Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) expects to receive nearly 25 per cent more cruise ships and 16 per cent additional passengers to visit the capital this season compared with last year, following the issuance of multiple entry visas to the UAE.
This year ADPC expects 93 ships to call at Zayed Port, up from 75 last season and about 220,000 passengers from 189,709 last year.
For Dubai, cruise tourist numbers reached at least 300,000 in the previous season.
This year, the UAE introduced a new multiple-entry visa costing $55 (Dh200). The visa is expected to make travel between the UAE and neighbouring countries easier “removing a significant barrier for the industry’s development”, said the statement.
Tourists can now enter the UAE through any of its airports, continue on a cruise out of its ports, and come back to the Emirates on the same visa.
ADPC expects a steady increase in cruise tourists over the next few years. It expects 130 ships and 300,000 passengers to call on Abu Dhabi in the 2019-2020 season.
Separately, Abu Dhabi received the first cruise ship for this season on Saturday. MS Rotterdam's current cruise journey started in Rotterdam and will continue from Abu Dhabi onwards to Cape Town, South Africa.
Cruise tourism features prominently in the capital’s plans. As part of this, a cruise passenger terminal is set to open in 2016, which will be able to handle three vessels simultaneously and cope with up to 2,500 passengers.
“Work is under way on the development of the new cruise terminal and the Cruise Arabia initiative which brings together Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman to promote the Gulf region as an exciting destination. It is attracting serious attention from the industry and prospective cruise visitors,” said Gary Lemke, a senior ADPC executive.
ADPC and Abu Dhabi’s Tourism and Culture Authority revealed the concept design of the terminal in Barcelona during the Seatrade Med, one of Europe’s significant cruise events.
Other ports in the region, including Dubai, Qatar, Oman and Ras Al Khaimah, are also expanding capacity in anticipation of attracting more cruise passengers.
Dubai’s Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal is expected to handle seven cruise vessels simultaneously, up from five and process 14,000 passengers a day after the expansion.
Doha Port expects to cater to cruise tourists exclusively from 2016 after commercial port operations move to a $7.4 billion facility outside the city.
In Oman, commercial shipping in Sultan Qaboos Port is expected to stop this year to cater to cruise ships. There are also plans to revamp Salalah and Musandam’s Khasab ports for cruise tourists.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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