Service ahoy! Dubai to receive 157 cruise ships this tourism season

Dubai - Strategic plan to attract a million cruise tourists by 2020 on track

The emirate of Dubai, turning into a major hub for cruise tourism, is to receive 157 cruise ships during the current 2016-17 season, which started last October and will continue until next April.
This means a 16 per cent increase compared to last season which received 134 cruise ships, according to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive officer of DP World.
"It is expected that Rashid Port will receive 650,000 cruise tourists which means a 30 per cent increase over the same period of last year," he said.
The strategic plan to attract a million cruise tourists by 2020 is on track following a clear road map, he added.
"His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is closely following up on this to make sure Dubai and the UAE become a regional and international hub for cruise tourism."
Thanks to Shaikh Mohammed's vision, Dubai goes the extra mile to be a top tourist destination, he pointed out. "Next year, work will start to connect cruise Terminals 2 and 3 with a 465-metre bridge and the number of quays will be increased," he added.
The current quays will be expanded and an additional terminal will be built for more capacity to accommodate the increasing number of cruise ships, Bin Sulayem stated. Mohammed Al Mannaei, director of Mina (port) Rashid, said the UAE has all potentials to be the top cruise destination, and this is our target in the next few years.
"The port can receive seven cruise ships simultaneously on a 1,900-metre quay and capacity of 18,000 tourists through terminals 2 and 3. Cruise Terminal 3 is the biggest of its type worldwide with a capacity of 14,000 passengers and 125,000 sqm of area."
- ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Infrastructure