{"id":33760,"date":"2016-01-19T11:04:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T11:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=33760"},"modified":"2016-01-19T11:54:01","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T11:54:01","slug":"mapp-summons-vi-port-authority-board-to-government-house-for-urgent-meeting-following-florida-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=33760","title":{"rendered":"Mapp Summons VI Port Authority Board To Government House For Urgent Meeting Following Florida Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Following a meeting in Florida with the\u00a0Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association last Wednesday to discuss the reason for the apparent continued cancellations of cruise ship calls to St. Croix, Governor Kenneth Mapp has requested an urgent meeting with Virgin Islands Port Authority board members, according to a press release Government House issued on Monday.<\/p>\n

The meeting, the release made known, was to be held immediately following the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to share with board members my discussions with FCCA executives so that we may determine steps going forward,\u201d Governor Mapp said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Jan. 13, the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism issued a statement revealing that\u00a0yet another cruise line, prepared to visit St. Croix on March, 13, had cancelled its visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been\u00a0<\/span>cancellations of port calls to St. Croix \u2013 on\u00a0<\/span>Sunday, January 10\u00a0<\/sup><\/span>and another on\u00a0<\/span>Sunday,\u00a0March 13,\u201d read the release. \u201cWe acknowledge that all cruise calls, particularly to St. Croix, are of critical importance, and establishing the reasons for the calls not being confirmed is important. We want to make it clear that this does not signal a specific challenge or concern with St. Croix as a cruise destination,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

DOT\u2019s release did not reveal the name of the ship that cancelled its March 13 call to St. Croix, but comments made by Mr. Mapp during a Tuesday, January 12 press conference<\/a><\/span>, brought to the fore complications for St. Croix\u2019s already struggling tourism offering.<\/p>\n

The remarks, which alluded to some disturbing rambles with a particular cruise line, came unexpectedly, and the governor, while clearly acknowledging that something had gone wrong, left many questions unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of things that we have to look at. We will acknowledge that there seems to be some rapid changes taking place on the schedule of cruise visits to the island of St. Croix. We see a number of ships are being pulled off of the schedule,\u201d the governor said. \u201cWe had an issue with one of our representatives \u2014 who I will leave unnamed at the moment \u2014 at a meeting in Florida that may have caused some serious consternation with one of the cruise lines, and I want to be sure that nothing that occurred in that meeting is a result of what we\u2019re seeing \u2014 this rapid change in cruise destinations to the island of St. Croix.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAnd this goes back to the point that we have to broaden and diverse our economy, and while we are partners with the cruise industry and wish to continue to do so, when we have such a strong reliance on one segment, then these are the kinds of actions that can happen that may not be in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor is expected to update the territory on his discussions with officials from the\u00a0Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, as well as VIPA board members following the urgent gathering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feature Image:\u00a0Disney Fantasy docked at Havensight in St. Thomas<\/em><\/p>\n

Image Credit: VIC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Following a meeting in Florida with the\u00a0Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association last Wednesday to discuss the reason for the apparent continued cancellations of cruise ship calls to St. Croix, Governor Kenneth Mapp has requested an urgent meeting with Virgin Islands Port Authority board members, according to a press release Government House issued on Monday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,3,116,11,191,2474,147],"tags":[4350,4351,1055,71],"yoast_head":"\nMapp Summons VI Port Authority Board To Government House For Urgent Meeting Following Florida Trip - V.I. 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