Can Mexican ports revive cruise industry?

 

By Lori Weisberg

 

San Diego's cruise ship industry has taken a big hit in recent years as Mexico has fallen out of favor as a vacation destination, but plans by a major cruise line to look at investing in a new port south of the border could portend a revival here.

Carnival Corp., which at one time had a much larger presence in San Diego, is exploring the possibility of spending $150 million on developing three new cruise terminals in Mexico, one of which would be in Baja California Sur.

The news was revealed Wednesday during a tourism outlook presentation by Ann Moore, who chairs the San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. She was one of several speakers addressing efforts to better capitalize on San Diego's proximity to Mexico as a way to boost tourism on both sides of the border.

The new destinations Carnival is looking at are Calica, which is on the Yucatan Peninsula, and Puerto Cortes on Isla Santa Margarita, located roughly halfway between Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas.

"If the Isla Santa Margarita development takes place, this could bring the cruise business back to San Diego sooner than projected," said Moore, speaking at an an annual hospitality industry forum sponsored by CCIM, a local commercial real estate affiliate of the National Association of Realtors.

"The cruise lines are saying they want new stops to offer something fresh and exciting to cruisers...We are happy about Carnival's interest in Mexico because it shows the desire of the cruise industry to return to Mexico."

Carnival Corp. confirmed that it has told Mexican officials it would have some interest in developing the two ports, but the project is still in the exploratory stage, said spokesman Vance Gulliksen. Puerto Cortes, is not highly developed as a tourist destination but does have a pier to accommodate whale-watching trips.

If the new cruise ship destination in Baja California Sur were to materialize, it would indeed be welcome news for San Diego, which has seen its visits by ocean liners plunge by 66 percent since the industry peak here in 2008. That has meant a similarly huge drop in revenues to the port that come from passenger, wharfage, docking and parking fees. This year's 230,000 passengers, Moore said, are expected to bring the port $4.8 million in fee-based revenue, compared to the $19 million it saw five years earlier.

Another good sign for San Diego, Moore said, is Carnival's decision to next year add a third ship offering cruises to Mexico out of Long Beach.

Where Mexican Riviera itineraries at one time dominated San Diego's yearly cruise schedule, they now account for just 37 percent of the port's cruise business. Today, the majority of destinations leaving out of San Diego are bound for Hawaii and the Panama Canal. While mounting concerns about violence in Mexico dampened interest in Mexican Riviera cruises, the cruise companies also moved their ships to increasingly popular locations in Europe and Australia.

Mariano Escobedo, president of Tijuana’s Tourism and Conventions Committee, sought to downplay the still persistent perception that Mexico, and more specifically, Tijuana, is an unsafe destination for tourists.