Puerto Plata: cruise boom with larger vessels

Rannik estimates that looking at the trends in the arrival of cruise ships to the ports of Amber Cove and Taino Bay, the season looks very promising.

Jeffrey Rannik, president of the shipping company Baez and Rannik, said that the current trend in the arrival of ships to the ports of Puerto Plata is that they are transiting larger ships. “That is to say, that a ship that 10 years ago brought 2,500 passengers, now arrives with 5,000 because they are bigger”.

“During the pandemic, the industry took the opportunity to get rid of several vessels and they were replaced by new and larger ships, which means more capacity and this has been very positive for the industry and destinations such as ours,” he added.

He told arecoa.com that looking at the trends in the arrival of cruise ships to the ports of Amber Cove and Taino Bay, the season looks very promising, since the inclination of what is handled monthly reflects an important growth.

“Already the numbers will be given when they are produced so as not to create false expectations, but it is very encouraging the increase in those who visit Puerto Plata because most repeat, and I am very excited because the area of Maimon is at its best,” he emphasized.

He said that the popularity of DR tourism together with the current complementary offer of the northern zone should be taken advantage of and improved to continue attracting visitors.

“The offer that existed 8 or 10 years ago is not the same and it is expected that the zone will continue to improve the infrastructure and the complementary offers based on the alliances of the public and private sectors”, he said.

Regarding the vessels, Rannik mentioned that in the port of Amber Cove are arriving the following lines: Carnival, Aira, Princess, Holland America, and in Taino Bay: Royal, Norwegian, Celebrity and Browning.

Meanwhile, he said that the main market continues to be the United States “which is a market primarily that leaves from Florida, but there is another port in the Gulf of Mexico on the U.S. coast, South Carolina, and there are departures from New York (not so frequent), but it is quite diverse”.

The executive explained that cruise passengers spend an average of 80 to 90 dollars in the destination “and if you multiply that amount by a million or two people, the result is very favorable for the economy of Puerto Plata”.

Regarding the growth in the arrival of visitors, he indicated that there are always internal projects for new improvements in the ports, but for the time being the terminals were designed to be able to support the demand and the growth that is being experienced for several years.

Source: Mitur.gob.do

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Dominican Republic Live Editor

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