{"id":18929,"date":"2025-10-16T14:43:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/?p=18929"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:43:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:43:59","slug":"official-launch-of-the-2025-26-cruise-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/official-launch-of-the-2025-26-cruise-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Official Launch of the 2025\/26 Cruise Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18930\" src=\"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n-300x271.jpg 300w, https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n-1024x926.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n-768x694.jpg 768w, https:\/\/maritimafrica.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/561687468_1105807051726937_4227538879824415581_n-1536x1388.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As per usual practice, the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, hosted a joint press conference today, Thursday 16th October 2025 to mark the opening of the cruise season for 2025\/26.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This season officially opened on 12th October 2025 with the arrival of SH Diana at Port Victoria and will close on 27th June 2026.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During the Press Conference, the Principal Secretary for Tourism Mrs Sherin Francis and the Chief Executive of SPA Mr Sony Payet both highlighted the importance of the cruise industry to our economy, its role in revitalising tourism, and the continued efforts to enhance passenger experience and port services.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This season, there are 47 scheduled port calls in comparison to 35 last season showing a 25% increase. There will be eight maiden calls and two new cruise lines to the Seychelles this season which promises increased visitor arrivals and exciting opportunities for local businesses and tour operators.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">SPA and the Department of Tourism reaffirmed their commitment to safety, sustainability, and service excellence, ensuring Seychelles remains a premier cruise destination in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Source : SPA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As per usual practice, the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,2238,442,1921,1992],"tags":[1493,2914,2687,31,32,1485,1297,1388,75,2559,45],"class_list":["post-18929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en","category-cruise","category-news-en","category-ports-harbours","category-seychelles","tag-africa-en","tag-cruise-tourism-industry","tag-daily-news","tag-maritimafrica","tag-maritime","tag-maritime-in-africa","tag-maritime-industry-en","tag-news","tag-ports","tag-seychelles-ports-authority-spa","tag-shipping-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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