Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a member of Dubai Holding, and Royal Caribbean International, the world's largest global cruise line, marked the completion of their first successful season together which delivered a joint product offering that brought thousands of guests to Dubai from around the globe, and delivered a boost to tourism in the UAE.
Royal Caribbean International's Brilliance of the Seas left the port of Dubai after a successful first season in the Middle East that included a rewarding partnership with Dubai Properties Group to offer shore excursions to the company's diverse portfolio of exciting destinations throughout the emirate. Excursions included visits to live attractions at DUBAILAND®, an integrated leisure, tourism and entertainment complex and The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, the popular beachfront retail promenade.
The seven-night Gulf sailings starting from the home port of Dubai included Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and have proved immensely popular with international and local tourists. More than 34,000 guests from 79 different countries have sailed on board Brilliance of the Seas since her maiden call in January this year which also marked Royal Caribbean International's official entry into the Middle East. Due to its success during the first season Brilliance of the Seas will return for a second season starting January 2011.
Both destinations enjoyed a substantial increase in footfall during the four-month-long cruise season. Several excursions were developed and marketed for DUBAILAND including packages to the Els Club at Dubai Sports City. In addition, DPG offered weekly shuttles for Brilliance of the Seas guests to The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, the region's popular beachfront promenade.
Mohammed Al Habbai, CEO, DUBAILAND®, said: "With Royal Caribbean International's Brilliance of the Seas sailing at full capacity throughout the season, our world class destinations have experienced a significant surge in cruise visitors. We are thrilled to be able to offer Royal Caribbean guests from around the globe the opportunity to experience the best of Dubai at both DUBAILAND and The Walk.
"The two popular DPG destinations offer a diverse mix of entertainment in addition to an extraordinary shopping and dining experience that has proven to be the perfect complement to the quality and service offered by Royal Caribbean International. We remain committed to our partnership and look forward to continued success in 2011."
Rama Rebbapragada, Regional Vice-President of Royal Caribbean International, said: "We are thrilled that our very first season together has proved to be a success. Today's customers are looking for value along with quality. The combination of our deluxe cruise product where our guests are able to visit a number of exotic destinations with exciting shore excursions from the Dubai Properties Group portfolio proved to be a winning combination not just in our established global source markets in Europe -such as the UK and Germany -, the US and Asia, but also clientele here in the UAE and GCC.
"The deployment of Brilliance of the Seas to the Gulf is an important catalyst in driving forward regional cruise tourism growth and we expect Brilliance of the Seas to establish herself with local and regional guests as the leading cruise option for years to come."
