Cruise Ship Norweigan Dawn Makes Maiden Call At Mombasa Port With Over 2000 Tourists

BREAKING NEWS

Cruise Ship Norweigan Dawn Makes Maiden Call At Mombasa Port With Over 2000 Tourists ^Featured

Ommy Dallah

People

14 January 2024

Luxury cruise liner Norwegian Dawn called the Port of Mombasa early Sunday morning, carrying 2300 passengers and 1100 crew aboard.

This is the first cruise vessel of the year to dock in Mombasa at the Sh350 million cruise terminal at KPA.

Sailing to Mombasa from Seychelles, Norwegian Dawn, with an LOA of 294 meters brought the over 2000 passengers from 54 nationalities to the Kenyan coast for excursions, to explore the pristine white sandy beaches and national parks.

Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Captain William Ruto who piloted the vessel to berth number one, appreciated the call reiterating KPA’s support for cruise tourism in the country through investment in infrastructure to position the Port of Mombasa as a cruise tourism hub.

"KPA has put infrastructure to support cruise tourism. This is just the beginning, we expect more vessels to call to port" said Ruto.

The MD assured cruise lines that the port of Mombasa is safe a he welcomed more vessels to Mombasa.

The maiden call to Mombasa comes a few days after another cargo vessel docked at the port on maiden voyage.

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Last year December, the port once again received MV Bollete, a cruise liner with over 900 passengers, with captain Ruto confirming that the Port of Mombasa will receive another cruise ship next month.

KPA chairman Benjamin Tayari welcomed the call noting the visit is an affirmation of Kenya as a tourism hub in Africa.

The captain of the vessel Asen Gyurov appreciated the warm reception they received on their maiden call to Mombasa as they hoped to include Kenya in their circuit.

"I am grateful for the warm we have received, I hope we shall have Mombasa as our turn around port in future," said Gyurov.

Representing the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) acting CEO John Chirchir, KTB director of marketing and support services Betty Ichan said that they Kenya is targeting to receive 5.5 million tourists annually by the year 2027.

"We are excited about the number of cruise ships scheduled to dock here in the first quarter of 2024."

"This will significantly impact our target of 5.5 million tourists by 2027," said Ichan

Mombasa county executive for Trade and Tourism Mohammed Osman said that the county will work closely with players in the tourism industry as they look forward to implementing the county's blue print on tourism growth and development.

"As a county, ours is to build a conducive environment for tourism to grow," said Osman.

Adding "We shall continue working with KPA and all stakeholders in the tourism industry to make sure that Mombasa is the premier tourism destination" said Osman.