Business is booming in Dockyard

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Business in Dockyard is booming this summer due to a steady number of cruise ship arrivals, retailers say.

“We’ve been doing very well,” said Michelle Conklan of diving and water sports company Fantasea Bermuda. “This is peak season, it won’t start slowing down until around October. We’ve been having mainly tourists but we’ve also had locals who are looking to experience something different.”

Dolphin Quest manager Christine Mihelcic said the Dockyard attraction saw a 20 percent increase in revenue last month thanks to local and tourist business.

“ We have had a phenomenal summer,” she said. “Of that 20 percent, 50 percent of the increase has been from tourists here on cruises. Another 20 percent has been from locals and 30 percent is from tourists staying in hotels. Our proximity to the cruise ships helps business a lot, as well as the fact that we also have a retail branch which is bringing in money.

“I love the fact that locals are having ‘staycations’ and are coming to visit us at Dolphin Quest.”

July was also a great month in terms of business for beeswax candlemaker Tricia Phillips.

“This [entire] summer business has been pretty good; steady,” she said. “This is peak season so there’s more tourists coming to buy candles.”

Candise Smith, owner of Top Dog hot dog stand, said: “We’re seeing a lot of tourists that come off the ships that want to grab a quick bite to eat, as well as locals who work in Dockyard coming to buy lunch.”

Most shopkeepers said although business was steady now, it would likely slow down in October at the end of the cruise ship season.

Makin’ Waves owner Douglas Patterson said: “Anytime cruise ships are in, there’s money to be had. People don’t spend a lot per head but when you have two mega ships at the dock you’re still going to make a lot of money.

“Month to month the business depends on the schedule of the cruise ships. May of this year wasn’t as good as May of last year because there were less cruise ships coming in this year. July is our best month this summer; only slightly better than June. This is because there were a lot of cruise ships in Dockyard during those two months.”

Approximately 85 of his customers at Dockyard are tourists, Mr Patterson said.

“This branch is generally supported by tourists and our Hamilton store is generally supported by locals.”

Jewellers Crissons and ER Aubrey agreed that their business was also driven by cruise ship visitors.

Susan Millar, general manager of Crisson Jewellers, said: “When there’s a [cruise] ship in port, we’re busy. During the week we have a lot of tourist customers but on the weekends we also have locals that shop with us. It’s not busy year round. When the ships stop coming in, the store is very quiet. Our busiest months are June, July and August.”

ER Aubrey Jewellers and Luxury for Less’s Linda Adderly added: “We’ve been very busy in ER Aubrey Jewellers and in Luxury for Less. We’ve had a lot of foot traffic in both stores. Cruise ship passengers are our main customers at ER Aubrey Jewellers but we have a lot of local customers in Luxury for Less. Locals love it, it’s only a year old. We expect business to slow down when the cruise ships stop coming in at the end of October.”

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