As destinations in the Middle East seek to increase visitor numbers and promote regional tourism, cruise tourism is recognized as one of the key means of achieving that goal. Destinations in the region are collaborating as well as investing in infrastructure to boost cruise demand.
“I think more people in this region need to be aware of cruises. You can cruise in your own backyard and you don’t have to fly six hours to the Mediterranean or 15 hours to Miami to take a Caribbean cruise. No,” said Saud Hareb Almheiri, Head of Cruise Tourism and Yachting at Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), during a session at the Arabian Travel Market 2024 last week.
Middle East tourism authorities are spurring the development of cruise tourism
“We also want to maintain our quality and service levels in the region and have recently established the Cruise Arabia Alliance. We hope to expand our alliance by bringing more partners on board,” he said. added.
The Cruise Arabia Alliance consists of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman.
Aloya Cruises, operated by state-backed Cruise Saudi, is scheduled to depart from Jeddah in December 2024 on its maiden voyage, a three-night, four-day cruise. The company currently owns one ship and aims to have three ships in service over the next 10 years. .
said Turkey Kali, Executive Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications for Arroya Cruises. “Currently, we have three ports that can handle cruise ships (Jeddah Islamic Port, Yanbu Commercial Port and King Abdulaziz Port Dammam). , with easy access to various destinations in Saudi Arabia. “We aim to have 10 cruise ports in Saudi Arabia by 2030.Currently, we serve approximately 170,000 cruise travelers. We are aiming for 1.3 million passengers per year.
Mr. Kari shared that the focus market will not be limited to the domestic and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, but will also extend to the wider Arabian region.
Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Business and Tourism Development Authority, said: “The Middle East is not yet a hub for cruise ships, so one of our goals is to attract more international cruise ships to the region. ” he said.
Cruise tourism will play a major role in Dubai’s economic policy as the UAE city aims to double its GDP by 2033, said DET’s Al-Mheiri.
“Invigorating our own regional market is very important to us and we hope to achieve that in the near future. We are also looking to the east of Asia to build more Asian cruise liners. “We are trying to attract more people,” Almheiri added.
