 The local economy's poise for revitalization as activity in the tourism industry ramps up. The crew's sector is continuing to see vibrant movement with inaugural calls to podcastries. Ross Daniel reports on the latest welcome for the pinnacle-class MS Rotterdam. MS Rotterdam 7, on Sunday 14th November 2021, made her maiden call to podcastries where her crew and passengers alike were welcomed by officials and stakeholders of the tourism sector. MS Rotterdam is a pinnacle-class cruise ship operated by Holland-America Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation. Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, Honourable Dr. Eunice Hiller, citing the continued challenges being posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted the importance of the rejuvenation of the crew's sector. With COVID, a lot has changed. The difficulties of social distancing, of wearing masks, of persons having to be vaccinated has really created challenges for us and we constantly try to find ways of means to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from the cruise passengers getting off the ship. It continues to be a challenge for us but we continue to work with all stakeholders to make sure that they benefit. When 1,800 persons descend back the ship, we must find a way to ensure as many solutions as possible can benefit from that. It's not easy. It is challenging because at the same time, we must also ensure that protocols are in place and protocols are respected because the safety of our population is also quite critical. And I can tell you as minister, it's not been the easiest task. We are constantly trying to make modifications to the protocols, to engage all stakeholders and ensure that we can offer benefit to everyone. So today for us is really important. It is a new ship, like I said, the 7th Rotterdam in the history of the company. And as we tried this morning again is to make sure as many people as possible benefit from the arrival of the passengers. Rotterdam 7 as she is famously referred to has 12 passenger decks and measures 99,935 gross tonnage. She has a length of 983 feet 7 inches, a draft of 26 feet and a beam of 35 meters. Her guest capacity stands at 2,668. Chairman of the Board of the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, Thaddeus Antoine, citing Rotterdam's legacy, welcomed the cruise ship's return to St. Lucia. We were particularly pleased that with this ship, the passengers could roam during this COVID time to go the roam around. So it really helps the vendors at the arcades, our artisans, the restaurants, the fine restaurants around to benefit from it. Even the taxi drivers who are not part of Tor operators, but who are on their own, they have the ability to gather those persons and take them around tours around the island. So we're really excited. Every week now you'll see a cruise ship coming in and more and more passengers disembarking. It just augurs well for the economy, augurs well for St. Lucia. And it's true we're still going for the pandemic, but we are working with the Ministry of Health, working with the Ministry of Tourism to find the best way forward so that everybody benefits from the tourism dollar. Citizens from Corks & Company Limited, Officers of the St. Lucia Air & Seaports Authority, Slasper, Tourism Minister, Honourable Dr. Eunice Hele, Chairman of the Board of the SLTA, Thaddeus Antoine, and Chairman of the Board of Invest St. Lucia, Lyndon Arnold, were all present to welcome the MS Rotterdam and to participate in a plaque exchange ceremony. Captain Bas Van Driemel, who accepted the plaques on the cruise behalf, expressed his hope for continued calls to St. Lucia. Samantha Charles is the Tourism Officer for the cruise sector in the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture, and Information. We are very excited to have this ship on our cruise schedule. Obviously, it's an opportunity for our persons on the ground to be part of the cruise industry. In the background we can see some guests already lined up to go and select tours. So this is something that we are really happy about. The cruise sector is one of the pivotal sectors for tours. So any first-time cruise ship inaugural call is a welcome opportunity to add to the existing fleet of cruise ships. So once again, we are really happy for this inaugural call today and we look forward to subsequent calls from MS Rotterdam and having both the crew and passengers really descend back and enjoy St. Lucia and all that we have to offer. Rotterdam's port call is the third inaugural cruise ship call recorded since the opening of the cruise season in St. Lucia.