attraction. If they cannot dock in Dublin, they will abandon Ireland altogether and keep the vessel in the Baltic or Mediterranean for the summer season.
The article also assumes that it will be easy to bring these cruise ships back to Ireland in 2023. This is not true. The Dublin Port Company has destroyed its relationships with cruise companies across the world and rebuilding these relationships will be extremely difficult and a very long process.
Up to a few weeks ago, the Dublin Port Company was actively promoting Dublin as a top cruise destination. It has now pulled out of several international and European cruise business associations, and associated websites and Twitter pages, at risk of further embarrassment.
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In 2023, the cruise companies will not be keen to deal with Dublin Port again, having been treated in such a manner. That is not how this industry works.
The article also makes the flawed assumption that a 50 per cent reduction in cruise ships visiting Dublin will mean a 50 per cent reduction in passengers.
This is not the case. Of the 78 cruise ships Dublin Port will allow to dock in 2023, only a small percentage of these will be large cruise ships. The vast majority will be smaller ships, with 100 to 1,000 passengers.
The article also makes no mention of the fact that Dublin Port is banning turnarounds from 2021. A turnaround is where one set of passengers disembark the ship and another set embarks. Passengers on turnarounds spend an average of three days and nights in Ireland before and after their cruise. This will be a major loss to the hospitality and retail trade around the island of Ireland .
In our discussions with our international partners and colleagues, it is clear that Dublin Port’s decision has greatly damaged Ireland’s reputation as a cruise destination. Furthermore, its decision will severely impact restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, retailers and transport operators all over Ireland and put many of them out of business.
Despite the troubling remark at the end of the article, the cruise industry will be the least affected by the cost of a cup of coffee in Dublin, as it will no longer be there to enjoy it. – Yours, etc,
LYNN HENDERSON,
All-Ireland Cruise
Ship Action Group,
Santry,
Dublin 9.