You’ve seen them sailing on the Salish Sea… The huge 2,500 passenger cruise ships bound for Alaska or the 700 passenger ships destined for the Inside Passage. Then there are the ‘pocket’ cruise ships that carry around 100 passengers or the $10 million mega-yachts carrying just a handful of well-heeled passengers.

What these ships have in common is that they are bringing more and more people to our coast; people who are eager to explore everything from our wilderness to our shopping malls and spend money while they do it. Klahowya takes a look at this growing segment of the tourism industry and the opportunities on offer both for First Nations and individual entrepreneurs.

‘The sky’s the limit’
If there’s anyone who is aware of the opportunities in the cruise ship business, it’s probably Robert Duncan, president of Naut’sa mawt Resources Group, the tribal council’s economic development arm.

Duncan had extensive experience with the cruise ship industry from the shore side perspective prior to joining NRG. For the past several months, he has been traveling to cruise ship head offices and destinations – from Vancouver and Seattle to San Francisco and Miami – as part of NRG’s marketing contract with Campbell River Indian Band (CRIB).

CRIB has been working with the City and District of Campbell River and North Central Island Tourism for the past decade to market and develop a cruise ship port for Campbell River in order to attract a share of the growing West Coast cruise ship industry. Duncan’s fact-finding trip to Miami was with representatives from the ports of Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and Prince Rupert.

“These are big ships and the people on them have big wallets,” Duncan said. “The time is right for tribal council nations as well as individual members to take advantage of the business opportunities this offers. But it has to be done right. Companies like Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line don’t accept anything less than first class.”

Getting the cruise ships to stop at smaller ports like Nanaimo or Powell River is a challenge, but many are seeking attractions outside BC’s two biggest cities.

“Passengers are really attracted to the smaller ports where they can take off for the day to visit local attractions, view wildlife or get in some fishing,” Duncan said. “But one of the challenges is to have excellent ‘shore products’. Once cruise ship’s passengers get their feet on dry land, they’re looking for places to go and things to buy.

“There’s already a big demand out there,” he said. “For example, Prince Rupert has to import vendors to its port in order to satisfy the demand.”

For individual entrepreneurs, Duncan said: “The sky is the limit in terms of how creative you can be. But people have to remember that this is a business and a seasonal business at that.

“It has to be run like any good business. You have to do proper planning and be aware of international security laws, labour laws, insurance and liability issues.”

But for those who do their homework, there are plenty of opportunities.

“The cruise ship business is just one tourism niche,” said Duncan. “But the skills and experience First Nations develop could be applied across the board in other sectors.

“The interesting thing about cruise ship opportunities is that they can give our First Nations seed money and equity. Once you have annual revenues and cash flow, it allows you to leverage your money to achieve many other things.”

NmTC cruising towards training

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, Naut’sa mawt Resources Group and Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo have started discussions about setting up a cruise ship industry product development training program for First Nation members in and around ports where the ships call.

Although design and implementation of the program is ongoing at this point, initial discussions centred on potential content of a program which could include tourism product marketing, leadership skill-building, heritage/culture interpretation and small business development.

“The idea is to develop a curriculum specific to the cruise industry but NmTC community members can get some solid training in skills here that can be transferred to many other work areas,” said Robert Duncan of NRG.

Although it’s still early days, Duncan said the group is looking for training dollars that might be available to fund students. As well, courses could be set up to rotate in ports and on campus to better provide students with hands-on training opportunities.

Last year, the Province of British Columbia announced that $5 million was being provided to the Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC (ATBC) to support implementation of the Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Blueprint Strategy, which is focused on the development and marketing of Aboriginal tourism businesses, training and skills development, in addition to fostering community economic development and cultural preservation. There may be a fit between ATBC’s mandate and this training program.

Jobs and dollars come with ships
Maritime Strategy International recently did a study that estimated that approximately 40,000 cruise passengers would visit Campbell River each year as a result of the development of its port facilities.
The direct impact of all those people could result in the creation of 100 full-time seasonal jobs and result in $5.4 million in annual spending. And it was estimated that an additional 57 full-time seasonal jobs and $3 million in annual spending would be indirectly generated as a result of cruise ship tourism.

Feeling like an entrepreneur?

Tourism is a growing sector of the economy in coastal BC. Businesses that are created to cater to the seasonal cruise ship industry can also attract local, regional and foreign tourists year-round.

Some of the possibilities include salmon and other sports fishing, whale watching, wildlife tours, downhill or cross-country skiing, kayaking, hiking and cultural tours.

Jobs in the industry
The cruise ship industry is a good place to find a job whether it’s on land or on the water.

• Entertainment: These positions deal with anything related to passenger entertainment and include host and hostesses, cruise directors and staff, disc jockeys, performers, swimming instructors and shore excursion staff.
• Service and Hospitality: These are positions in the restaurants, bars, passenger cabins and retail: waiters and waitresses, bar tenders, cabin stewardesses, cooks, bakers, cleaners, gift-shop assistants etc.
• Personal care: These employees deal with the spa facilities, beauty shops and health care: salon operators, beauticians, medical staff, massage therapists and fitness instructors.
• Deck and Engine Room: These departments are responsible for maintaining and running the ship.