Mombasa on Christmas Day received a second cruise ship MV Nautica at the Port of Mombasa with 572 tourists on board.
This comes after the first cruise ship since 2018, the MV World Odyssey, with about 800 tourists docked at the port towards the end of November.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Peninnah Malonza was at the port to receive the tourists accompanied by Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) officials.
"I can without doubt say that out of the arrival of this cruise ship, over Sh100 million will be injected into the economy through tourism activities including visits to different attractions as well as accommodation," said Malonza.
She reiterated that as a government, they intend to grow cruise tourism as a niche product.
"We expect to have at least three more cruise ships by the end of March 2023" she said.
"In line with this, the government has already put in place infrastructure projects such as the upgrade of the Moi International Airport in Mombasa and Diani Airport in Kwale county, as well as road infrastructure to support tourism"
"Plans are underway to further enhance the cruise tourism experience with Mombasa Port becoming an integral part of this initiative by improving its facilities and services, including shore excursions that will take cruise passengers on expeditions around Mombasa Island and its environs," she said.
The ship will leave Mombasa Sunday evening heading to Zanzibar, then Cape Town in South Africa before heading to Japan.
Before docking at Mombasa Saturday night, the vessel had cruised from the Mediterenean Sea in November heading to Dubai then India.
She sailed to the Maldives waters before heading to Sychelles coming to Mombasa.
The KPA chairman General (Rtd) Joseph Kibwana was represented by Captain Geoffrey Namadoa, the harbour master and general manager marine operations.
Namadoa said that KPA had invested heavily in the Sh1 billion cruise ship terminal at the port.
He said that they were focused on branding the terminal as the best in the region and Africa at large for cruise tourism.
"The coming of this second cruise ship in less than a month is indeed a testimony that our marketing strategy is working," said Namadoa.
In 2019, the cruise ships are said to have brought 27 billion dollars in revenue, but this drastically reduced due to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic in 2019.
The industry has been on a recovery trajectory with 90 per cent of cruise ships back in service with the projections expected to reach 18 billion dollars.
The number of passengers has been growing too and is expected to hit 25 million.
"Potentially if we can attract 10 per cent of 430 cruise ships in the world and scale up the route to the local water ways, adding Kilifi, Malindi and Lamu as part of the itinerary, we will add more value to cruise clients," said Kibwana in a statement.
Kibwana said that plans were already underway to turn the ferry services into local cruises around the coastal waters to add value in the wake of the construction of the ambitious Sh85 billion Likoni Gateway bridge.
"As we revive the Lake Victoria ports, we are creating an opportunity to introduce cruise passenger services to link the East African Community and the Islands on the lake including Mfangano, Migingo and Rusinga," Kibwana said.
