The close of October 2019 saw a gathering of cruise-industry officials and key public figures at the Port of Progreso, situated on the north coast of Yucatan in Mexico.
In the company of Yucatan State Governor, Mauricio Vila Dosal; State Secretary of Tourism Development, Michelle Fridman; and mayor of Puerto Progreso, Julian Zacarías; president of Swiss-based MSC Cruises of America, Richard Sasso, made the announcement on October 31, that MSC Cruises would be bringing its business to Yucatecan Puerto Progreso beginning November 2020.
With a capacity of 2,340 guests, 721 crew members and a scheduled total of 41 arrivals for the 2020-2021 cruise season, MSC Armonia will deliver an additional 95,000 travelers to Yucatan by sea in 2021, representing an increase of 20% over the current cruise ship arrival numbers of the port.
According to Pasillo Turistico, Puerto Progreso’s estimated close-of-2019 figures are 142 cruise ship arrivals with a total of 465,000 cruise passengers, which is an increase of 5% over 2018.