Seetours, the German branch of P&O Princess Cruises, indicated plans to start cruise operations out of Dubai in the year 2003 following a meeting with officials from the emirate’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), stated a press release.
The cruise line business has grown rapidly in Dubai from only one cruise call in 1993 to 26 scheduled cruise calls in 2002. “Dubai is leading the way forward in developing cruise tourism to the region and has constructed a ship-shaped cruise terminal that is the only dedicated cruise facility in the Arabian Gulf,” said DTCM manager of heritage sites and events, Awadh Al-Seghayer.
Dubai’s cruise terminal has been created to attract more cruise lines to winter in the region, as well as to provide streamlined passenger facilities for the growing number of passenger ships using Dubai as a turnaround port.
Seetours offers its passengers 1,938 beds on its cruise ships. In 2000 Seetours carried approximately 80,000 guests and achieved a turnover of 260 million Emirati Dirhams ($70 million). This corresponds to a share of about 15 percent in the German cruise market. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
