Cruise Arabia targets European markets
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Cruise Arabia, the collaborative initiative formed by Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing aggressively promoted the Arabian Gulf as a cruise destination at Seatrade Med Convention in Barcelona.
The event attracted over 4,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors. Co-participants attending this event alongside Cruise Arabia include Gulf Ventures, Orient Tours, DP World and Abu Dhabi Ports Company.
Hamad Mohammed bin Mejren, executive director, business tourism at DTCM, said: “The event is one of the most important segments for building our regional cruise tourism sector. It is also a chance to increase number of passengers in the Arabian Gulf.”
He further added: “We expect the upcoming cruise season to surpass last year’s especially with the new multi-entry UAE visit visa for cruise tourists. The number of vessels using Dubai Cruise Terminal as their home port has increased to six this season, these vessels are also expected to make a total of 83 trips in comparison to the 63 trips that were conducted in the previous 2013/2014 season. We are expecting a total of 110 ship calls carrying around 381,500 passengers in comparison to 93 ship calls carrying 320,000 passengers last year.”
Cruise Arabia was formed with a shared aim to grow and evolve cruise tourism segment. The other objective is to make significant investments to the cruise industry across the region, developing its segment infrastructure and creating current and future employment opportunities. A key aim of the partnership is to encourage a new generation of tourists to cruise in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, spanning new travellers from traditional markets in Europe and North America as well as those from emerging markets including China, India and the GCC.
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