UAE aims at over 600,000 cruise tourists this year

Cruise tourism in the UAE is cruising along steadily along with other economic indicators as the country received more than 582,000 cruise tourists in 2013 and the numbers are expected to cross 600,000 this year with more vessels sailing into the UAE waters, officials said in Dubai on Sunday.

Dubai received 386,000 cruise tourists in 2013 and the aim is to attract more tourists through marketing initiatives in India and China as the region is increasingly becoming attractive winter cruise destination, said Hamad bin Mejren, Executive Director of Business Tourism at Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

The region has emerged among the world’s top three top destinations for winter cruise tourism and UAE has launched initiatives along with Oman to make GCC more attractive for cruise tourists, Hamad said, adding that the emirate is expected to attract 400,000 tourists in 2014.

The figures are in line with the forecast as DTCM expects emirate to receive 450,000 cruise tourists by 2016 with new cruise liners coming to region.

Dubai is home port to Costa Cruises, MSC, AIDA, TUI and Royal Caribbean from 2015-2016 season onwards. Expansion of the Dubai Cruise Terminal, home to largest cruise facility in the region, will add 27,000 square metres of facilities to Mina Rashid and enabling the turnaround of five cruise ships at any time.

Hamad was speaking in Dubai at the announcement of cruise firm Royal Caribbean International returning to the Gulf in 2015-2016 winters. Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas is scheduled to dock in its home port of Dubai followed by calls to Oman’s capital of Muscat and Khasab along with Abu Dhabi.

Noura Al Dhaheri, Leisure Products Development Manager at Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority, said the capital received nearly 196,000 cruise tourists through 11 companies in 2013.

Noura expects Abu Dhabi to receive over 200,000 cruise tourists this year as more cruise liners dock in Abu Dhabi.

Khalid Al Zadjali, Director of Tourism Events at the Oman Ministry of Tourism, said more than 112 cruise vessels docked at Port Qaboos in Muscat in 2013 bringing in around 200,000 tourists. Khalid expects numbers to grow 15-20 per cent this year as new additional vessels sail in to Oman.

Musandam, according to Khalid, has proved quite popular among cruise tourists and it attracted around 60,000 tourists, reflecting the strong potential of this area for cruise tourism.

“UAE and Oman are consolidating the region’s cruise industry with a number of initiatives launched to woo cruise liners and tourists,” he told media in Dubai on Sunday.

Helen Beck, Regional Director, International Representatives, EMEA, Royal Caribbean International, said the fifth seasonal sailings will comprise 16 roundtrip from December 2015 through March 2016, visiting some of the Arabian coast’s most intriguing destinations on a seven-night itinerary.

Splendour of the Seas will add more than 32,000 guests in her first four-month season to the region’s burgeoning cruise sector and the new sailings will be going on sale as of April 10, 2014.

“We are looking forward to deploying Splendour of the Seas, one of our Vision-class vessels to the region for the first time and to welcoming guests from all over the world… This is a welcome step in continuing to promote the economic and touristic benefits of cruising and I'm sure the season will be very successful,” said Helen.
 

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