2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo: Govt eyes cruise boom as Pres Ali touts Guyana as key refuelling hub

With 40 per cent of the world’s cruise liner market share belonging to the Caribbean, President Dr Irfaan Ali has outlined a bold strategy to attract more cruise liners to Guyana and to turn the country into a fuelling hub for these massive, floating tourist attractions.

During the opening day of the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo on Tuesday, the feature address of President Ali was packed with innovative ideas. One such idea was how Guyana can leverage its tourism and non-tourism assets, for instance its gas developments, to attract cruise liners.
The head of state pointed to the rising demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to power cruise ships around the world, a demand that Guyana, with its Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project, is well positioned to meet.
“Let’s look at global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) demand, because people don’t speak about this opportunity. And it’s linked to our tourism. How do we use non-tourism products, if you want to put it that way, to attract tourism. And there’s a simple formula I think we can work around,” President Ali said.
“When you look at LNG, global LNG demand will rise by more than 50 per cent by 2040. To reach approximately 660 million tonnes annually by 2040. But importantly, 40 per cent of the world’s cruise market share belongs to the Caribbean. All the cruise liners are now moving towards LNG as their source of fuel.”
President Ali pointed out that with the cruise industry generating $30 Billion in revenue only last year, Guyana could benefit if it were to become a refueling hub or a must stop destination for cruises. This is also where, according to the President, the country’s tourism-based assets, such as eco-tourism, can play a role.
“In 2023, 13 million cruise tourists passed through the Caribbean. Financially, the global cruise industry is projected to generate more than $30 Billion in revenue. So, what about if we create here in Guyana a refueling hub. Or we partner with Barbados or the DR, in integrating our infrastructure so that Guyana is a supplier, but importantly, we negotiate Guyana as a must stop destination for cruise liners.”
The Head of State acknowledged that there are challenges when it comes to a country attracting revenue from these cruise liners. However, President Ali noted that Guyana is in a unique position.
“Now the argument in the cruise industry is that very limited local revenue is generated from cruise liners. Because today, cruise liners sell most of the cruise packages on the cruises itself. So, we’re thinking this thing through. But Guyana is different. Why? Because our product is not concentrated in a small area in the capital.”
“Our product is nature and eco based. So, the traffic that is generated will be completely different. And the type of tourist that will be attracted will be completely different. And there lies an important and tremendous opportunity,” President Ali explained.