By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, April 10 (PNA) -- The growing
interest of international cruise lines in the Philippines as a port of
call should fuel more public-private investments in preparing the
country's tourism gateways, a tourism official said.
Tourism
Undersecretary Atty. Maria Victoria Jasmin expressed enthusiasm that
Philippine cruise tourism would be ‘very promising’ in the near future
given significant feats the industry has achieved in the beginning of
the year.
Last April 2, the DOT welcomed over a thousand guests, officers, and
crew aboard the posh Azamara Journey, one of the luxury boutique-style
vessels of the Azamara Club Cruises fleet.
In January this year,
MV Costa Victoria of the world renowned Costa Cruises made its maiden
call on Manila after visiting Puerto Princesa and Boracay.
Last year, three luxury liners having made maiden calls on Manila and other top tourist destination shores of the country.
“An
aggregate of 41,624 cruise passengers were received by different ports
of the country last year, reflecting a 19.35 percent increase over the
23,857 recorded in 2012,” Jasmin said in a statement.
She said
that the DOT attributes the upsurge to the aggressive market development
efforts and government-private sector partnership, which encouraged
more cruise companies to include the Philippines in their offerings.
“This signals that the country is finally growing to become a preferred cruise destination in the region,” Jasmin noted.
“As
a response to this burgeoning demand, the DOT has since geared up its
efforts in this once Europe and US dominated market. And we are
determined to sustain this interest and grow the cruise market to
benefit more of our island destinations,” she added.
According to the DOT, cruise tourism is one of the niche markets being developed by the agency.
This
year, the DOT noted that the country is expected to welcome a total of
23 vessel calls, five of which will make their maiden calls on Manila
and several top tourist destination shores, bringing an estimated 24,000
passengers. (PNA)
FPV/ANP
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