Caribbean Ferry Service

The CEO of Foster Ince Group of companies, Martin Ince, made a powerful statement in the last evening news on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Mr. Ince's statement can transform the tourism industry of the Caribbean, if it is considered. His statement brought something new to the table so to speak, and it was about having a ferry service in the Caribbean, but with a twist.

A ferry service for the Caribbean has been on the cards for a while now, and was planned to start to provide a cheaper form of transportation between Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad for starters.

Ince, however, looked at the ferry service from a tourism standpoint. He is suggesting a service which allows a tourist who might come to Barbados on vacation, to be able to easily rent a car to maybe tour the island, and then later be able to board a ferry service which could take him to another Caribbean island with few hassles.

This is an idea which would give that tourist more options within the Caribbean when he chooses the Caribbean as oppose to any other region of the world. It would also allow us in the Caribbean to compete with those floating islands, call cruise ships.

Cruise ships when they come to the Caribbean, take our resources, possibly pollute the sea, and pay us much less than if those tourists on the ships were to vacation on land in a hotel, guesthouse, or villa.

The cruise ships are able to offer more variety because it is able to visit multiple islands on one cruise. If we in the Caribbean could allow tourist to travel via ferry with a vehicle from another territory, then we can effective compete with the cruise ships.

A tourist visiting Barbados can spend a week in a hotel in Barbados, and leave via ferry to spend a week in a hotel in St., Lucia while he tours St. Lucia in a car rented in Barbados.

Mr. Ince, good point, Sir.