Luanda - Angola expects to receive, during this year, more than 4,000 tourists transported on cruise ships, potentially equaling the figure from 2023, when 4,798 visitors arrived in the country via the same route.
According to the deputy general director of the Institute for Tourist Promotion (Infotur), Agostinho Xavier, the goal is to get close to or reach last year's numbers, resulting from the arrival of five cruise ships.
Agostinho Xavier was speaking to the press, on the occasion of the docking of a vessel with around 900 excursionists.
The cruise ship Seven Seas Mariner, from Walvis Bay, Namibia, docked at the Port of Luanda with 899 passengers, including crew and passengers of different nationalities.
The objective is to visit some areas of Luanda to get in touch with the reality of the country's capital city.
For Agostinho Xavier, the docking represents a milestone for the country, as it is entering the cruise ship route.
In turn, the general director of TravelGest, the company responsible for the arrival of the vessels, considered it a sign that tourism is taking steps towards the country's development.
“Increasingly, Angola has been receiving more ships in recent times, which is a positive sign for companies,” said José Cabral, adding that two more ships are expected to arrive this season.
The director of the Angolan tourism company Lelu Tour, Guinara Barreiro, considers the arrival of tourists through this means to be remarkable for the sector, as it is, in her opinion, something that will revolutionize tourism if it is well structured and worked on.
“The country, not long ago, did not receive tourists and the fact that we are receiving tourists from various parts of the world is something that will boost the sector even further”, she emphasized. HM/VC/DOJ
