by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
According to a $100,000 study, Jacksonville is a viable port of call for cruise ships.
The study, which is scheduled to be released next month, was prepared by The Willard & Shullman Group, Ltd. of Greenwich, Conn. and was paid for by the Jacksonville Port Authority and the Jacksonville Tourist Development Council. It was done in conjunction with Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines in an effort to determine what impact having Jacksonville as a home port for a major cruise line would have on travelers in the Southeast.
There were two major objectives of the study: one, to evaluate whether the ability to drive to Jacksonville from places like Atlanta, Charlotte, Montgomery and Pensacola would increase interest in taking cruises and two, measure the impact having one less port of call and one more day at sea, as a result of departing out of Jacksonville, would have on the interest in cruising.
The answer, according to the 600 people surveyed during the 10-day study last June, is that Jacksonville would be a popular embarkation point for those who choose cruises for their vacations. Currently, the most popular embarkation points for those taking a cruise to the Caribbean are Miami, Tampa, Port Canaveral and Ft. Lauderdale, in that order. However, all of those cities are well over a six-hour drive from places like Atlanta and Charlotte, making a cruise less inviting to those who don’t want to have to fly to their embarkation point.
Overall, 19 metropolitan areas in five states with a total population of 10,676,533 were surveyed. Of those reached, 72 percent said Jacksonville would make a logical port of call because it would allow them to save time, while 68 percent said Jacksonville was simply more convenient to them. Six in 10 said Jacksonville, because it is a drivable destination, would save them money while 40 percent said having a port in Jacksonville would allow them to make last minute cruise decisions.
The study produced nine official findings:
• The availability of a port of embarkation in Jacksonville increases the size of the potential market for cruising to the Caribbean among past cruisers and, even more dramatically, among vacationers who have never taken a cruise.
• Location of the port of embarkation, while not as important as destination or cost in deciding on a cruise, is still an important consideration. For a sizable number of vacationers who have never taken a cruise, the expense and time of getting to the port, as well as the need to fly, are among the reasons they have not cruised.
• The ability to drive to Jacksonville is very appealing and would address some of the barriers to cruising. Currently, cruisers fly as often as they drive, and with a port available in Jacksonville, eight of 10 vacationers would prefer to drive, rather than fly.
• The widely recognized benefits of cruising out of Jacksonville are saving time, saving money and greater convenience. Another benefit is the ability to make a last-minute decision to cruise. Jacksonville is also considered a safer port than Miami.
• Jacksonville is very attractive as a port to drive to, even though vacationers tend to overestimate the drive time to reach Jacksonville. Clearly it would be even more attractive as a port to drive to if vacationers were educated about actual drive times.
• Jacksonville has an opportunity to draw visitors before and after cruises. Although vacationers currently are not very familiar with Jacksonville, more than half say they would be interested in visiting Jacksonville before or after a cruise. Their interest would be heightened if Jacksonville marketed attractions such as beaches, quality hotels, historic sights and shopping.
• Jacksonville would be the preferred port for many cruisers in the Southeast who, in the past, took cruises from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and Port Canaveral, assuming the cruise offerings were similar.
• By providing distinct cruise offerings, and by bringing new cruisers into the marketplace, a port in Jacksonville would expand the cruise market rather than just shift it away from existing ports.
• The requirement for an additional day at sea and one less port would not be a deterrent to cruising from Jacksonville. In fact, a seven-day itinerary with four ports and three days at sea compared to an itinerary with five ports and two days at sea is preferred by both past cruisers and cruise prospects. This confirms earlier qualitative research which showed interest in spending more time on the ship to take advantage of the ship’s amenities.
The study comes at a time when the Super Bowl Host Committee is courting various cruise lines to come to Jacksonville to serve as floating hotels during the 2005 Super Bowl. Jacksonville will be several thousand hotel rooms short for the big game and will need about 12 cruise ships to accommodate those who come in for the game.
Also, the Port Authority has already approved the construction of the Ed Austin Terminal at Dames Point and plans call for it to be complete in time for the Super Bowl. In an effort to assure that Super Bowl cruise ships and, perhaps, those using Jacksonville as a home port, can navigate the St. Johns River, work is underway to dredge another four feet of river bottom from areas between the Dames Point Bridge and downtown.