Bermuda, once a darling of the cruise industry, has seen a rapid decline in business from the cruise industry. At one time they could dictate who could dock there and for how long. Those days are over and the Bermudian government has just passed regulations reversing their long time ban on operation of ship's casinos while in port as well as suspending the cabin tax on ships calling on the island.
Cruise lines will now be allowed to open their casinos after 10PM while in port which some locals say will hurt the local nightlife scene. I doubt they will be complaining much if this actually succeeds in bringing more ships to the island though. Currently only NCL and Royal Caribbean have itineraries to Bermuda that include multiple day stays, something that the local government used to require of visiting ships.
I'd like to see a resurgence in the Bermuda cruise market. It's a beautiful island and I've been there several times. They're going to have to live with these concessions and possibly add a few others to draw people back to the island. They absolutely need to concentrate more on catering to the tourists like most of the Caribbean islands do. In my visits to Bermuda, I got more of an impression that they merely tolerated the tourists instead.
There is a full article on the story here.
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