Above: crafts in Fort de France

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The new Martinique Cruise Village has officially opened in Fort de France, according to the French department’s tourism commission.

The Cruise Village is part of a new initiative to receive cruise ship visitors; the new village includes a complex of vendor stalls and information points.

The village is located at Pointe Simon in Martinique’s capital, Fort de France.

From January to September of this year, Martinique welcomed 71,072 cruise ship visitors, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

That represents a 7.1 percent increase over the same period in 2012.