6,000 cruise tourists at Hambantota International Port in Nov.-Dec.

The Hambantota International port (HIP) received over 6,000 tourists to Sri Lanka, in the latter part of November and during December 2023 welcoming five cruise liners that called at the port, HIP announced.

The ‘Azamara Journey’ docked on the November 29 carrying 620 passengers. The Luxury cruise liner Mein Schiff 5 which arrived in Sri Lanka from Muscat on December 10, called at HIP the next day carrying 2,200 passengers.

“A group of disembarking passengers from the luxury liner got on e-bikes to go sightseeing in the Hambantota area, keeping with HIP’s green-port drive. This is the cruise ship’s second call for 2023, and its third call at the port, counting the visit in May last year.

Cruise tourists ready to explore Hambantota on e-bikes

Other cruise ships that called were the ‘Celebrity Millennium’ on December 5 and 16 carrying 3,500 passengers and the ‘Nautica’ which arrived on the Dec. 19 with 498 visitors.

“To date this year, HIP has recorded approximately 22 cruise ship calls with most of them arriving from Chennai, via Cordelia Cruise Lines. The shipping line, which offers holiday packages to Indian and international travellers, made a number of ship calls to HIP from June to September this year, on their cruise liner ‘Empress.’ Approximately 7,500 tourists arrived at the port throughout the year.

“The Nautica and the Celebrity Millennium are bound for Phuket Thailand as their next port of call while the ‘Azamara Journey’ is headed to Sabang, Indonesia. The Mein Schiff 5 is on her onward journey to the Langkawi archipelago in Malaysia. The port’s initiatives to develop the cruise business as well as enhanced facilities to ships and passengers have paid off, resulting in the increase of ship calls.”