Watch: How Dubai cruise is welcoming over 300,000 visitors during holiday season

Watch: How Dubai cruise is welcoming over 300,000 visitors during holiday season

The region’s largest dedicated terminal has around 120 staff members on ground for tourist arrivals

KT photo by Neeraj Murali

Published: Fri 23 Dec 2022, 6:00 AM

Young mother Dina had come from Germany to Dubai with her 10-month-old baby boy to go on the cruise ship, AIDAcosma, that is docked in the city. Dina was accompanied by her mother and sister - the family was on a ‘girls trip’. “Every year we do a trip just the three of us but this is the first time we are holidaying with a baby,” she said. “Tomorrow, my sister and I will go for a desert safari while my mother babysits.”

Dina and her family are part of the hundreds of thousands of people who are coming to the city to go on a cruise. With 46 ship calls, the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal (DHCT) is at the forefront of scripting a spectacular comeback of cruise tourism in the region as well as globally.

This year, the terminal, located at the intersection of Palm Jumeirah and Bluewaters, is expecting to serve over 300,000 visitors, a four-fold increase from last year’s 70,000 tourists.

KT photo by Neeraj Murali

“For a city like Dubai, the cruise industry plays a crucial