Seaports mushroom amid cruise ship influx

The Philippines is seen to have welcomed over 100,000 cruise ship passengers by the end of the year given the expected influx of luxury sails this holiday season.

According to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), 37 cruise ships with 41,000 passengers will dock at the local ports this fourth quarter.

The top destinations for these luxury ships are Manila, Bohol, Coron, Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Salomague in Ilocos Sur and Romblon.

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In the first three quarters of this year, the PPA catered to a total of 46 cruise calls with 80,588 passengers boarded.

The full-year projection exceeds the cruise ship passenger volume of over 87,000 last year. Still, this is still markedly below the prepandemic level of 213,765 passenger volume in 2019.

Leisure sails were halted for about three years because of the pandemic-induced mobility restrictions. As the economy opened up, cruise ships made their return to the local docks last year.

As more cruise ships sail, the ports regulator has been building more hubs to cater to the rise in demand.

The PPA inaugurated earlier this year the Siargo Cruise Ship port in Surigao del Norte. It has built capacity for cruise vessels in several ports, including Currimao in Ilocos Norte, Salomague in Ilocos Sur, Manila, Bohol and El Nido in Palawan.

Modernization

The agency is also set to develop new cruise ports in Coron, Bohol, Buruanga in Aklan and Camiguin.

“In a bid to further provide safer and more convenient maritime transportation experience to tourists aboard cruise vessels, PPA has initiated and continuously conducts improvements of its port facilities including the construction of dedicated ports for cruise tourism,” the PPA tells the Inquirer.

“The modernization of port operations and the development of cruise terminals further attract foreign investments and tourism, creating a more dynamic economic environment,” it adds.

In total, the PPA saw total passenger traffic grow by 10 percent to 60.47 million in January to September from 54.83 million a year ago in the same period.

Most of the volume was recorded in Visayas with 30 million passengers, followed by southern Luzon with 15.73 million passengers.