‘By combining ice, music and history we aim to create a unique, wow-type experience, the kind that visitors have never had the opportunity to see before,’ Kirsten Holmen, owner of Magic North, told Seatrade Insider at Cruise Shipping Miami. Holmen, a Norwegian, launched the first Magic Ice gallery (pictured) in the Lofoten Islands in 2004. This attraction gets 30,000 visitors a year out of an annual visitor count of 200,000. With 1.6m cruise passengers visiting St. Thomas each year, it is hoped the new Caribbean venture will be a draw for the cruise lines.
The building, located less than two miles from Havensight and Crown Bay, can take up to 600 people an hour. ‘Being close to the port it will be possible to incorporate the attraction as part of wider shorex offerings for the island,’ said Holmen, who hopes to spread the message to cruise line executives at Cruise Shipping Miami this week. Seatrade asked Giora Israel, svp port and destination development for Carnival Corp. & plc, if he thought the idea would appeal.
‘We have heard about plans to open a Magic Ice in St. Thomas and have encouraged the owners to do so,’ he said. ‘We are always looking for exciting new features in the Caribbean and it is attractions like this that should help keep the destination fresh and updated.’
Describing the attraction, Holmen said there will be ‘plenty of dramatically-lit life-size pirate figures and the bar will be a shipwreck.’ The exhibition will be renewed up to four times a year with new themes and sculptures so repeat visitors can find something different on return visits, she added. Ten ice artists from around the world who create Magic Ice in Norway will be brought in to design the Caribbean venture. Holmen’s ambition is to open 10 Magic Ice locations around the globe.
