Cruise tourism is recognised internationally as the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry world-wide.
That's according to Allan Foggitt, marketing director of Starlight Cruises, whose company manages cruises for Mediterranean Shipping Cruises in South Africa.
Speaking to Algoa FM on MSC Sinfonia which docked in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, Foggitt said South Africa is following the global trend in respect of the growth of cruise tourism.
He says looking back ten years an entire cruise season was around 40 000 passengers but this has now grown to around 135 000 potential passengers for the latest season, generating millions of rand in revenue.
Foggitt said that "cruise-tourism" has a huge spin-off for other tourism sectors anywhere where a ship calls.
"Basically, we have 2000 passengers coming ashore who are on holiday and they looking for ways to entertain themselves. So, the opportunities for local business in any port of call is significant. The transportation industry, airlines, busses, trains all benefit hugely with the movement of vast numbers of passengers to and from the ports."
Foggitt says while there's been significant growth over the past decade, there are several infrastructure challenges at the country's ports that need to be addressed with Transnet.
"Our major problem pre-embarkation is the port facilities and the problems passengers have to experience before they finally get on board. That is caused entirely by the fact that the growth in cruise tourism has been so rapid that the port facilities in both Durban and Cape Town at this stage are not capable of handling it in any kind of professional manner," he said.
"We have been in discussions with Transnet and all of the other major players and we believe that there are plans afoot that by 2014 we can expect to have a new terminal in Durban. This year, for the first time, in Cape Town we have been assigned a warehouse that is now being used for passengers and makes the environment much better," he added.
The MSC Sinfonia is 251 metres long, displaces 58,000 tons and has about 777 passenger cabins and a crew of around 700. It is named in homage to the rousing symphonies of Europe's great classical composers: from Beethoven's romantic masterpieces to Mozart's lively works, paired with the contemporary tones of Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.
Below images of the Sinfonia docked in the Port Elizabeth harbour.
