Infrastructure development is underway to add more capacity to DP World’s Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal as the emirate looks to cement its reputation as a global cruise tourism hub.
The terminal, which is spread across two million sq m, is currently equipped to handle seven mega cruise vessels or 25,000 passengers simultaneously.
The Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, operated by DP World, welcomed 625,000 holidaymakers in 2016-2017 cruise tourism season, doubling the 320,000 cruise visitors that arrived in Dubai in the 2013-2014 season, state news agency WAM reported.
Key to this growth is the Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal (T3) at Mina Rashid that is set to be the largest terminal in the world capable of handling 18,000 passengers a day.
Since it was inaugurated back in 2014, there has been a 68 percent increase in cruise ship calls to Dubai from 93 in the 2013-2014 season to 156 in 2016-2017.
The number of cruise visitors is expected to touch 700,000 in the 2018-2019 season.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said: “With a goal to attract 20 million tourists a year by 2020, of which at least one million are expected to be cruise tourists, we are committed to providing facilities that are the best in the world and create a truly luxurious cruise experience catering to the tastes and sophistication of visitors.”
Dubai’s cruise tourism market has grown rapidly over the past four seasons as the city is becoming a destination of choice for cruise enthusiasts from Europe and the US, he added.
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