Norwegian Cruise Line has opted to commence a new service beginning April 2004 through April 2005 to Cancun. In the ‘Diario de Yucatan’ newspaper Captain Abraham Garc’a Flores, general manager of El Dorado Nautical Services at the Playa Tortugas maritime terminal said that a weekly cruise ship would be operational as of April.Mr Flores stated that a project to rejuvenate and modernise the maritime port would begin in the first quarter of this year in a bid to make cruise travel more accessible and profitable for the region.Mexico, and Cancun especially, has witnessed increased arrivals in the last six months. This new service will only add to the healthy influx of visitor arrivals during 2004. In 2004 Mexico expects to attract in the region of 20 million foreign tourists, who could contribute almost 10 billion US dollars’ worth of revenue.The Mexican Tourism Board will increase its marketing drive to the US, Canadian and Spanish markets.Tourism is Mexico’s third source of hard currency after oil and emigrants’ remittances, according to officials from the Secretariat of Tourism.
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