Two cruise liner harbors to be built in Cancun and San Lucas Cape

Cancun._ Mexico’s National Fostering Fund for Tourism (FONATUR) will approximately shell out $US1 billion in building a couple of brand-new cruiser harbors in Cancun and San Lucas Cape.

The project for the harbor in Cancun –under a $US620-million budget- includes construction of a cruise liner terminal, plus a new wharf with docking space for 1,300 boats and the necessary infrastructure in place as far as hotels, services, trade zones and housing are concerned.

For its part, the new facility in Los Cabos Port in San Lucas Cape, will consist of a 175-meter-long outer pier properly outfitted to lodge 264-meter-long and 8-meter-draft cruise liners. FONATUR will fork over $US360 million in this particular project.

According to Mexican tourism authorities, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks forced U.S. cruise companies to change their itineraries, thus enhancing trips off U.S. coasts. Coupled with Mexico’s interest in this matter, Continental Airlines decided to add three weekly flights from New York to Puerto Vallarta and Cozumel starting February 14, 2002.

Mexico received 3.4 million cruise vacationers in 2000, thus yielding a 14% growth compared to the year before. Despite the assertion that cruise tourism accrued 34% from 1998 to 1999, the Cruise Liner International Association (CLIA) estimates that roughly 9 million people rode aboard cruisers in 2001, including 2 million European travelers.