As Brilliance of the Seas moves to Dubai, cruise terminals in Dubai and the other ports of call must be improved
ROYAL Caribbean International will solidify its Middle East operations with the deployment of its Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship to the Middle East in January 2010.
This is expected to add over 32,000 guests in her first four month season to the region’s burgeoning cruise sector – which is currently worth $100 million, according to Cruise Market Watch. Adam M Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International said, “The Middle East is a relatively new market for the cruise sector and Dubai has just emerged as a home port. This is an important development for the region.”
He said that the home ports play an important role in growing the local regional cruise market. “It is nice to attract people to travel long distances for their cruising and visit new countries, but to grow volume it’s more or less essential that there is a local presence,” said Goldstein.
With the Brilliance of the Seas move to Dubai, Goldstein stressed the importance of improving the cruising terminals both in Dubai and the other ports of call.
“Dubai is a young market and therefore has the potential to have multiple ships on any given day, so cruise infrastructure development will continue to be an issue here and the other ports of call. Over time, it will become important to further develop the itineraries to give customers more choices.”
He said that as different countries and cities became more involved in the cruise business RCI would be looking for pier infrastructure and excursion capabilities suitable for one day calls. Even in the ports of call, visa requirements were important issue to consider.
“The more governments learn about the economic benefits of having the cruise product in their city, the more they understand about how to facilitate the cruise process. These governmental and inter-governmental issues happen all over the world,” he said.
Amid the global economic crisis, Goldstein is upbeat about the state of the cruise industry in the region. “Although the cruise industry is not recession proof, it is better placed than many other travel sectors to weather the economic storm. We expect to see a similar growth in 2009 in comparison to 2008.”
“In this environment, we need to stress the value that you get when you purchase a cruise. How much entertainment, how many dining opportunities, the service you receive, the staterooms, the number of destinations you can visit etc. We feel that in a recessionary environment that value should compete very well with the other choices travellers have out there.”
Goldstein, who made his inaugural visit to the UAE for the Arabian Travel Market 2009, presented awards to nine senior Middle East travel industry partners. Receiving awards in the 2008 Best Sales Performance category were: Al Kaatib Travel Agency, Bahrain; Travco Travel, Egypt; Hashweh Corporation, Jordan; Discovery Travel & Tourism, Kuwait; Kurban Travel, Lebanon; Bahwan Travel Agencies, Oman; Qatar Tours, Qatar; Al Faisaliah Travel, KSA; Al Rais Travel, UAE.
In addition, Transworld Travel received the 2008 Best Regional Sales Performance award, while Safwan Mahmoud was honoured in the 2008 Achievement Award category.
The Brilliance of the Seas, a 2,501 capacity vessel offering seven-night cruises will run from January to April 2010. The programme incorporates Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Oman and Bahrain.
“I am very interested to see what happens with local market participation, once Brilliance of the Seas is deployed here. We want local market participation and this is a late booking market, so we won’t know until end of this year as to what type of response we will have,” said Goldstein.
According to the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing, operator of the Dubai Cruise Terminal where Brilliance of the Seas will be based, the emirate witnessed a 65 per cent increase in traffic for 2008 over the previous year, and is forecasting a 58 per cent increase for 2009 - representing more than 316,000 passengers. Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture and Information has also outlined that it is looking at avenues to bolster its fledgling cruise industry, which currently attracts 120,000 passengers a year. According to the body, it hopes to double that figure in the next two years.
Over 50 per cent of the 1,055 staterooms on Brilliance of the Seas have balconies and offer guests vistas of the passing landscape and sea. The ship features indoor and outdoor pools, a seaside fitness centre with modern exercise equipment and a spa, an indoor and outdoor sports deck with golf simulator, sports courts, a rock climbing wall and a jogging track.
And for those wanting something less energetic, the ship has a wide range of dining options, shopping arcades and a theatre. Brilliance of the Seas also offers numerous conference and meeting facilities for business travellers.
By Shalu Chandran