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Dubai's cruise tourism industry set to boom
Dubai's cruise tourism industry is set for a major turn in its fortunes in 2007 after years of slow growth as the emirate's modern "infrastructure and attitude" attract more tourists.
- By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 December 30, 2006
Dubai: Dubai's cruise tourism industry is set for a major turn in its fortunes in 2007 after years of slow growth as the emirate's modern "infrastructure and attitude" attract more tourists.
The city expects to receive 63,000 cruise passengers this winter season but the number could double next winter.
The Costa Classica and the AIDAcara ships of Italy-based operator Costa Crociere have begun using the Dubai Cruise Terminal as their hub for Gulf cruise programmes and 25 sailings are scheduled between December and April.
Most passengers on the two vessels will be Europeans. The AIDAcara will carry Germans and Austrians, while the Costa Classica will serve Italian, German, Austrian, French, British and Spanish tourists.
The tourists will fly to Dubai from Europe on charter flights. The seven-day itinerary includes two nights in Dubai and one-day stopovers in Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.
"Demand is very strong for this itinerary. We are going to increase the cap-acity next year. Hopefully we can extend [the itinerary] to other countries in the region," Costa Crociere chairman Pier Luigi Foschi told Gulf News. The AIDAcara carried 1,154 passengers and 370 crew on its debut Gulf voyage on December 21.
Costa Crociere will deploy three ships next winter and there will be a total of 39 sailings out of Dubai. This will bring 103,000 passengers to Dubai.
Foschi said before starting the Dubai operations "there was anxiety, but we are very happy to have taken the decision.
"We were attracted to Dubai because of the infrastructure and the tourist-friendly attitude of the government. At this point we see Dubai as a hub for us to do turnarounds and exchange passengers," he said.
George Varghese, a general manager with shipping agent Rais Hassan Saadi Group, said other international cruise operators are watching Costa's operations before they take the plunge.
The five-year-old Dubai Cruise Terminal was used for 13 cruise stopovers with 13,000 passenger movements in 2005. It received a total of 23,000 passengers during the 2005-2006 winter season.
For the 2006-07 season, Dubai is expected to see 85,000 passenger movements, while the 2007-08 season will attract 200,000 tourists, according to Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) projections.
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