The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is considering the possibility of building cruise docks on the Honduran North Coast and in the Bay Islands. This is the latest in a series of events indicating that the cruise industry has taken notice of Honduras and is interested in expanding its offerings to include the country’s many attractive destinations.

According to Michael Ronan, Vice President of Development at Royal Caribbean, the company is interesting in expanding its cruise packages to include Honduras in response to a growing demand among customers for stops in this country.

Increasing the numbers of cruise ships that include Honduras as a destination is a key strategy of the Honduran Ministry of Tourism. “The interest of Royal Caribbean is based not only on investing in the development of port infrastructure, “ says Tourism Minister Thierry de Pierrefeu, “ but also in making Honduras a world class destination for cruise travelers.”

Royal Caribbean is a leader in the global cruise industry and, together with Carnival Cruises, provides 90 percent of all cruises sailing in the Caribbean. The company’s first destination in Honduras would be Roatan in the Bay Islands. If successful, an additional expansion would include the Honduran mainland.

In cooperation with the Honduran Institute of Tourism, Ronan met with private sector leaders in Roatan to discuss the importance of a local Cruise Committee in the Bay Islands and the coordination of efforts between the private sector and the government to ensure the success of the industry there.

So far in 2003, cruises have brought 152,320 tourists to Honduran shores. This number already tops the 2002 annual total of 124,454 - a growth rate of 22.4 percent.