Cruise ship passengers down, revenue up
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff Writer
KEY WEST — The number of
cruise ship passengers calling on the Southernmost City dropped by 4
percent, 32,924 people, so far this fiscal year, but revenues are up by
$166,152, records show.
The passenger counts
dropped between September and June compared to 2002-03, but the revenue
increased by 5 percent because the city increased disembarkment fees
from $8 to $10.60 beginning in January.
The city saw a drop in
cruise ship passengers this year as the Navy began an 18-month dredging
project of the main shipping channel near the Outer Mole Pier. The Outer
Mole Pier saw 31,362 fewer passengers because of the closing of the
pier. The pier is slated to reopen this fall.
The city's other pier,
Mallory Square, saw a decrease of 33,994 passengers. The privately owned
pier behind the Hilton, for which the city receives 25 percent of the
disembarkment fees, saw an increase of 19,383 passengers, records show.
The city Port Operations
Department shuffled cruise ships around, fearing a drop off in revenue,
and took $560,000 from reserves to accommodate the Outer Mole Pier being
shut down.
Port officials exceeded
limits on the number of ships that can call on Pier B behind the Hilton
to help generate revenue for the city and recover from losses during the
Outer Mole closure.
A lower passenger count
and increase in disembarkment fees is an idea that groups like Last
Stand and Livable Old Town have been lobbying the city on for years.
The groups have asked the
city to get to a point where they can keep a manageable level of cruise
ship passengers, charge a reasonable fee and not price themselves
completely out of the cruise ship market.
"I think anytime you see
the impacts of the cruise industry lessened and the positive impacts
maximized it is a good thing," said Amy Lachat Lynch, board president of
Last Stand. "The city should be managing the cruise industry, not the
other way around. I think we are making progress on this."
Having fewer passengers
also provides a better visitor experience, shorter lines for attractions
and less-crowded streets and shops, Last Stand member Elliot Baron said.
"In their own voices,
passengers have complained about how overcrowded Key West has become,"
Baron said, citing a Web page that posted cruise ship passengers'
comments. "The city and visitors would be better served by a $2 increase
and having 600,000 passengers a year."
The city is expecting 521
cruise ship port calls bringing in 951,288 passengers in the 2004-05
fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Those figures are based on a 99
percent occupancy on the cruise ships.
The city pays roughly $9
million in direct expenses for cruise ships, which include security,
pier maintenance and port staff salaries. The city pays another $3
million in indirect expenses, which include public works and emergency
and police services, records show.
City Commissioner Harry
Bethel had proposed increasing disembarkment fees by 50 cents to make up
for shortfalls in the budget.
The City Commission
agreed to raise disembarkment fees by 60 cents to meet increased
security standards handed down by the federal government and has until
September to decide whether to increase them another 50 cents.
Florida-Caribbean Cruise
Association President Michelle Paige reminds Key West officials that
this would be the second straight year the city has hit cruise companies
with a sizable increase and cautioned them about pricing themselves out
of the market. Paige called last year's $2.60 increase excessive.
"I guess they will have
to wait to see what next year's disembarkment totals look like," Paige
said.
tohara@keysnews.com |
