Cruise Ship Costa Deliziosa Visits Nuku'alofa

The cruise liner left Bora Bora an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia on 2nd March and is here in the Friendly Islands for a day before departing for Auckaland New Zealand.

As tourism is the leading sector in Tongan economy, cruise ships certainly have a great impact. Tourism is vital to the sustainable growth of the economy and it has provided businesses for the sector most notably the locals. Mr. Stuart Perry, General Manager of Tourism Tonga in his weekly report emphasized the impact by stating that the visit to Nukualofa in February 24th by Japanese cruise liner Asuka II and the Queen Elizabeth was amazing with over 3,500 visitors.

According to a report from the Ministry of Commerce, Tourism & Labour, there is a slight increase in the number of Cruise Ships visiting Tonga in 2015 compare to 2014. This is a good news for the industry and work is underway by the Ministry and other related bodies both from government and the private sector including their counterparts overseas to attract more cruise ships to visit the kingdom, said an official from the Ministry.

Cruise ship day is always a big day for Tonga. Driving along the waterfront, you can see the smiling face of locals selling traditional products, taxis stopping by to pick tourists, stalls full of traditional artifacts, art works on diplay, tour guides giving directions, police officers providing security among many other activities.

Costa Deliziosa is the flagship operated by Costa Crociere a owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy, and under control of the Carnival Corporation.