Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, October 27, 2022
President and program chair Jackie chaired the meeting.
Before lunch was served Jackie informed everyone that the Rotary Club of Humber will cease to function at the end of the year due to low membership numbers and other concerns. Corner Brook Rotarians will reach out to the Humber Club membership to see if any members would be interested in becoming part of the Corner Brook Club.
After lunch Jackie introduced Jennifer Hartley, who is the Business Development Manager for Corner Brook Port Corporation. Jennifer then gave a presentation on the 2022 cruise season, in which she talked about such challenges as hosting cruise ships in an active port which also has a container service, the measures taken to address schedule conflicts and upgrades to enhance the passenger experience.
Jennifer began her presentation by speaking of the current 2022 cruise season in the Port of Corner Brook. There had been 23 port calls with 8 of these being inaugural ones. Altogether 25,744 passengers and 14,742 crew had visited the port giving a total of 40,486 guests. There had been some scheduling changes due to the Fiona hurricane with 3 extra visits added due to the storm. She went on to speak of the economic impact from these cruise ship visits by firstly looking at the figure for 2019 and then this year after the covid break. Passengers spent this year 1.8 million dollars with each passenger averaging $81 per person with the crew also spending a similar amount. Looking at the last ten years the economic impact has grown by over a million dollars.
Jennifer went on to speak of the challenges with the port offering an active international container service throughout the year and the accommodating of cruise ships during the cruise season. Cruise ships book 3 to 5 years in advance and the passenger experience in Corner Brook has been good. She went on to speak of the improvements made with a new tender dock and gangway for ships needing to anchor in the bay and use tenders. There are 7 new vendor sheds, benches, and garbage bins, and staff training and community programming have been implemented.
The 2023 season is already planned with 33 ships booked with two ships in Corner Brook at the same time, five times in the season. Eight of the ships will have over two thousand guests and 7 inaugural visits are planned. Jennifer then spoke of the new Welcome Park in the area when undeveloped land between the mill and the port will be developed into a small park with paved walkways, new washroom facility, performance area and vendors’ area. This area will be fenced and be a welcoming space for cruise ship guests.
Jennifer answered several questions before being thanked by Jackie on behalf of the club.
The meeting was then adjourned.
Next week November 3rd the guest speaker will be Karen Kennedy Fruit Crop Development Officer & Provincial Apiarist for Newfoundland and Labrador.