Cruise ships in Mexico increase by 14 percent

A Carnival cruise ship docks in Progreso, Yucatán. Photo: Revista Exlore via Pinterest

Mexican ports received 4.5 million cruise passengers at the end of August, up 14 percent from 4 million last year, according to federal government statistics.

Cozumel remained the largest port in receiving cruise passengers with 2.6 million passengers, according to data from the Port Administrations and Port Captaincies of the country.

This growth was registered despite the fact that the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have recorded about 100 tropical depressions, tropical storms as well as hurricanes since last April. In the Atlantic, the hurricane season usually begins in June and ends in November.

But the Mexican ports did not report cruise ship cancellations. Figures at the end of August do not include the hurricanes that struck the Caribbean islands in September, such as Harvey, Jose and Maria.

According to federal government statistics, the ports of Progreso, Yucatán; and Cozumel and Majahual, in Quintana Roo; served 1,929 cruise ships between January and August, some 219 vessels more than the same period last year. In total, 3.5 million passengers arrived at those three ports in the Gulf and the Caribbean, 18.3 percent more compared to the first eight months of 2016.

In the 17 ports located on the Pacific coast, authorities recorded 537 ship arrivals at the end of August, an additional 43 over the previous year-to-date. A total of 1.9 million passengers were served, 1.7 percent more than the same time frame in 2016.

The port of Ensenada in Baja California recorded the highest number of Pacific-side passengers: 415,512 between January-August, which is actually a decline of 2.1 percent.

Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California Sur, served 236,947 cruise passengers, 5.2 percent more than the 225,167 from January to August last year. Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta had declines of 2.7 and 0.1 percent in the number of passengers, but an increase in the number of ships. In Mazatlán, the number rose from 48 to 49 cruisers and in Puerto Vallarta, arrivals increased from 83 to 85.

Mexico boasts the largest number of cruise ship arrivals in the world, led mainly by growth in Cozumel, according to the Bank of Mexico.

Source: La Jornada Maya

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