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Cruise Ship Season Underway
The 2006-2007 cruise ship season
has begun with Puntarenas
getting the first visit by the
Infinity and the Regal Princess.
Both cruise liners arrived at
the Puntarenas docks at 6am.
The cruise liners mean some
3.000 potential tourists and
1.600 crew to visit the Pacifica
port town.
Carlos Ricardo Benavides,
Ministro de Turismo (tourism
minister) was on hand for
official inauguration of the
cruise ship season, along with
Incop president, Paul Zúñiga and
local government officials.
During the 2005-2006 season, 75
cruise ships visited Puntarenas
and Limón. This season more than
90 cruise ships are expected to
anchor on the nations ports.
The Instituto Costarricense
Turismo (ICT) signed a decree
with the Junta Administrativa de
Puertos de la Vertiente
Atlántica (Japdeva) - the Limón
port, the Instituto
Costarricense de Puertos del
Pacífico (Incop) - the
Puntarenas and Caldera ports and
the Instituto Costarricense de
Ferrocarriles (railway), to
create an alliance betweent he
institutions to better visitor
stats than the previous years.
Minister Benavides said that it
is important to offer "added
value" to tourists so that they
will get off the ships and visit
the local area, make purchases,
consume goods. Benavides said
that 40% of the cruise ship
passengers now stay on board.
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