The Oceana cruise liner, has 10 passenger decks, 975 cabins, 850 crew and a capacity of 1,950 passengers. Valery Hache / AFP
The Oceana cruise liner, has 10 passenger decks, 975 cabins, 850 crew and a capacity of 1,950 passengers. Valery Hache / AFP
The Oceana cruise liner, has 10 passenger decks, 975 cabins, 850 crew and a capacity of 1,950 passengers. Valery Hache / AFP
The Oceana cruise liner, has 10 passenger decks, 975 cabins, 850 crew and a capacity of 1,950 passengers. Valery Hache / AFP

P&O Cruises eager to tap into Dubai’s tourism potential


Andrew Scott
  • English
  • Arabic

P&O Cruises will have home port status in Dubai from 2019.

The Oceana cruise liner, with 10 passenger decks, 975 cabins, 850 crew and a passenger capacity of 1,950, will be based in Port Rashid offering five Arabian Gulf cruises of up to 10-night itineraries with overnight stays in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

On Tuesday evening, P&O cruises tweeted: "Follow the sunshine to our brand new destination, the Arabian Gulf, aboard Oceana!"

It was accompanied by a video that featured Dubai’s tourist ­attractions.

"You look at the number of British guests going to Dubai," Paul Ludlow, the senior vice president of P&O Cruises told TTG.

“Over a million a year – and you think about the incredible potential for cruise. It’s a really dynamic and aspirational part of the world to want to go to and therefore I think there will be a lot of people who will want to do it on a cruise that haven’t considered a cruise before.”

The P&O move comes after the emirate’s most recent investment into maritime tourism, the Dubai Harbour, which is targeting the four biggest cruise operators in the world to use its facilities.

Dubai Harbour will be delivered in four years once ground has been broken. Among other attractions it will feature a 150,000 square foot cruise liner terminal capable of handling 6,000 passengers and a 135 metre-high tower and Dubai Lighthouse, that will house a luxury hotel and an observation deck.

Worldwide the cruise industry is expected to show an annual passenger compound growth rate of 6.5 per cent from 1990 to 2019. But that is dwarfed by Dubai’s expectations. Dubai expects a 20 per cent increase in cruise passengers this season as new ships call on the city.

Dubai Cruise Tourism (DCT) expects 157 ship calls during the 2016-2017 season, spanning October to July. This season, DCT expects 600,000 cruise tourists compared with more than 500,000 a year ago.

Dubai will have more than 23 cruise operators, including six that will use the emirate as a base. This number goes up with the addition of one of the world’s largest operators, Norwegian Cruise Line, as well as the UK-based Thomson Cruises.

Numbers at the Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal, which opened in 2015, have jumped in similar fashion to Dubai.

At the close of the 2015-2016 season, passenger numbers increased by 16 per cent and there were 20 per cent more vessel calls, said Abu Dhabi Ports. In that cruise season there were 231,660 tourists compared with 35,366 passengers who arrived at Zayed Port 10 years ago during the 2006-2007 season.

Sir Bani Yas Island is expected to receive 39 cruise ships during the 2016-2017 season.

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The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court

Starting at 10am:

Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)

Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog

Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan

Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)

Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)

Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)

Court 1

Starting at 10am:

Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska

Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh

Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet

Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)

Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage

Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse

Court 2

Starting at 10am:

Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang

Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka

Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic

Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri

Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova

Court 3

Starting at 10am:

Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang

Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar

Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova

Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come

Roll of Honour

Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?

 

Western Clubs Champions League

Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Runners up: Bahrain

 

Dubai Rugby Sevens

Winners: Dubai Exiles

Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons

 

West Asia Premiership

Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons

Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins

 

UAE Premiership Cup

Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Runners up: Dubai Exiles

 

Fixtures

Friday

West Asia Cup final

5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles

 

West Asia Trophy final

3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles

 

Friday, April 13

UAE Premiership final

5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

HAJJAN
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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

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Price: From Dh117,059

 

 

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Company%20profile%20
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Super Saturday results

4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
Winner: Drafted, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).

4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
Winner: Divine Image, Brett Doyle, Charlie Appleby.

5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
Winner: Blue Point, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Muntazah, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.

6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
Winner: Old Persian, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
Winner: Capezzano, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.

7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
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Innotech Profile

Date started: 2013

Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari

Based: Muscat, Oman

Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing 

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.