Dubai: Dubai is building a new cruise terminal at Port Rashid to cater to the growing number of cruise tourists, a senior Dubai tourism official said.
The present seven-year-old terminal in the vicinity is no longer being used to handle cruise passengers because the whole area close to the Dubai Maritime City development is being redeveloped as prime urban real estate.
Work will soon finish on the new terminal and it will receive tourists during the next winter season, Hamad Mohammad Bin Majren, executive director of business development at Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), told Gulf News.
"This new terminal will be temporary. We will use it for two to three years before a new permanent cruise terminal is built at Dubai Maritime City in four to five years," he said.
Dubai opened its first swanky cruise terminal in 2001. It was able to attract major European-based cruise operator Costa Crociere, which launched its regular winter Gulf cruises out of Dubai in 2006.
Tourists coming by sea have grown dramatically since the European operator decided to hub out of Dubai for seven-day cruises that cover Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Muscat and Bahrain.
Massive construction and land reclamation work in the Port Rashid area means the existing cruise terminal building can no longer be used for immigration and customs procedures.
Cruise ships operated by Costa this winter are docking at a berth some distance away from the old terminal.
A makeshift tent facility has been erected to receive passengers.
At a press conference aboard the AIDAdiva on Thursday, Costa officials described the temporary arrangements as "a mess" and asked for better facilities as their passengers had high expectations of Dubai.
Step backward
They said after the successful operation at the closed terminal it is a "step backward" for Dubai's cruise tourism.
DTCM has promised its will make all possible efforts to provide better facilities within the constraints imposed by the construction work.
Michael Ungerer, senior vice-president of operations at AIDA Cruises, said the company has contributed significantly to Dubai's sea tourist arrivals from some key European markets and "deserves" better ground facilities.
"Every fifth German that comes to Dubai comes with us," he said.
Costa Crociere chairman and chief executive officer Pier Luigi Foschi also expressed his displeasure at the nature of facilities at Port Rashid.
He said while air passengers pass through modern facilities at Dubai airport, it is a different scene that confronts people coming to Dubai by ship.
Inconvenience
Apart from the unattractive sight of construction work, passengers also find a shortage of taxis, shuttle buses and excursion tours.
"The view is not very nice," German tourist Roland Kuehnel said as he waited for a taxi.
While not happy with ground facilities, Foschi said he remained committed to expand his Dubai operations next year.
"We will come back with better tonnage and better ships next year," he said.
Additionally for the 2009-10 season, the group's Costa Europa ship will make eight journeys of 18 days each from Savona in Italy to Dubai. The itinerary will include several port calls in Egypt and Yemen. Dubai will get about 90 cruise ship calls for the whole of 2008 and Costa group will account for 70 to 80 of them, according to Bin Mejren.
Costa brought 105,000 tourists to Dubai in the 2007-08 winter season and during the 2008-09 season the number is projected at 178,000.
The group brings mostly European tourists to Dubai with key groups being German, Italian, French, Spanish, British and Americans.
Apart from AIDAdiva, other Costa ships being deployed in the region this winter are Costa Victoria, Costa Classica and AIDAbella.
The Costa officials said the company's presence in the region has prompted some other European cruise operators to consider similar operations.
