The cruise company Royal Caribbean will bring fewer tourists to Colombia’s Caribbean during this year’s cruise season, newspaper La Republica reports.
According to the company tourists are choosing more all-inclusive packages that rarely make landfall in Colombia. In response to a changing cruse market Royal Carribean has chosen to send a smaller boat to Santa Marta this year. “‘Grandeur of the Seas‘ holds 200 passengers less than the ‘The Enchantment of the Seas’, which until now has brought tourists to the Colombian Caribbean,” Juliana Mendez, head of the Commercial Cruize Operations in Santa Marta said.
Wilmer Ramos, president of the Taxi Association, in charge of transporting tourists from the cruise ships to Santa Marta, said that “we are currently transporting 90 people per cruise, while last year there were approximately 120 and we ran much later.”
William Gonzalez, city tour guide, said that the decline in tourists may be because of this year’s heavy rains, but the season has just begun too.
Claudia Santos Carrillo, manager of the Office of Tourism of Santa Marta believes the city will have positive results with this year’s cruise season in spite of the decline in numbers. She says, “In the city are moving forward making changes and improvements. We realize that we are learning and tourism staff have ongoing training.”