Compagnie du Ponant, a prestigious French luxury cruise line, has been exploring destinations in Eastern Visayas over the past few days as part of its assessment for possible inclusion in its 2027\u20132028 cruise season.<\/p>\n
The assessment team comprises senior representatives from Compagnie du Ponant, Intercruises, and Travel People Ltd., in coordination with the Department of Tourism in Eastern Visayas (DOT-8) and the concerned local government units, the DOT regional office here said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Initial site visits included Baybay City in Leyte; Higatangan Island in Naval, Biliran; Maripipi Island in Biliran; Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte; and Kalanggaman Island in Palompon, Leyte.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe assessment aims to evaluate the region\u2019s readiness and potential to host high-end international cruise tourism, highlighting Eastern Visayas\u2019 natural attractions, island destinations, and local cultural experiences,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Eastern Visayas first gained the attention of Compagnie du Ponant in 2018 when its luxury cruise ship L\u2019Austral called at Himokilan Island and Mahaba Island in Leyte.<\/p>\n
The visit introduced international tourists to the region\u2019s unique island destinations and local culture, sparking sustained interest in Eastern Visayas as a cruise tourism hub.<\/p>\n
The ongoing assessment will expand to Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, and Northern Samar, focusing on culture, traditions, and island experiences that appeal to the luxury cruise market. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Luxury cruise exploration could bring higher-value tourism to local communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":262327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-travel"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"7541":"island \ud83e\udded hopping ibang level\r","7542":"island vibes chill lang\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/262327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}