CRUISERS PORTING IN CAP CANA WILL HAVE A HIGHER SPENDING PROFILE
Article repost by Arecoa.com . Article by Jhenery Ramírez
The public sector has created high expectations regarding the entry of cruises to Cap Cana later this year. Speaking about the profile of cruise passengers who will visit this pole, the director of Cruises of the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), Orfila Salazar, said that it is a tourist of higher spending tendency and higher economic profile than those who visit other parts of the country.
Orfila emphasized on the importance for the cruise industry in the Dominican Republic, Cap Cana’s opening to this segment which is booming in the country. Salazar revealed in an interview with arecoa.com that “it will not be ships of 80,000 to 100,000 tons that will knock the doors of this destination, as in the main Dominican ports. It’ll be yachts or smaller luxury cruises with less tonnage with a capacity of 600 to 700 passengers. They are yachts or luxury cruises, with a tourist who spends much more on port. “
She explained that these boats are a little more expensive than other vessels of normal cruise lines, such as Carnival or Royal. “The tourist who will be coming is of higher economic profile,” she said.
Salazar also stated that the Ministry of Tourism as a facilitator of all these operations, and that precisely, in order to boost the industry, they will be going to Canada to the Vancouver Fair, to be held from 1st to the 7th of June with the objective of promoting RD as a cruise destination.
“The inistry provides support to all ports because the ports negotiate with the cruise lines, but the MITUR is who backs them if they need an incentive, if they are missing something,” she said.
“Every year we are having meetings with various executives to see how we are doing, to verify our weaknesses, what comments are to do better and take action. We can not say that we are 100% in all touristic poles, but in each pole we are increasing our team work and joining forces to make things flow and continue to grow the industry, “said Salazar.