Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - On Tuesday, April 12, the General Director of the Port Authority (API) of Puerto Vallarta, Miguel Angel García Beltrán, met with the winners of the national bidding contest for the modernization of the cruise ship terminal.

The long-anticipated modernization and expansion of the port will include the construction of Passenger Terminal No. 3, a complementary tourist services area, a Mexican hacienda that houses a Tequila museum, and a world-class aquarium where more than 300 species will be exhibited.

Representatives of the winning companies - Carlos Gerard Guzmán on behalf of sister company and subsidiary of VallartaShorex, Puerto Magico PV, which was awarded the contract for the passenger terminal; and Alejandro Nasta Icaza, on behalf of one of Carlos Slim's companies, Blau Life, S.A.P.I. de C.V., which will be building the aquarium - met with García Beltrán for the signing of the respective contracts for the over 300 million pesos investment project.

During the meeting, García Beltrán put the circumstances and difficulties that were faced to make the project a reality into context. He explained that the bidding process was delayed due to the limited number of cruise ship arrivals in Puerto Vallarta three years ago, when the project was first proposed, which was not attractive to entrepreneurs.

At that time, Puerto Vallarta only received 80 cruise ships per year, so he set out to improve the API's security and services to encourage more cruise ships to visit our port.

And the cruise lines DID return, to such an extent that this year around 140 cruise ships are expected to arrive in Puerto Vallarta.

In parallel, he said, the number of tourists to our city has also risen dramatically, thanks in great part to the federal and state governments' efforts to strengthen connectivity by air, maritime and railway to accelerate the growth of tourism.

Gerard Carlos Guzmán said that this investment project seeks to regenerate the product of Puerto Vallarta in alignment with the federal and state governments' promotional efforts. "The goal is to conjoin Puerto Vallarta's efforts with those of the federal government to increase the port's competitiveness and enhance interest in Puerto Vallarta within the cruise industry," he said.

The API modernization project will also include a hacienda that houses a new Tequila Museum to draw the attention of the cruise lines that visit other ports on the Mexican Pacific. Guzmán said that he was grateful to the federal government for believing in local investment, (which exceeds 120 million pesos,) but warned it was a tendering procedure in which all requirements must be met.

For his part, Alejandro Nasta Icaza said that his company, Blau Life, S.A.P.I. de C.V. specializes in the design, development and operation of public aquariums, adding that Puerto Vallarta's aquarium will be much larger than the public one that tycoon Carlos Slim Helu recently opened in Mexico City, which has more than 300 species and about 15,000 specimens in 48 exhibits.

Investors estimate that construction will start within three to four months, after the supporting studies, which are currently being conducted, have been completed. Completion of the Maritime Terminal modernization project is scheduled for late 2017.