THE third edition of the Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum will take place in Muscat this year with a programme committed to promoting the region as a cruise destination. After Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the two-day event moves to Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the capital of Oman from December 9 to 10 this year. The forum aims to put delegates in touch with cruise line executives and GCC counterparts, while allowing access to significant discussions around key regional issues.
The forum, organised by Seatrade with the support of Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, will feature a summit session attended by cruise line executives, regional ministers, tourism leaders, port and immigration officials, and a conference for the travel trade, ship agents, airlines, tourism boards, ports and destination management companies.Representatives of the world’s leading cruise lines will take part in the workshop, where regional destinations have a chance to present their product one-on-one to cruise line decision-makers. The objective of the event is to explore the future of cruising in the Middle East. Both the summit and the conference will discuss regional cruising itineraries and challenges faced by the industry as well as the fantastic opportunities also presented by the regional destinations.Some of the speakers at the event are Helen Beck, regional director at Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises; Mike Deegan, fleet director at Noble Caledonia; Darius Mehta, vice-president, air and land programmes at Silver Sea Cruises; Dario Rustico, director of sales and marketing for Central Europe, Africa, Middle East and India with Costa Cruises; and so on.