By
Rebecca Gibson |
Zayed Port, operated by Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC), is to welcome 93 cruise ships and 220,000 passengers in the 2014-2015 season, which was opened on 25 October by Holland America Line’s Rotterdam.
Rotterdam’s arrival marked the start of the port’s busiest season to date, which will include 24% more calls and 16% more passengers than last year.
While in port, Rotterdam hosted 40 travel professionals as part of the first ever dedicated travel trade tour to be held during a cruise ship call in Abu Dhabi. The group, which included travel agents, tour managers, leisure managers and tour consultants from Abu Dhabi, visited the cruise terminal and were given an extensive tour of the ship. This will enable them to advise their customers and prospective cruise passengers from the region.
“Zayed Port is a world-class cruise line destination which increases and supports tourism in the emirates,” said Gary Lemke, executive vice president of ADPC. “This year we have more exciting cruise developments than ever before – work is underway on the development of the new cruise terminal and the Cruise Arabia initiative, which brings together Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman to promote the Gulf region as an exciting destination is attracting serious attention from the industry and prospective cruise visitors.”
Several initiatives have been established to help Abu Dhabi grow as a regional cruise destination over the next few years. Earlier this year, ADPC and Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) unveiled a concept design for Abu Dhabi’s permanent cruise passenger terminal, which is scheduled to open in 2016. Meanwhile, a new multi-entry visa introduced earlier this year costing US$55, is expected to make tourist travel between the UAE and neighbouring countries significantly easier, removing a significant barrier for the industry’s development. As a result, the port expects to handle more than 300,000 passengers and 130 ship visits per year by 2019-2020.
“The start of a new cruise season is always a highly anticipated event, especially for what is set to be our busiest to date, and one marked by the return of a luxury vessel from one of the world’s most respected cruise lines,” said Sultan Al Dhaheri, acting executive director of tourism at the TCA Abu Dhabi. “Our priority is to convince the local travel industry and hospitality providers of the merits of this expanding sector, and having recently completed a successful multi-city regional travel trade roadshow with our Cruise Arabia partners, welcome this interest from our local travel industry partners.”