Abu Dhabi makes a choice port of call

ROYAL Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), one of the world’s biggest cruise operators, is to deploy a luxury vessel from its Celebrity Cruises fleet in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) capital on a homeport basis from November 2016.

Celebrity Constellation will be the premium brand’s first ship to make the Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal its home strengthening the emirate’s world cruise destination ambitions.

Celebrity Constellation, a 295-metre, 91,000-tonne vessel with a capacity for 2,170 guests in 975 staterooms on 13 decks, will sail nine-, 12- 14- and 15-night cruises covering five ports-of-call between November 2016 and the end of January 2017. During the three-month season, Celebrity will attract about 15,000 guests to Abu Dhabi on six luxury cruises of the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

The modern luxury cruise vacations, also calling at Dubai, Muscat in Oman and the west coast of India, are expected to appeal to visitors primarily from the US, UK, Germany as well as guests from Scandinavia, Southern Africa, China and the Far East. With ‘Spices & the City of Gold’ and ‘Arabian Coast Immersion’ regional itineraries departing Abu Dhabi from November 28, 2016, Celebrity Constellation will sail around the Arabian Gulf peninsula to Muscat, before heading east to the west coast of India. It will then sail to Dubai, before returning to Abu Dhabi.

The move follows extensive negotiations between Celebrity Cruises, Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) and Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi).

The Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal’s building concept – the result of an international design competition with ongoing input from a range of industry stakeholders - is due to be completed ahead of the start of Celebrity Constellation’s homeport stay.

The dedicated cruise terminal - able to accommodate up to three mega cruise ships simultaneously - increases the port’s capacity and is tailored for home-porting, a significant factor for the decision to select Abu Dhabi, explains Helen Beck, regional director, international representatives, EMEA, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

TCA Abu Dhabi and Celebrity Cruises will jointly mount a two-year-long promotional and publicity campaign in more than 10 target markets to promote Celebrity Constellation’s maiden season in the Gulf.

Further initiatives that are expected to boost the emirate’s cruise appeal include the development of the region’s first beach stopover in the western region, and continued joint promotional efforts under a Cruise Arabia alliance with partners in Dubai and Oman.

Celebrity Cruises is the premium brand within the RCL stable offering upscale cruise vacations visiting the world’s seven continents, and has been voted Best Premium Cruise Line six years in a row by Travel Weekly’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Guests can expect magnificent show lounges, a variety of award-winning restaurants, and the new Canyon Ranch SpaClub spa.

Celebrity Constellation also hosts extensive family amenities, with some of the most expansive children’s facilities in the Celebrity fleet, including X-Club for teens - with the newest gaming consoles and sports activities – and Fun Factory activities for children including games, sports, crafts, music, karaoke, treasure hunts, theme parties, movies and much more.

IMPRESSIVE FIGURES

Abu Dhabi’s 156 hotels and hotel apartments are nudging closer to the emirate’s 3.1 million guest target for this year with figures released by TCA Abu Dhabi, showing 2,838,842 guests checked into the destination in the first 10 months of this year – a 25 per cent uplift on the same period last year. Guest nights from January to October end were up 20 per cent on last year totalling 8.5 million with occupancy climbing 6 per cent to 74 per cent.

The emirate’s hotel revenue increased by 14 per cent to $1,325 billion, in the first 10 months. Room revenues accounted for $677 million, which was up 14 per cent while food and beverage rose 11 per cent to $502 million.

“October performance helped significantly with this growth,” said Jasim Al Darmaki, acting director general, TCA Abu Dhabi. “During the month guest arrivals were up 18 per cent year-on-year, guest nights rose 13 per cent while revenues lifted 4 per cent, which should all be viewed against a background of 9 per cent more room availability in the market.

Al Darmaki says two prevailing issues are at the forefront of TCA Abu Dhabi’s promotion efforts – increasing length-of-stay and building average room rate.

“The two are interconnected on a supply and demand basis. Length-of-stay is a key indicator of the destination’s appeal and currently we have slipped this year by 4 per cent on last while our average room rate has dipped 3 per cent. Our focus has to be to get the message out to as wide an audience as possible that there is more to do in this emirate than ever.”

Abu Dhabi’s current average-length-of-stay is 2.99 nights while the average room rate in October was $113.

Al Darmaki said the 2014 hotel performance is also set to benefit from increasing air links.

“NIKI Airlines has just launched a daily direct service from Vienna to Abu Dhabi opening up the Austrian market to us while Etihad Airways is now flying non-stop daily from San Francisco and will begin thrice-weekly flights from Dallas, Texas in December greatly enhancing our potential from the US.

“On top of this, we have new product in the market – in the shape of Yas Mall, the emirate’s biggest shopping complex which further lifts the Yas Island proposition. Retail is a major attraction for tourists, particularly those coming from within the GCC region and with certain overseas markets who appreciate the fact that they can shop tax free here.”

Domestic tourism continues to perform well with a 22 per cent uplift in the first 10 months of this year. India remains the destination’s top overseas market with a 33 per cent increase in guest arrivals followed by the UK, which delivered a 22 per cent arrivals increase and Germany, from where guest arrivals climbed 11 per cent.

“Saudi Arabia is now the emirate’s fourth largest international market, and its best regional performer. The number of Saudi Arabians checking into Abu Dhabi accommodation is gone up 33 per cent in the past 10 months to 99,330.”