MEXICO BECOMES WORLD’S NO. 1 CRUISE MARKET

What's the world's No 1 cruise destination? The Mexican Caribbean, says the Secretary of Tourism.

A document from the agency shows that almost one third of the world's cruise tourists visit the Mexican Caribbean, while almost 45% visit the rest of the Mexican coast.

Mexico last received a total of 6.5 million passengers. Cozumel, in the state of Quintana Roo, was named the most active port. The island had almost 2.4 million passengers.

"The cruise tourism in Mexico has experienced a rapid growth in the last 10 years," says the report.

The number of tourists that visited the country in a cruise tripled from 1996 to 2006.

The Mexican Riviera cruise experience is popular for Southern California tourists using ports at Baja Mexico and the Pacific Coast. There are often three-to-eight day cruises.

"In addition to the already established destinations – such as the ones from Riviera Maya, the ports of Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, and the traditional ports of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Acapulco – Mexico keeps attracting cruise companies to new places in the country," says the government.

Starting in 2008, Puerto Dos Barcos in the state of Tabasco will begin receiving cruises from cruise lines Holland America and The World. Meanwhile, Puerto Chiapas was included this year as one of the ports of call for some of the larger cruise ships.