A CRUISE boat from United States (US) made a brief stopover – spending half a day in Honiara yesterday.
MV Paul Gauguin, a cruise line owned by Beachcomber Croisieres Limited, has its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.
Beachcomber Croisieres operates the luxury cruise ship the Paul Gauguin which operates to Tahiti, French Polynesia and the South Pacific.
Keren Foimua of Travel Solomons Ltd who organized the visit told the Solomon Star yesterday that more than 300 passengers were onboard the cruise boat.
She said the boat left Honiara to PNG and would travel over to Santo, Vanuatu as its next destination.
“The vessel is from US, which does cruise trips to French Polynesia.
“They are now looking at new and exotic destinations like Solomons, Vanuatu and PNG, so we have now started new programs for their clients,” Ms Foimua said.
Yesterday the tourists visited various attractions in Honiara and really enjoyed their time out.
“They visited the world war two sites, Honiara city tour sightseeing, snorkelling and diving at Bonege beach and see cultural performances at Kakabona village.
“The visitors are so excited to visit Honiara. Although it was a short visit, it was a pleasant one for them because they had a great time,” she said.
Meanwhile Ms Foimua confirmed the boat would be back in the country for another similar visit in August.
“Travel Solomons Ltd will organise a tour excursion for the passengers when the boat returns to Honiara in August.”
Travel Solomons is a local inbound tour operator which also organises cruise excursions in the country.
The boat arrived in Honiara 7:30am yesterday morning and left the country for PNG just after lunch time at 1pm.
By DENVER NEWTER