TOURISM SOURCES CONFIRM UP TO FIVE MAJOR CRUISE SHIPS TO CALL ON MOMBASA
(Posted 19th October 2016)
At least five more cruise ships are expected to call on Mombasa port over the next two months, adding valuable numbers to the coast as most passengers on board are expected to take short safaris and excursions while their ship is in port.
In particular the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Seychelles, but also other members of the Vanilla Island organization, have for the past year intensely marketed themselves to the world’s leading cruise lines and Kenya is now also benefitting of the re-launch of Indian Ocean itineraries with calls on the African mainland.
The number of cruise ship passengers this year in Mombasa is expected to cross above the 10.000 mark, last seen back in 2009 before constant raids by Somali ocean terrorists brought cruise tourism to a standstill in the waters of the Indian Ocean.
The rise in cruise tourism has been broadly welcomed by the coast tourism fraternity which continues to suffer from less than expected uptake of incentives for new charters. The absence of regular charter flights from the UK, a key source market for the beach resorts north and south of Mombasa, has caused concern and while some new charters have entered the market from Eastern Europe do they not at present compensate for the loss of flights from the traditional source markets for coast tourists.
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