Solomon Islands cruise strategy bears fruit

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Building on the Solomon Islands potential as a new and exciting destination for the international cruise market, the destination will welcome eight separate cruise visits in 2016 – a 100 percent incre

Building on the Solomon Islands potential as a new and exciting destination for the international cruise market, the destination will welcome eight separate cruise visits in 2016 – a 100 percent increase on its 2015 cruise schedule result.

Vessels visiting Honiara and cruising within the 992-island archipelago this year include Princess Cruises Linesโ€™ Sea Princess and Dawn Princess, Noble Caledoniaโ€™s Caledonia Sky, Silverseas Cruisesโ€™ Silver Discoverer, P&Oโ€™s Pacific Eden and Seabourn Cruise Linesโ€™ Seabourn Odyssey.

Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) CEO, Josefa โ€˜Joโ€™ Tuamoto attributed the increase to the efforts the national tourist office has to gone along with government and local private sector support to turn what he described as a โ€œhuge potential into an actual reality.โ€

Mr Tuamoto also pointed towards a recent visit to Sydney by outgoing Ministry of Culture & Tourism permanent secretary, John Wasi and representatives from the Department of Tourism, the SIVB and the Solomon Islands Port Authority which he said had played a major role in the outcome.

While in Sydney the Solomon Islands delegation met with several key cruise industry players, specialist wholesale and retailer representatives and media as part of a concerted effort to thrust the Solomon Islandsโ€™ cruise potential into the spotlight.

โ€œTourism is fast emerging as a major driver for the countryโ€™s GDP, the government had embarked on a very vigorous process to seize on the opportunity tourism presents and we see cruise as offering huge potential,โ€ Mr Tuamoto said.

โ€œWe were determined to turn this potential into a hard reality and that is exactly what we are seeing in 2016.โ€

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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