DP World continues to boost the capabilities of Dubai’s cruise tourism sector, setting the city as a premiere international cruise destination.
The Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, operated by DP World, welcomed 625,000 holiday makers in 2016-2017 cruise tourism season, that’s a double increase from the 320,000 cruise visitors that arrived to Dubai in 2013-2014 season.
Key to this growth is DP World’s state-of-the-art Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, T3, at Mina Rashid that is set to be the largest terminal in the world capable of handling 18,000 passengers a day. Since it was inaugurated back in 2014, there has been a 68 percent increase in cruise ship calls to Dubai from 93 in 2013-2014 season to 156 in 2016-2017. Around 1.9 million cruise tourists visited Dubai on board a total of 489 cruise calls during the 4 seasons from 2013 to 2017. The number of cruise visitors is expected to touch 700,000 in 2018-2019 season.
Infrastructure development is underway to add more capacity to DP World’s Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal which is spread across 2 million sqm and is currently equipped to handle 7 mega cruise vessels or 25,000 passengers simultaneously. It has been voted the Middle East, World’s Leading Cruise Port for the 10th consecutive year at the World Travel Awards.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World, Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said, "DP World is proud to support and contribute to Dubai’s vision to become the world’s leading cruise tourism hub. With a goal to attract 20 million tourists a year by 2020, of which at least one million are expected to be cruise tourists, we are committed to providing facilities that are the best in the world and create a truly luxurious cruise experience catering to the tastes and sophistication of visitors."
Dubai’s cruise tourism market has grown rapidly over the past four seasons as the city is becoming a choice destination for cruise enthusiasts from Europe and the US, he added. “Our plans for further boosting the sector will certainly help achieve more growth in the coming years.”
Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Al Mannaei, CEO of P&O Marinas, Executive Director of Mina Rashid, said, "We’re expanding our facilities to accommodate more ships by adding new berths while developing our existing two-kilometre long berths in line with the demand from cruise operators. We’re also working on connecting our existing terminals with closed corridors equipped with the best in technology to maximise capacity and provide ease of access for passengers across the port. We also work in synergy with our government partners to ensure delivery of high-standard services and facilities for these cruise passengers.
"Mina Rashid is the Middle East’s leading cruise port, playing a vital role as a hub for tourists looking to explore this region, and has the capacity to anchor seven ocean-sailing cruise vessels at a time. The port also added a luxury yacht marina facility in response to the high demand from luxury yacht owners from around the world, and offers world class mooring and storage space and other associated services."
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