DAY TOUR. Passengers of cruise ship MV Norwegian Jewel disembark at the Port of Currimao in Ilocos Norte on Tuesday morning (Feb. 27, 2024). They went to various tourist sites during the eight-hour stopover. (Photo courtesy of Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte)
LAOAG CITY – International cruise ship MV Norwegian Jewel was back at the Currimao port on Tuesday with 2,376 passengers and 1,100 crew members.
Araceli Salem, operations officer of the Department of Tourism Laoag sub-office, said the Bahamas-registered cruise ship arrived 8:35 a.m. from Manila and left 4 p.m. for Taiwan.
It last docked in the Ilocos Norte town on Nov. 1, 2023.
Some 1,500 passengers visited famous tourist spots like the UNESCO World Heritage site Saint Augustine Church and Malacañang of the North in Paoay, the sinking bell tower in Laoag, and the Vigan Heritage City.
“Most of the passengers came from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, and Germany. There were also passengers from the Philippines,” Salem said.
Cultural performers of Currimao promoted their Dinaklisan (Iloco word meaning caught with a fish net) Festival through dances.
As more international cruise ships are returning to this northern gateway of Luzon, Ilocos Norte Tourism Office officer-in-charge Xavier Ruiz expressed hope that they will achieve their target of 4 million tourist arrivals this year.
“Our tourism establishments would say there is no more lean season -- just peak and super peak,” he said.
“There’s a huge potential in cruise tourism that is why we are doing our best to spread the market,” he added. (PNA)
