Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - 110 cruise ships are scheduled to arrive in Puerto Vallarta during Cruise Season, which started last Friday and will culminate in May 2014. This was confirmed by Miguel Angel García Beltrán, General Director of the Port Authority (API), who explained that this represents an economic recovery for the entire port.

He said that, based on a previous diagnosis of the situation in this city, it is considered vital that all of the visitors that arrive via cruise ship leave with such a good impression of Vallarta that they tell all of their friends and relatives about their wonderful experiences.

He stressed that the promotional efforts established between Vallarta-Nayarit, travel agents, and the tourism-related government agencies and organizations have created the context for this increase in cruise ship arrivals, which is tangible and growing.

According to García Beltrán, this season, spanning the end of 2013 and the first half of 2014, the number of cruise ship arrivals is expected to increase by 30 percent when compared to the same period of 2012.

He added that the pending product agreement with Puerto Vallarta-based Ruta Pacífico, which is aimed at generating a series of strategies for the medium term, cruise ship arrivals are likely to exceed the past three years' recorded figures by up to 50 percent.

Finally he pointed out that the strategies, which will come to fruition in the short and medium term, will be coordinated with Tourism authorities to foster an environment of coordinated efforts and activities aimed at increasing the percentage of satisfied visitors that arrive in this port on cruise ships.

Influx of Cruise Ships Exceeds Expectations

With a more than 30% increase in the number of cruise ship arrivals, the Municipal Tourism Department expects this year to consolidate this area in a definitive manner.

Carlos Gerard Guzman, the head of the agency, said that the arrival of the first cruise ship will balance the economic impact and generate a highly positive forecast in relation to the same period last year.

He said that the port expects to receive about 230,000 visitors in the season and, thanks to the tourism awareness that has been generated by the service providers, travel agents and tour operators, the added value will be substantial as the inflow will most likely exceed the current estimated percentages.

"Everyone is devoting extraordinary attention to providing warmth and quality services, because the best advertising is word of mouth, so I foresee a very good season," he said.

Gerard Guzman noted that the positive actions being carried out at this time will result in more tourism for years to come, and therefore it is necessary to establish lines of communication that are more efficient in every way.

He added that, since Puerto Vallarta offers so many different tourism products, in addition to the training that has to be executed in all areas, everyone must work to better serve our tourists and to improve collaboration between service providers.