MegaPier Tula Open: A Proud Curaçao Welcomes More Passengers

A Proud Curaçao Welcomes More Passengers MegaPier Tula Open

On November 13th, 2017, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Adventure of the Seas became the first cruise ship to majestically glide alongside and moor at the newly built second Megapier, named Tula.

TEXT BY: FARAH DIBAH AYOUBI

On the occasion of this soft launch of the pier a small delegation led by Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Steven Martina, and Minister of Transport, Traffic and Urban Planning, Mrs. Zita Jesus-Leito, as well as Curaçao Ports Authorities’ representatives went on board The Adventure of the Seas to meet with the captain for a small ceremony to commemorate this historical day. It is a momentous occasion for CPA who worked diligently to make this pier a reality. CPA’s Managing Director, Humberto de Castro, expressed gratitude on behalf of CPA to all who worked together and helped make this pier a reality, saying humbly that congratu lations should go to the great teamwork that made it possible to reach this target opening of MegaPier Tula. The addition of a berthing for very large vessels is beneficial to the whole tourism sector and local community. Although it’s hard to beat the experience of entering our Anna Bay canal perched high on a cruise ship, the new pier enriches Curaçao’s tourism product and ensures that Curaçao’s infrastruc ture is well equipped to accommodate the ever-growing ships on the market now, and those coming in the near future, thus fueling growth opportunities for the cruise tourism sector. Mr. Humberto de Castro, Managing Director of CPA, said the pier will be there for at least

50 years, explaining: “Our vision is to reach 1 million cruise passengers in the coming five to ten years. When we strategize our cruise tourism growth we think in terms of number of passengers and in spending amounts. With the addition of this second MegaPier, at least now we won’t have to worry about capacity anymore.” Curaçao currently has approxi mately 600,000 cruise passengers annually, and average passenger spending runs about US $75 per passenger.

The next phase of the project is finalizing the land side logistics. Apart from the facilities on the immediate premises of the MegaPier Tula, the whole area surrounding the mega cruise terminals and including the Rif Baseball Stadium and the community swimming pool,

Pisina Bennie Leito, will be transformed into a commercial and entertainment area where both locals and tourists will be able to enjoy leisure activities. The Curaçao Ports Authority, (CPA), has a grand opening of MegaPier Tula planned for the beginning of 2018.