Abu Dhabi cruise sector embarks upon a regional trade road show
Aim to highlight the diverse cruise tourism options
Abu Dhabi’s cruise tourism sector, led by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi continued its series of international promotions and conventions ahead of the start of the 2017/18 cruise season with a four-city regional travel trade road show in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Showcasing the Emirate’s distinct cruise offering, the road show is being staged to drive growth in GCC bookings for Arabian Gulf cruises and will see the Department of Culture and Tourism attend the annual GCC travel industry road show which run from 8 - 12 October, calling at Jeddah, Riyadh and the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, together with a visit to Kuwait.
“By embarking upon this regional road show, we aim to highlight the diverse cruise tourism options available to our neighbors in the Arabian Gulf. The three cruise lines originating from Abu Dhabi provide world class tourism facilities and access to the vast array of leisure opportunities and immersive experiences at every stop,” said Sultan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi during the press conference held on Thursday at the J W Marriot Hotel.
The regional trade mission is one of a number of international promotions planned for the coming months with road show in Russia and India also on the calendar before the end of the year to help drive the sector’s growth. “The 2016/2017 cruise season was record breaking for the industry in Abu Dhabi and by engaging directly with our trade contacts throughout the region and internationally, we expect that the season ahead will see increased numbers of passengers embarking upon cruises from Abu Dhabi’s state of the art cruise terminal,” added Al Dhaheri.
With the cruise sector identified as an emerging niche, a cruise development committee established by Abu Dhabi’s General Secretariat of the Executive Council under the chairmanship of HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Department of Culture & Tourism - Abu Dhabi, has implemented a cruise charter to steer the future course of the cruise tourism industry. Abu Dhabi’s growth ambitions have been accelerated by the partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism, Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Ports. The demand on cruises increases. “The number of visitors of the cruise was around 30 thousand in 2006/2007, and we aim to increase the number up to 500 thousand by 2020. Our road show aim to increase the demand on cruising in the region, and we also hope to have more stations in the Gulf, which will attract more international touristic ships to cruise in the region. This industry is growing internationally by 2.3 percent,” stressed Al Dhaheri.
Different cruises are available. “We offer short and longer cruises. The short is only three night long and just cruises in the Arabian Gulf and Oman Gulf, while the other cruises for 9-12 days with three stops in India and one stop in Singapore. We operate during the winter season from November to March. Also last year the Sir Bani Yas Island was launched, and cruising to this island is a unique experience, as the ship stops far from the island and the visitors are transported to the island with small boats,” he concluded. For the coming cruise season, Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal is forecast to welcome 129 ship calls from 18 different cruise lines, making the emirate a firm fixture on the world cruise map and continuing to base their regional Arabian Gulf operations at the terminal.