About 500,000 cruise ship passengers will have come to the DR during the last two cruise seasons, as reported in Hoy. Santo Domingo stands to gain the most, with the Sans Souci Port becoming a mother port for major cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean. As from December 2007, Santo Domingo will be RCL’s 2,500-passenger Legend of the Seas homeport. After arriving at Santo Domingo and touring the first city in the New World, passengers can then tour several other points in the Caribbean. Samana and La Romana are two other new attractive cruise ports of call.
Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Opera, Costa Cruise Line and Aida Cruise Line ships are also making regular calls at Dominican ports.
Deputy Tourism Minister Magaly Toribio said that during the October 2006 to April 2007 season, 235,000 cruise passengers visited the DR with 40,000 docking at the new Sans Souci port in Santo Domingo, 155,000 in La Romana and 60,000 in Samana. Toribio forecast an increase in arrivals for the season that starts this November 2007. Toribio said that maritime tourism complements air arrivals. Approximately four million tourists visit the country every year. She explained that the goal is to increase maritime arrivals to a million passengers in the next three years. Toribio says that Santo Domingo’s historic heritage makes it an especially attractive port for visitors. She said the challenge is to extend the time tourists stay in their port of entry prior to taking the cruise or upon returning. She said tourists may also be offered the option of visiting Santo Domingo, staying at a resort in Punta Cana and Puerto Plata and then taking the cruise.
Toribio added that maritime tourism distributes income because tourists shop in local stores and visit restaurants. She estimated that boat tourists spend about US$103 in purchases during their stay. She explained that there are two types of cruise ship passengers: one who visits a port, takes a brief excursion and returns to the ship, and the tourist who arrives at a mother port, usually at least two days in advance and may stay a few days afterwards to get to know the city and the country. “It’s what we do when we take a cruise ship in Miami,” she explained.