Mexico Sees Positive Future for Tourist Cruises
 The News
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March 22, 2010
Miami – Mexico estimates that in 2010 approximately 6.4 million tourists will arrive at its seaports in 2,447 cruises, which represents an increase of one million tourists in comparison to 2009.
Othón Pérez Martínez, general director of the Seaport Administration of the General Seaport and Merchant Marines Coordination of the Communication and Transportation Secretariat (STC), said on Sunday that this increase forecasts good news for this sector.
“I see an optimistic future because tourism authorities, as well as federal and state authorities, have worked in order to improve the offer and demand in this sector,” he declared.
The government official said that there are two big projects: one is to re-launch and strengthen the Sea of Cortes route, where the seaports of Guaymas and Topolobampo have interesting offers, and the Gulf of Mexico, where Veracruz and Dos Bocas, Tabasco, have strong potential.
During the Seatrade Cruise Convention last week, Pérez met with executives of large cruise companies, including Carnivela and Royal Caribbean, as well as tourism officials from Mexican companies, in order to find ways to exploit new options and strengthen Mexico’s seaports. For example, he said, in the Progreso seaport in Yucatán, there are plans to build a cruise ship that will connect with the Galveston seaport in Houston and will sail around the Gulf of Mexico.
In regards to Veracruz, Pérez continued, there is a highly appealing cultural offer that might attract young tourists in search of adventure experiences. However, there will also be historical and cultural attractions for mature tourists. Also, Dos Bocas offers archaeological sites that have a high cultural interest.
Pragmatically, he added, 2010 will be an opportunity to recover similar results as in 2008, when the tourism industry in Mexico was good and when 752 cruise ships brought 6.1 million tourists to visit the country.
In 2009, the disruptive H1N1 crisis reduced the flow of visits from cruise ships to Mexican ports. |
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