Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile is encouraged by the cruise industry prospects for its port and facilities: this season Norwegian Sun has returned with at least ten calls and for 2016/2017 a line will be cruising to Antarctica with Punta Arenas as a home port.
A Philippine crew member from the Norwegian Sun cruise vessel jumped overboard before reaching a port in South Chile and has been declared 'disappeared' by the Chilean navy which organized a rescue operation.
Chile's flag carrier Lan is celebrating this week the seven decades of its first commercial flight between Santiago and Punta Arenas, extreme south of the country, opening the region to closer trade, tourism and investment opportunities. Actually Lan in the thirties and forties, when the company was first starting did in effect make regional flights from Punta Arenas to nearby places mostly on rough landing strips.
One of the world's largest and most iconic cruise vessels called at Ushuaia, extreme south of Argentina, on Thursday following an absence of over ten years. Given the size of the 'Queen Mary 2', she anchored in the bay and those passengers of the 2.600 on board who decided to land were brought ashore in tenders.
Chile anticipates a 30% increase in cruise activity in the extreme south of the country, mainly Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, announced Lorena Araya, head of Magallanes region National Tourism Service, Sernatur.
“Royal Caribbean should have known better”. That's the word Tuesday from weather experts who closely monitored the development of the storm that rocked the line's Anthem of the Seas, on Sunday and Monday.
An estimated 58,000 cruise visitors have landed in Ushuaia, extreme south of Argentina during the current 2015/16 season which took off last 15 September, according to the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute. The largest number was concentrated in January, with an estimated 25.000, and this weekend promises to be equally busy with several vessels calling with 10.000 passengers.
New videos have been developed by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) to brief travelers en route to Antarctica. They reinforce actions visitors need to take to ensure their visit is safe and environmentally sensitive.
Cruise lines have followed the lead of major airlines and begun waiving cancellation penalties for some customers booked on voyages to the Caribbean and other destinations affected by the fast-spreading Zika virus.
An indication of interest has been forthcoming from Chile's flag carrier LAN in relation to bringing in a larger aircraft to cope with the volume of passengers and freight to the Falkland Islands.