Honduras Features Central America's First Mainland Destination For Cruise Ships

Thanks to a $20 million investment, the brand new Banana Coast Landing includes a dock able to handle 2 post-Panamax sized liners (basically ships which might be too large to transit the Panama Canal). The project is also going to incorporate a 50,000 square-foot themed retail shopping location, a marina and also a transportation center.

In the past, explorer Christopher Columbus landed at Trujillo in 1502. The city itself was in fact created by Spanish conquistadors in 1525. This destination combines a distinctive mix of white sandy beaches, a colonial Spanish city, eco-sites, cultural diversions and new tourist attractions to appeal to cruise passengers.

The Colonial City in Trujillo

The beach front is in fact close to where cruise passengers will get off the cruise ship. Trujillos walkable down-town is only a short distance away. This citys major tourism attractions include things like the Santa Barbara Fort along with its cannons overlooking Trujillo Bay; historical church buildings; and also the previous embassy consulates belonging to France, the Unite Kingdom and the United States.
Cruise passengers are going to have a choice of interacting with the indigenous Garifuna, Pech and Miskito cultures of the region. Eco-tourism is anticipated to also be a big draw, as the area has many waterfalls, rivers, a tropical rainforest, hot springs, caverns, mountain ranges and also the Guaimoreto Lagoon Nature Reserve.

An additional attraction for guests? The developer is going to build a themed cultural park, very much along the lines of Discover Mexico on Cozumel. The mission is to give cruise passengers a taste of the things Honduras has to offer. Four different zones incorporate a nature park, river park, heritage park and wildlife park.

Even though developers acknowledge the city requires some restoration work, they have said that the Honduran authorities is dealing with this as a top priority. Development of a new cruise destination at Trujillo has been an ambition for many years, said Porfirio Pepe Lobo, the Honduran president. The government of Honduras plans to support the project with investment to help get one of our fantastic colonial cities ready for cruise tourism.

Managing the initiative is the Grande Trujillo Authoridad, which happens to be a partnership between the municipality of Trujillo, an investment group and also Life Vision Developments in partnership with Global Destinations Development of Miami; the latter is actually a strategic consultant and cruise destination developer.

The planning for Banana Landing is already under way, which includes work on the architecture of the site, tour planning and marketing programs. Even though the amenities are going to be completed for cruise line use as soon as 2012, the developers hope that smaller sized and also medium-sized cruise ships might possibly call sooner. No cruise lines have yet revealed plans to call at the new port, but it is early in the development.

Find out more about all things bananas at www.bananacoast.com