GRACING Port Georgetown for the second time this year, the luxurious French cruise ship, ‘Le Levant’, docked at the Guyana National Industrial Company’s (GNIC) terminal, yesterday, with 32 passengers and 54 crew members on board. A welcome committee, including Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad, President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Paul Stephenson, representatives from Wilderness Explorers and other ministry officials, ventured on board to interact with the captain and crew.
Welcoming the visitors, Minister Prashad acknowledged that the repeat visit augurs well for promoting Destination Guyana, given the fact that “Guyana started out late” as a tourist destination, particularly as a port of call for cruise ships.
He invited the visitors to enjoy the country’s eco- tourism product, which, he pointed out, is now emerging as a niche market.
“Based upon the feedback from the previous visits, the passengers were fascinated by the architecture (in the city),” he said, as he urged the visitors not to miss this.
Meanwhile, the THAG President assured that Guyana is renowned for its hospitable people and its unique “pristine product” which makes it an ideal cruise destination.
Le Levant’s Captain, Mathiev Le Brun, explained that the ship’s entry into port Georgetown was “perfect” and a “good thing”, despite the fact that Guyana is not a usual destination of choice.
He was presented with several tokens of appreciation on behalf of the Tourism Ministry, THAG and Wilderness Explorers.
GNIC’s terminal has been handling stevedoring operations for the CMA-CGM group of which the owner of the Levant, Compagnie du Ponant, is an arm.
‘Le Levant’ is one of five luxury yacht type cruise vessels operated by this company which is based in Marseilles, France.
The elegant ‘Levant’ measuring, just 100 m in length has a shallow draft of 3.5 m that allows it to go into rivers, tributaries and to more exotic places, especially in South America, into nooks and shallow waterways where larger cruise liners are unable to sail.
On its third voyage here, the vessel arrived from Suriname, and after mere hours berthed in Georgetown, departed for Grenada.