Royal Caribbean International, the largest global cruise line, says it will make a comeback to the Arabian Gulf in the winter of 2015-16 as demand for cruise tourism grows.
Splendour of the Seas will operate weekly trips between December and March. The seven-night itinerary will start in Dubai and take in Muscat in Oman, Khasab in Musandam and Abu Dhabi.
Helen Beck, the regional director at Royal Caribbean, explained that her company’s vessel stopped coming to the region because of “commercial” reasons after a slow season in 2012.
“We evaluate the performance of each of our vessels, as they ply their trade around the world, and unfortunately in the winter of 2012 we didn’t have the best season that we could have had,” Ms Beck said.
“Our company made a long in-depth evaluation and concluded that we could make more money if we use the ship somewhere else,” she added.
However, Royal Caribbean decided to make a return, as the region is considered one of the top three destinations worldwide for winter cruises.
“This region here has a lot of commitment from the cruise industry because of the winter sun. The very equitable winter climate is very appealing,” said Ms Beck. “Our last season was a good season and that gave us the foundation of potentially returning.”
Royal Caribbean will be targeting tourists from “traditional markets” such as the UK, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Nordic region. It will also seek new opportunities in other markets such US, Brazil, China, India and Australia, according to Ms Beck
“We have offices in all of these markets and maybe it will be a good opportunity to increase the volumes of traffic coming from these markets,” she said.
Upon the return of the Royal Caribbean vessel, about 450,000 cruise tourists will be expected in the winter of 2015-16, up from 380,000 in the last winter season, said Hamad bin Mejren, the executive director of business tourism at Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
DTCM expects at least 1 million cruise tourists a year by 2020 – especially as it targets tapping into the Indian and Chinese markets.
Last year Abu Dhabi earmarked Mina Zayed in the capital as the dedicated terminal for cruise liners following the opening of Khalifa Port for container shipments.
One of the stumbling blocks for cruise passengers is attaining a visa. Mr bin Mejren said that the Government was “working to facilitate” regulations around the visa process for cruise ships, without stating if a change would be implemented.
Meanwhile, Oman expects a further boost to its tourism sector from the cruise industry.
Splendour of the Seas and another vessel from TUI cruises will add 15 to 20 per cent to the current 200,000 cruise tourists in his country, said Khalid Al Zadjali, the director of tourism events at Oman's tourism ministry. "Our region is one of the fastest growing regions from a tourism point of view," he added.
“When you do a combination of Oman and UAE, it’s a great diversification that gives more options.”
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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