By Patrick Beja

Ports in Eastern and Southern African region have launched a fresh bid for a slice of the thriving cruise tourism market.

Cruise Indian Ocean Association (CIOA) Chairman James Mulewa says regional ports are repositioning themselves to attract more travellers by ship.

Mulewa, who is Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director said the cruise industry has an enormous momentum to grow and surprise many itinerary and holiday planners. He was speaking in South Africa when he launched the CIOA South chapter. The chapter falls under the Tourism Kwazulu Natal and Transnet National Ports Authority. South Africa chapter is the second under the CIOA after the Kenya chapter launched in Mombasa in 2004.

The CIOA countries would market cruise tourism through its chapters to lure more cruise passengers as other regions in the world continue to attract more tourists.

"The industry is evolving and is in favour of our region. Cruise ship companies are looking for new ports of call in different parts of the world to add value to their packages," said Mulewa.

He added: "It is the right time to market these ‘virgin’ attractions to the rest of the world."

Experts argue that there is decreasing average age of passengers, and an increasing demand for short cruises.

Fast developing

Cruise shipping is one of the fastest growing sectors of the international tourism industry, handling about 13.5 million passengers yearly.

Furthermore, the experts say cruise sector is still in the growth stage of the industry’s life cycle thus providing a great opportunity for regional ports to contribute significantly to the industry.

Countries are also increasing investment in cruise ships and required in port facilities. Despite the financial meltdown, recent industry reports are encouraging. In Europe a record-breaking 4.4 million europeans cruised last year.

Reports indicate that European shipyards are busy with new builds. So far, 17 cruise ships are on order for the European market between now and 2012 – as well as refurbishments and makeovers.

In the meantime, Germany is leading the way in the super-yacht building sector, with four of the top five biggest privately-owned yachts coming from German yards, including the world’s largest to be delivered later this year.

"The timing couldn’t be better to capitalise on this success." Mulewa said.

However, despite reports of the huge rise in cruise business, Mombasa and the CIOA region have been struggling. Last year, for instance, Mombasa port handled a paltry 3,785 cruise tourists compared to 16,803 recorded in 2007.

The decline was blamed on post-election violence among other factors.

Regrettably, some members from the Indian Ocean Islands have also opted out of the CIOA to create another organisation for island countries.

This, experts say, is a blow in the concerted marketing of cruise tourism in the eastern and southern Africa region.

The French-speaking island countries, which broke away from CIOA, are Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles. Sources said the islands complained that the CIOA marketing programmes did not benefit them.