Más de 200 mil cruceristas han desembarcado en puertos panameños
More than 200 thousand cruise passengers have landed in Panamanian ports
From January to April 2017, a total of 205,516 passengers landed at the country’s main cruise ports, according to statistics provided by the Panama Maritime Authority to the Panama Tourism Authority.
The Home Port – Operation of the shipping company Pullmantur Cruises with the vessels Zenith and Monarch – received 102,301 cruisers. They follow Columbus 2000 with 90,200 passengers, Amador with 11,703 and Cristóbal with 1,312.
Statistics indicate that these cruise ports registered a movement of 125 vessels: Home Port (44), Colon 2000 (40), Amador (22) and Cristóbal (19).
A field investigation of the behavior of cruise passengers arriving at the ports of the province of Colón determined that 90% of them make scheduled tours to established destinations and others choose to go shopping or to know the place.
These tourists, according to ATP records, generally go to the new Clara Water Locks, Portobelo, Fort San Lorenzo, Colon Free Zone, Gatun Locks; While others choose to visit the shops of Albrook Mall, in the capital city, and visit the Old Town and the Miraflores Locks.
In addition, an annual report on the state of the cruise industry, prepared by the International Cruise Lines Association (CLIA), revealed that more than 25 million people are expected to cruise by 2017, an increase of 67 % Compared to 2007.
Among the most prominent trends in this study, the so-called Millennials and Generation X will be inclined to travel more on a cruise; And in the next three years, 48% of non-cruise passengers plan to travel on a cruise and 85% of cruise passengers are interested in re-choosing this vacation proposal.
In May of 2017, Pullmantur began its second season of cruises in Columbus with the ship Zenith, realizing a tour of 7 days by the Caribbean. The company plans to close the year shipping 40% more passengers in Columbus than the previous year.
In November 2016, the German company Tui Group for the first time included Panama on its agenda as a cruise destination, with the arrival of the Mein Schiff 4 vessel at terminal 2 of Puerto Colon 2000.
Aida Sea of the German shipping company Aida and Europa 2 of the shipping company Hapag Lloyd, also anchor in Columbus.
Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity Cruises, Oceania, Holland America, WindStar, Regent Seven Seas and Disney Cruises pass through the Panama Canal and some itineraries include stops in the city, Pacific coast and in Colón.
