The next step for cruise in Qatar

Qatar’s next mission as a cruise destination is to establish itself as a homeport rather than a port of call, Qatar Tourism Vice President International Markets Phil Dickinson has told CW.

The country took about 200,000 cruise passengers in 2019, and was visited on Middle Eastern itineraries by lines such as Costa Cruises, TUI Cruises, MSC Cruises, and AIDA Cruises.

However, the country is now hoping ships will call Doha home, where Qatar will be able to benefit from pre- and post-cruise spending, as the country aims at large to showcase itself as a destination in its own right rather than just an airplane stopover.

“The feedback that we got was (the guests) loved it, because, we put on a show, it was easy for people to get around, and the problem is we’re only getting it for eight hours, so it wasn’t ideal,” Dickinson said of Qatar’s current cruise situation.

“So rather than just talking to cruise lines about shorex, we’re asking ‘hey, can we get into your itineraries in 22-23”.

“It doesn’t matter what size of ship, and we were talking to some of the smaller, upscale expedition cruises because why not have a cruise around Qatar,” he suggested.

Dickinson said the key to helping develop Qatar as an A-list cruise destination would be to get the “massively important” pillar of trade sales & marketing correct, among others.

“Let’s get the consumer aware and engaged, PR is important, social media is important, we’ve got a lot of new incumbents, and we’ve appointed new rep offices around the world... we work closely with DMCs” he explained.

Part of attracting the more lucrative homeport market will be Doha’s new cruise terminal (CW 19 Dec 2013), which will be in the heart of West Bay, nearby to the city’s downtown, as well as shopping malls and hotels.

Featuring an aquarium, an observation deck, and more, Doha Grand Cruise Terminal will aim to be a tourist attraction unto itself, with Dickinson pointing out the desired effect was for it to have a similar impact on cruise tourism in the country to the effect Hamad International Airport has had on Qatar’s tourism industry as a whole.

Soft opening in May, the Grand Terminal’s first mission will be to host a number of ships to accommodate travellers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, for which MSC has signed an agreement with the Government of Qatar (CW 20 Nov 2019).