The Pacific Cruise Micro-site has been revamped to enhance sharing of port and maritime information of 16 Pacific island countries to international cruise lines and yachting enthusiasts traveling through the region.

The site was developed and hosted by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) through funding from the European Union, to provide a one-stop shop access to online port information for American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu .

Pacific Cruise microsite is seen as an essential reference source and regional promotional tool that is designed to fill a widely acknowledged gap in the provision of relevant, up to date and authoritative information on cruise operations in the region.

SPTO chief executive officer Ilisoni Vuidreketi said “equipped with this Pacific Cruise microsite, participation in the premier trade show event such as Seatrade Cruise Global in Fort Lauderdale, is an equally essential action by the Pacific cruise tourism sector to boost targeted promotion of the region as a desirable cruise tourism destination.”

The site he added has “improved access to comprehensive and authoritative Pacific cruise and port information by global cruise lines and improved the systematic promotion of the Pacific cruise tourism sector.”

The micro-site houses information on port and berthing anchorages, positions, depth, bottom composition, satellite reference images , pilot roses – historical wind speed & direction used for planning, official Charts – name and number displayed for each country, customs and immigration information, destination information, ports of entry with relevant satellite images.

“Yachts, Superyachts and Cruise ships distribute an enormous amount of wealth into the economies of the South Pacific,” said Dietmar Petutschnig CEO of Good Anchorage, project consultants.”

“With the help of SPTO and its member organisation’s Customs and Immigration, Port and Maritime Authorities, National Tourism offices and Tourism departments we have now identified that yachting of small and medium sized vessels alone bring more revenue into a country – and specifically into outer ridges – than many of the number one commodity based export industries such as Copra.”