Around 80,000 cruise ship passengers arrived in the country this year alone, a signal of full tourism revival in the Philippines following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the cruise ship passengers from February to December this year came from Norweigan Cruise lines, Holland America line, Silverseas and Windstar cruises.
He said they also recorded a high volume of cruise ship passengers during the Holiday season, the recent was the Christmas Day arrival of MV AidaBella of Aida Cruises from Germany with around 2,000 foreign and local passengers.
The cruise ship visited the Port of Coron at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day with no incident or issue due to smooth coordination between the cruise ship agents, terminal operator, transport services, shore excursion organizers and the PPA, according to Santiago.
Passengers of the cruise ship MV AidaBella visited world class tourist attractions like Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, the Twin Lagoons and other island trips.
They were also exposed to the local cuisine and to local destinations such as the Maquinit Hotsprings, Lualhati Park, Mount Tapyas, and the cashew factories in Palawan.
“The Port of Coron in Palawan is now ready to accommodate up to 900 persons in its passenger terminal area following a massive renovation which was completed earlier this year,” said Santiago.
From a maximum of 250 passengers before, Santiago said the Port of Coron can now accommodate an additional 500 passengers that could be expanded to 700 to 900 people during peak season.
"It is good that the passengers can now experience again the warmth of the Filipino culture and the hospitality of the people receiving them. From the ports upon arrival, we make sure they are given the proper treatment and we make sure that they are welcomed warmly in our newly improved passenger terminals,” said Santiago.
“Our recent painful experience in the mishandling of cruise passengers at the Port of Manila has taught us that the training and selection of tourism frontliners together with private service providers especially at our ports have to be made with very stringent qualification requirements and experience since they are the first Filipinos which foreign tourists encounter upon their arrival,” he added.
Santiago said the successful reception of MV AidaBella has brought us back on track in spite of the recent distraction at the Port of Manila, referring to the viral post of a cruise ship passenger of his bad experience at the Port of Manila last month.
Santiago vowed to develop more cruise terminals near the areas of the tourism sites in Siargao, Camiguin, Boracay, Palawan, and Puerto Galera. This in an addition to the cruise terminals in the Ports of Currimao in Ilocos Norte, Salomague in Ilocos Sur , Manila, Bohol, and El Nido, Palawan.