Antigua Tourism Minister Sat Down with Carnival Following Ship Pullout

Antigua and Barbuda’s Tourism Minister and other senior industry officials met with the principals of Carnival Cruise Lines, following a decision by the company to drop the island from the itinerary of one of its vessels –a move that could result in the country losing out on EC$15 million ($5.6 million) in income every year.

Carnival confirmed that from January 3, 2010, St Maarten will replace Antigua on the Carnival Victory’s seven-day southern Caribbean itinerary. However, the twin-island nation will remain on the Carnival Freedom’s eight-day southern Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale.

“This was a decision we had been contemplating for quite some time. We have not modified this southern Caribbean itinerary in the past four years and had a desire to incorporate a new port of call,” the company said in a statement. “At the same time, St Maarten holds very strong appeal from a tourism standpoint and we have made a commitment to St Maarten to support the extensive port and infrastructure development currently underway there.”

A statement issued by the Ministry of Tourism yesterday said Antigua and Barbuda has also made progress and it was therefore unclear why it would lose out to St Maarten.

Get the full story at: CaribbeanNewsDigital