Officials work to bring cruise industry to South Texas
The Ingleside Index
Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A legislative committee formed to investigate what’s needed to bring cruise ships to the Texas coast south of Port Lavaca kicked off its program in Corpus Christi on Monday, hearing from supporters of the concept at a hearing in the Solomon Ortiz Center at the Port of Corpus Christi.
Getting cruise ships to South Texas is largely the idea of State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, who represents San Patricio, Aransas and Calhoun counties as well as the coastal part of Nueces County. Hunter is a co-chairman of the house-senate committee.
The other co-chairman is Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, whose district 20 includes Brooks, Jim Wells and Nueces counties and part of Hidalgo County.
Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, whose district includes Cameron, Kenedy, Willacy and Kleberg counties as well as part of Hidalgo County, is a member of the committee.
State representatives Gary Elkins, R-Houston, Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, and Eddie Lucio III, D-Harlingen, are also on the committee, as is Rep. Connie Scott, who represents part of Nueces County.
A parade of elected officials, chamber of commerce and tourism executives and others threw their weight behind the effort to dock a cruise ship somewhere south of Galveston, citing money spent in home ports, jobs created and tourism enhanced.
The travel industry, of which cruise ships are part, has been a leader in creating jobs in Texas, said David Teel, chairman and CEO of the Texas Travel Industry Association, a trade group.
“These are good, middle-class jobs that people can make a living from,” he told the committee.
Corpus Christi Mayor Joe Adame cited three reasons for joining the effort to bring cruise ships to the area: it will diversify the economy, it will add to the area’s uniqueness and it will lead to further investment.
“We are the number one eco-tourism destination in Texas,” Adame said, including the area around Corpus Christi in that definition.
San Patricio County Judge Terry Simpson pointed out that cruise companies in Galveston started with small ships and added bigger ones later. He said a conversation with an executive that runs the ship Ecstasy out of Galveston revealed that the company is looking for another market for the vessel.
“They’re looking for a population they can serve,” Simpson said. “It’s not only a cruise but other activities. They want to be able to bring tourism in – they can do four- to five-day cruises and people have other (tourism) opportunities.”
Simpson said there is “much infrastructure” in the area, but said help may be needed to upgrade it.
Josephine Miller, executive director of the San Patricio Economic Development Commission, told the committee that many businesses succeed because of the right timing.
“There’s never been a better time for cruise ships in South Texas,” she said.
Hunter said after the hearing that a cruise ship task force would be appointed by him and Hinojosa, and the task force would have the job of developing details of what’s needed to get ships to the area.
He said he didn’t expect another committee hearing to be held until after the beginning of the next legislative session, which gets underway in January.
