State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is set to inaugurate the country’s first dedicated cruise terminal by October this year.
“By October, we will be inaugurating the first dedicated cruise terminal in the Philippines located in Siargao,” Jay Santiago, PPA general managers said in briefing reporters.
Santiago said the construction of the Siargao Cruise Terminal, which commences operations in October, is part of the strategy to promote local tourism.
He said the government spent P550 million to build the Siargao Cruise Terminal.
He added there is also an ongoing construction of a cruise terminal in Coron, Palawan.
“We are also planning to build a dedicated cruise terminal in Bohol, Boracay and Legazpi, Albay,” he said.
According to PPA port statistics, the Ports of Salomague, Palawan, and Tagbilaran catered to 48,100 tourists in 2019 prior to the pandemic but in 2020 and 2021, cruise ships cancelled their scheduled trips due to Covid-19.
In the first quarter this year, the passenger traffic of cruise ships reached 31,374 from zero passengers in 2022.
Total passenger traffic for the period reached 15.78 million, up 52 percent from 10.36 million in the same period last year.
Cargo throughput also rose 31.6 percent to 77.2 million metric tons from 58.6 million MT in the same period last year.
Container traffic went up by 5.6 percent to 1.99 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 1.88 million TEUs last year.
Ship calls in the first quarter of the year rose 13.3 percent to 125,722 from 110,967 last year.
