First impressions are of the utmost importance when a cruise tourist visits our island
WILLEMSTAD - When a tourist disembarks from a cruise ship here in Curaçao, the first impressions are the interaction with and of the people at the cruise terminal, which is managed by the Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA). Based on this, CPA applies strict rules of conduct at the cruise terminal.
Since in the past several confrontations took place at the cruise terminal between tour operators about the prices of the tours, CPA and the tour operators made agreements in 2014 about the minimum price to be used for offering tours, in order to prevent the aforementioned undesirable situations on the cruise terminal.
In July of last year, the Fair Trade Authority Curaçao (FTAC) informed CPA that the use of minimum prices for the provision of tours was against the national competition ordinance introduced in 2017, upon which CPA immediately moved to end this situation, including the removal of the sign announcing the minimum price for offering tours.
CPA is currently in the process of drafting new rules for the tour operators so that every cruise tourist visiting the island can be assured a positive experience upon arrival at - or departure from - the cruise terminal, when cruise tourism resumes.