(3/7/2011)
The number of cruise ship visits to Indonesia in 2011 is put at only 31, a decline from the numbers projected last year due to the cancellation of planned ship visits to Bali and Komodo.
As reported by Bisnis Indonesia, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said 127,774 tourist on 206 different ships visited Indonesia on total of 206 separate calls. By contrast, in 2011 only 31 ships are scheduled to call on Indonesia with expected passenger loads of 105,926 making 161 calls.
Sapta Nirwandar, the Director General of Marketing for the Ministry explained the decline, saying, "it's due to cancellations from ships coming to Bali and Komodo, mostly because of the ports are not ready."
Culture and Tourism officials are optimistic, however, that the numbers of actual calls may increase as the year progresses.
Most cruise ships calling on Indonesia fall within the medium class with capacities for between 500-600 passengers carrying senior citizens who spend as much as US$50-US$100 on each port call.
[Cruise Ship Handling by Bali Discovery].
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