Despite a series of high profile business closures, St. George's has not surrendered to the recession, according to its Mayor.

Kenny Bascome said that while a number of businesses in the area have closed, including Making Waves and the Carriage House restaurant, others have opened.

"We keep on hearing about businesses closing, but we've had about four or five new businesses starting up in St. George's in the last few months," he said.

Mr. Bascome said that several clothing stores have opened in the town recently, and more businesses, including a fish market, are expected to open in the near future.

And while the Ample Hamper, a grocery store in the St. George's Club, has closed, the store's owner Ellie Jones said last month that she hoped to open a store on Water Street in the spring.

"There are still plenty of people who believe in this town," Mr. Bascome said. "Carriage House was a blow, but I am confident that someone will re-lease that property.

"I'm not looking at the businesses that are gone, although it's unfortunate, I'm looking at taking the town forward in new directions."

Many of the business collapses have been attributed to the drop in the number of cruise ships, a problem that will not be remedied in time for this summer.

Only one cruise ship is scheduled to make regular visits to the East End this year, Holland America's Veendam, but the ship will have to anchor in Murray's Anchorage because it is too large to reach the town itself and visitors who wish to visit the town will have to be ferried to and from the ship.

While Mr. Bascome admitted the situation was not ideal, he said he was determined to help the town's businesses take advantage.

"On Thursday evening, we are planning to hold a meeting with all the area's business owners who want to make the most out of this tendering situation," he said.

The Mayor stressed that the global economy had hit the tourism industry Island-wide, and said that St. George's had a part to play in the local industry's turnaround.

"I think that because tourism is such a large part of our local economy, the Department of Tourism should look at everything St. George's has to offer and use it," he said.

Chairman of the East End Chamber of Commerce Kirby Brackstone said that despite the recent closures in St. George's, the town was far from dead.

"New businesses are opening in the bigger picture, and people are still investing in the town," he said.

"In a recession like this, when things are hard, people need to re-evaluate how they do things. I think we might have been reluctant to do that in the past, and it's caused us some issues.

"We have some big short-term problems, we do, but once we get over those we'll be in a good position for the long term. This is going to be a very important year for us."

He said there were a number of elements that could help pull the town out of its current rut, including an East End Empowerment Zone.

"I'm interested to see what recommendations the EEZ Agency put forward to the Government," he said. "I'm hoping to hear about that soon."