Cruise tourism slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels – The Peninsula

Cruise tourism slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels – The Peninsula

Doha: With the new cruise season having a solid start, Qatar Tourism (QT) said the cruise industry is gradually returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The cruise industry has significantly increased Qatar’s tourism sector since its comeback in 2021/2022.

Qatar Tourism Head of Tourism Product Support, Maryam Saoud, told The Peninsula that the cruise tourism is slowly bouncing back after the pandemic. “We’re slowly getting there. There is still guidance to follow, and we need to make sure that procedures are there.

“The cruise season stopped because of COVID-19, but we’ve been working along with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), and our strategic stakeholders to make sure that both passengers on board and the local community are safe — we overcame that challenge, and now we have cruise protocol that was announced and approved by MoPH, and it’s being implemented since then.”

Moreover, she explained that this cruise season is “off to a solid start with the latest expansion in our portfolio of cruise liners a testimony to our growth and diversification.”

Since December, Saoud revealed that they have welcomed 8,000 visitors, mostly from Italy and Russia. In December last year, Doha Port received two cruise ships – Le Bougainville and MSC World Europa.

For the first