Sponsored Listings:
Chile has witnessed a 35% rise in cruise ship passenger arrivals in 2015-16 with a record number of 414,000.
Nine ports in Chile received 217 visitors by foreign-flagged cruise ships during the six months ending on March 31. Such an increase has been fuelled by a fee reduction for lighthouses, prompting large vessels like the U.S.-based Norwegian Cruise Line to return to the southern waters.
Punta Arenas, to the extreme south of Chile, had 30% more cruise visitors with 109.746 cruise passengers and crew members.
In the period 2014-15, 78.908 cruise visitors landed at the destination, while the number of cruise vessel calls which visited mostly Punta Arenas increased from 48 to 54.
According to The Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (CNC), cruise ship visitors spent $80 ($A105.21) a day on average in the northern port of Arica, with the figure rising to $120 ($A157.81) a day in Puerto Montt in the south.
The cruise ship sector is anticipating a growth between three to four percent worldwide in the following season.
Source:travelnewsdigest.in