Speaking at an ongoing three-day Business Cruise Stakeholders Symposium hosted by the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) and the Ministry of Tourism at Goodwill Parish Hall, Dominica’s Tourism Minister Denise Charles-Pemberton has cemented the status of the long-awaited Roseau Cruise Village and Waterfront extension as a core national development priority for the island nation.
As industry stakeholders and local observers have repeatedly raised questions about the project’s timeline and future, Charles-Pemberton acknowledged that negotiations for the large-scale infrastructure development have stretched beyond initial projections. She attributed the delay to the project’s massive investment scale and the government’s unwavering commitment to securing the most beneficial terms for the Dominican people and economy. Despite the hold-up, the minister confirmed that steady progress continues to be made, and expressed optimism that ongoing discussions will reach a final resolution in the near future, noting that the upgraded infrastructure is critical to the long-term expansion and sustainability of Dominica’s cruise tourism sector.
Charles-Pemberton also addressed a long-running public debate over the relative value of cruise tourism versus stay-over tourism, pushing back against the narrative that the island must choose between the two sectors. Drawing a geographic comparison to Singapore, a small island nation that supports a population of over five million, she noted that Dominica, the third largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean, has more than enough capacity to accommodate both types of tourism. Rather than framing the sectors as competitors, she argued that both can coexist and thrive to deliver broader economic benefits to the country.
Beyond capacity, the minister emphasized that the central question facing Dominican tourism is not whether the island can welcome more visitors, but how to maximize the economic impact of tourism by encouraging higher visitor spending, generating new local jobs, supporting domestic businesses, and spreading economic prosperity to every community across the island. She identified cross-stakeholder and local business cooperation as the key to unlocking this impact, urging the sector to prioritize promoting authentic Dominican experiences, local products, and domestic cuisine. Every dollar spent on local goods and services circulates within the Dominican economy, she explained, supporting working families, strengthening small businesses, and creating new employment opportunities. Charles-Pemberton clarified that her goal extends far beyond just increasing visitor arrival numbers; it focuses on building a more inclusive, locally rooted tourism economy.
Looking back at the recently concluded 2025-2026 cruise season, Charles-Pemberton highlighted strong growth that outpaced the previous year’s performance. The season welcomed more than 409,000 cruise passengers across roughly 250 vessels, marking 21% and 8% increases in passenger numbers and vessel calls respectively compared to the 2024-2025 season. Of these arrivals, more than 330,000 passengers went ashore to explore the island, and over 161,000 participated in organized island tours. Beyond the headline growth numbers, these statistics represent tangible improvements to livelihoods across the country, the minister said, noting that cruise tourism already delivers meaningful support to household financial stability across Dominica. She reaffirmed the government’s intentional ongoing investment to support continued sustainable growth of the sector.
A core pillar of the government’s approach is ensuring that tourism growth creates opportunities for all Dominican stakeholders, not just a small group of industry players. To advance this goal, the government is working with stakeholders including the Combined Taxi association to build a more equitable dispatch system for visitor services. It is also engaging in ongoing consultations with industry groups around private tour regulations, with the goal of ensuring every qualified local operator has a fair chance to participate in the tourism market, while upholding the high standards of quality and organization that visitors expect. Finally, Charles-Pemberton emphasized the importance of protecting Dominica’s reputation as a premium travel destination, noting that while profit is a natural and acceptable part of tourism business, unfair business practices such as price-gouging harm the entire sector. Instead of exploiting demand for quick gains, she urged stakeholders to focus on delivering greater value to visitors that supports long-term industry growth.