|
 Cruise
ships could be calling in at a brand new Honduran port -- on the Pacific side of
the Central American country -- in two years time.
The port of Amapala on Isla del
Tigre -- which lies just off the Pacific coast of Honduras -- has been earmarked
for cruise port development, a Honduran tourism official has confirmed.
The news comes just a few days ahead of the opening of Trujillo, on the
Caribbean side, which will welcome its first cruise ship -- Norwegian Jewel --
next Wednesday (Oct 15).
Speaking at Central American Travel Market 2014 in Costa Rica, Tatiana Siercke
Nunez, head of International Relations at the Honduras Tourist Board, told
Cruise Critic: "We have a new President who has signed a declaration of
promotion of the tourism sector, and a new minister of tourism who has two
objectives, one of which is to develop the cruise sector.
"Trujillo is opening on Wednesday, and we have identified an important port on
the Pacific Coast – Amapala – as a special zone for development.
"We have already secured $6m to start development and we expect to welcome the
first cruise ship in two to three years time."
Amapala has long been a port thanks to a natural deep channel, but it has never
been developed as a cruise port.
It lies just off the coast of Honduras, in the Gulf of Fonseca, between three
Central American countries, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Ms Siercke also confirmed that the airstrip at the Mayan site of Copan would be
open by December offering daily 45-minute flights to Honduras' main port of
Roatan.
The opening of the airstrip will allow cruise lines to offer Copan as a shore
excursion, and allow passengers, for the first time, to make an excursion off
the island to the country's interior. |
