Moçâmedes – A cruise ship named “Cristal Serenty”, from Namibia, docked on Friday (10) at the Angolan Port of Namibe, with 240 tourists of different nationalities on board.
Among tourists, North Americans stand out, with 95 percent, as well as Brazilians, Chileans, Canadians, Portuguese and Swiss.
According to the director of TravelGest, the company in charge of bringing tourists to Angola, José Cabral, it is a ship that has been traveling around the world for four months, under the command of 480 crew members.
Speaking to ANGOP, the source explained that this vessel docked in Namibe due to the conflict in the Middle East, marked by bombings by some ships in the Red Sea, a fact that led to the diversion of the Serenty Crystal to Africa, specifically to South Africa, Namibia and Angola.
“Due to this constraint, we managed to convince tourists to arrive in Angola, first passing through the province of Namibe and then stop by the country's capital, Luanda, this Sunday”, he highlighted.
During the cruise ship's stay at the Port of Namibe pier, tourists visited the Church of Santo Adrião, the Fortaleza de São Fernando, the Marginal de Moçâmedes and its old tourist town.
They also maintained contact with crafts displayed at the waterfront fair, as well as tasting gastronomic dishes from the southern region, such as cassava and fried banana, mufete, corn and bombo funge, natural passion fruit juices, orange, pineapple and the traditional drink of Namibe, macau.
In addition, tourists also traveled to the province of Huíla, where they visited some tourist attractions, such as Fenda da Tundavala.
According to José Cabral, the arrival of a ship in any city marks the position of cultural and tourist marketing, being a type of dissemination and exposure of national tourism to the outside of the country, where different countries end up knowing what exists locally.
In turn, the director of the provincial office of Culture, Tourism and Environment of Namibe, Pedro Hangula, expressed satisfaction with the fact that the province will receive two ships of this kind in less than six months.
According to the official, this demonstrates the result of the work that the Provincial Government of Namibe has been doing to attract more and more tourists to the country, in partnership with travel and tourism agencies.
Pedro Hangula also recalled that, in addition to the desert and Welwitchia, Namibe has several tourist potentials, with emphasis on its beaches, dunes, Iona Park, among other tourist places that delight any tourist or visitor.
Namibe was considered one of the main destinations visited in 2023, a mark that continues this year. FA/QCB/DOJ
