Within only a couple of years, Dubai has established itself as the leading cruise destination between Europe and Asia . To further strengthen this position and to present Dubai as the destination of choice, the DTCM Executive Director Convention and Heritage, Mr Awadh Al Ketbi, and Mr Jamal Saif Humaid, Manager, Cruise Terminal led a delegation to the Cruise Fair Seatrade Europe in Hamburg .

The Seatrade Europe ran from September 25 to 27. This major event for the European Cruise Industry held every alternate year saw more than 3,250 visitors from 62 countries and more than 270 exhibitors from 50 countries participating in the exhibition.

The 48 sq mts Dubai stand had six participants from the emirate including Gulf Circle Tours, SNTTA Emir Tours, Rais Hasan Saadi, Alpha Tours, Gulf Agency Company and Orient Tours

“The German market has an enormous relevance for Dubai . In 2008, many well-known German cruise operators will use Dubai including Aida Cruises, Hapag Lloyd, Peter Deilmann with ships like “AIDA Cara”, “MS Europa” and “MS Deutschland” and many more,” said Mr Awadh Al Ketbi. Also, further meetings with cruise operators like P&O Cruises and Silversea Cruises to have Dubai for the season 2009/2010 season as well as Royal Caribbean’s Sea Cloud cruises deployment in the season 2010 and 2011 were held on the sidelines of the exhibition.

Recently, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) signed a substantial agreement with Cruise operator “Costa Crociere”. The agreement marks the creation of a full-fledged partnership between Costa Crociere and Dubai , providing for joint marketing initiatives in the next five years promoting both brands worldwide. Furthermore the DTCM is studying the construction of a new cruise terminal to handle an expected surge in the number of tourists coming by ship.

The emirate beat its target for cruise tourists during the last season, running from October to May, when it received about 85,000 passengers, 20,000 more than expected. During the upcoming winter season 2007/08 Dubai expects about 200,000 passengers.