With the arrival of Scenic Eclipse to the Port of Acajutla, El Salvador gives the official start to the Cruise Season that goes up until May 2023
On October the 8th, the luxury cruise ship Scenic Eclipse arrived for the first time at the Port of Acajutla with 250 passengers, the majority from the United States and Canada. This has been possible thanks to the strategy of naval attraction spearheaded by the Autonomous Executive Portuary Comission (CEPA, Spanish acronym), The Ministry of Tourism and CORSATUR. As per the industry’s tradition when a ship docks for the first time, the tourists were received by the The Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez, and the President of CEPA, Federico Anliker, which also gave the trade plates.
“With this arrival, we start the cruise season that goes up until May 2023. This is the first ship of the season, and we expect at least 4 more for the last quarter of 2022”, said Valdez, also adding that these tours are managed by tour operators with experience in luxury cruise ships, which benefits both the local economy and private businesses. El Salvador is expecting more than 15 arrivals during this season.
On October 23th, the Norwegian Cruise Line Sun docked with 1,249 passengers – from Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Tanzania, Japan, Indonsia, Zimbabwe and Italy – the second ship of the season. The tourists enjoyed some of the best local attractions like Joya de Ceren, San Salvador’s Historic City Centre, Coconut City, and the Green Lagoon.
El Salvador’ government has achieved a better position in the cruise industry by attracting more tourists. These actions benefit all types of business – artisans, tour operators and private sector - owners of the places these visitors enjoy.
Thus, El Salvador’s economic reactivation can be regarded as the fastest in the region.