The city of South Padre Island continuing to pursue the cruise line industry. Island officials say the city’s EDC recently approved another $100,000 for a study.
It’s no secret that tourism is a large economic force in South Padre Island. As the summer season winds down, the destination city is looking to increase visitor counts for slow seasons. A possible solution are cruise ships. The mayor of South Padre Island says a study is underway and consultants are meeting at SPI this week.
Mayor Dennis Stahl, “Step one was to make sure the cruises wanted to come. And they do want to come to the island. Step 2 is developing and scouting out the right infrastructure. That’s happening this week.”
According to the mayor four cruise line companies have been in contact with South Padre Island.
Right now, SPI is pioneering the initiative and they’re looking to partner up with other agencies. Mayor Stahl says he doesn’t expect the landing facilities to be city owned.
“The probable landing site is in Isla Blanca Park or just to north of it. In that area.”
The city is trying to address a problem affecting business and industry. A problem that is forcing some to reduce staff, that is the off season, which happens to coincide with peak cruise season.
“We want to bring in hopefully thousands of new visitors during our cruise peak season.” says the mayor.
Business leaders say that any increase of traffic, especially during the off season, would stimulate the local economy. For now, the analysis continues.
The mayor say it’s still too early to make a final decision. Part of that study includes infrastructure and potential landing sites.
