Two cruise ships result in busy day for taxi operators

FOR THE FIRST time this tourist season, most, if not all of the taxi operators stationed at the Cruise Ship Terminal left the grounds with a job when two cruise ships made calls in Kingstown on Wednesday.

Together, the two vessels, Costa Magica and TUI Cruises brought close to 5,000 passengers to Vincentian shores and the influx of passengers resulted in taxi operators from the two taxi associations booking jobs.

Winston “Pops” Morgan, the president of the SVG Taxi Association told SEARCHLIGHT that Wednesday was the first time for the season that a lot of operators left the yard.

“I understand that there’s something saying that we had to take minibuses off the road, which is not the case. Minibuses always come off the road during the tourist season,” he said. “Some of them have tourist licenses. That’s what they do…so when they know there’s a big boat or two boats especially now being that school is out and its harder for them on the road.”

Morgan said that although it was a good day when most taxi operators got jobs, many still had to dock their prices.

And he still believes that last tourist season was better than this one because “taxis were always going and coming”.

He said that his association has 110 members and it’s not a case where there aren’t enough taxis to service the cruise ships coming in.

The taxi operator added that the association is always open for membership but “were “looking for a specific type of individual who is taxi aligned”, meaning persons who were very knowledgable about the country and tourist attractions.

Arrington Burgin, the president of the SVG Professional Taxi Association also expressed that the two ships resulted in most of his members receiving jobs on Wednesday.

The president of the recently formed association said that 34 of 39 members came out to work on Wednesday and to his knowledge, everyone got a job.

“All in all, I say that it worked well, but it’s not an everyday thing that you will find you can’t find taxi because sometimes some taxis there all day and haven’t got a job,” Burgin told SEARCHLIGHT.

“As a taxi operator, I think the season is going well. As they say, everyday is fishing day, but everyday is not catching day, but when it’s there, it’s there. Our operation as the professionals, we’re not just looking at the cruise season, we’re looking towards throughout the year as serving hotels and locals on a whole.”

Burgin added that his association is open to new membership but it has recently put a cap on registration.