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DUBAI / WAM
With Dubai becoming a premiere international cruise destination, DP World is ready to take on the increasing influx of holiday makers with the start of the 2017-2018 cruise tourism season and is expecting 115 luxury cruise ships from 22 ocean-going cruise lines to berth at Mina Rashid’s Dubai Cruise Terminal facilities over the coming season.
The Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, operated by DP World, is one of the world’s top five ultra-luxury ports and a preferred port of call for 650,000 passengers on international cruise liners. The season will kick start on October 25 with the arrival of the ‘Seabourn Encore’ of the luxury cruise brand, Seabourn Cruises. Together with its strategic partners, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs, Dubai Cruise Tourism, Dubai Customs, Dubai Police, and Emirates Airline, DP World is dedicated to supporting the vision of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to maximise Dubai’s potential and establish the city as the leading winter cruise tourism destination in the GCC by providing world class infrastructure and logistics support.
Key to this plan is DP World’s state-of-the-art Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, T3, at Mina Rashid that is set to be the largest terminal in the world capable of handling 18,000 travellers every single day.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World, said, “DP World is proud to support and contribute to Dubai’s vision to become the world’s leading cruise tourism hub. With a goal to attract 20 million tourists a year by 2020, of which at least one million are expected to be cruise tourists, we are committed to providing facilities that are the best in the world and create a truly luxurious cruise experience catering to the tastes and sophistication of visitors.†Dubai’s cruise tourism market is growing rapidly as the city is becoming a choice destination for cruise enthusiasts from Europe and the US.
Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Mannai, Executive Director of Mina Rashid, said, “We’re expanding our facilities to accommodate more ships by adding new berths while developing our existing two-kilometre long berths in line with the demand from cruise operators. We’re also working on connecting our existing terminals with closed corridors equipped with the best in technology to maximise capacity and provide ease of access for passengers across the port.
Dubai targets tourists from Europe, India
DUBAI / WAM
Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai Tour-ism, has stepped up efforts to cement and enhance emirate’s position as “Cruise Hub of the Regionâ€. Dubai Tourism exhibited at Seatrade Europe, held in Hamburg, under the Cruise Arabia banner, which brings together tourism authorities of Dub-ai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain on a unified stand with the goal of promoting the region as a whole. Dubai Tour-ism’s latest promotional drive was aimed at attracting more cruiseto-urists, specifically from Europe, India.
The Dubai delegation was headed by Jamal Humaid Al Falasi, Director of Dubai Cruise Tourism, and joined by several other relevant Dubai government entities and private sector stakeholders.