By
Elizabeth Robinson |
Guillermo Dietrich, Argentina’s minister of transportation, has reduced the costs for large cruise ships that arrive at the Port of Buenos Aires with the aim of welcoming one million cruise guests to the country in 2018-2019.
These reduced costs include a discount of US$1 in the port rate for each passenger for all cruises from the 2017-2018 cruise season, which was previously US$4.
Dietrich visited the Crucero Benito Quinquela Martín terminal, in the Port of Buenos Aires, where he welcomed three ships carrying 12,000 tourists.
During the 2018-2019 cruise season, MSC Cruises will change one of its ships, the 2,900-passenger MSC Musica, for the 4,000-passenger MSC Fantasia allowing a greater number of cruise guests to visit the port.
This season, Argentina is predicted to receive approximately 490,000 cruise visitors, compared to 433,000 in 2016.
“The objective is to reach the million passengers that arrive to our country,” said Dietrich. “That is the challenge that the president raised. Because on our way to zero poverty, we have to generate more and more work and in that, tourism is fundamental because of the impact it generates. With every cruise that arrives, tourists come to buy Argentine products and services, multiplying the opportunities for our growth.”
Gonzalo Mórtola, controller of the Port of Buenos Aires, added: “The arrival of larger ships is a reflection of the work that the Port of Buenos Aires together with the ports of Ushuaia and Madryn have been doing with all the companies in this industry through discounts and measures aimed at simplifying the processes, in addition to the offer of new services for passengers and improvements in the vicinity of the cruise terminal.”