The preliminary steps of dredging St John’s Harbour will begin early next year, following calls from cruise lines.

At the urging of cruise ship operators, Antigua & Barbuda will emulate the very “successful destination” St Maarten in an effort to improve its own cruise tourism product.

Local tour operators have taken issue with the mountain biking excursion that is operated exclusively by one of the ships from the AIDA cruise line with no local involvement,

Antigua & Barbuda is expected to surpass the intended target of 600 000 cruise passengers for 2011.

Complacency, lack of national investment and increasing competition are some of the main reasons for the decline of the summer cruise tourism industry in Antigua & Barbuda and the Caribbean.

An ongoing power struggle and public squabble between Minister of Tourism John Maginley and President of the Antigua & Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA) is hurting the tourism sector.

The government is not pushing aside the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA). This is the assessment of Minister of Tourism John Maginley despite the government taking over direct control