A DDP PUBLICATION
Pages: 16
ddppl.com
travtalkmiddleeast.com
Vol. IX No. 2; February 2013
Early re-bookings for GIBTM ..............................................................................03 Airline ancillary revenue soars in ME ..................................................................08 5 ways to boost your business..............................................................................12
Cruise tourism in ME eyes major slice Cruise tourism in the Middle East has been growing at a remarkable pace. Countries in the region are increasingly investing in its facilities and services. The UAE is a major part of this market as Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai all attract big players of the industry. Costa Cruises was the first major cruise-liner to introduce Gulf itineraries. S U S M I TA G H O S H
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he cruising world is in constant evolution and so is the cruiser. The offer is more and more sophisticated and the guests tend to look for more activities and variety on board. “Costa was the first cruise line to launch regular cruising out of Dubai six seasons before and we are still the cruise line with the highest capacity committed to the region during winter 2012/2013. Dubai and the emirates are a firm point in our winter deployment and we are planning to invest more in the region in terms of communication to develop local source market and increase seasonality,” informed Dario Rustico, Director - Sales & Marketing, Central Europe, Africa, Middle East and India, Costa Cruises. Cruise tourism in the UAE has performed well in 2012. For Royal Caribbean International, it has been another successful year with good growth in guest volume. “We look forward to another successful year in 2013, with our world’s largest ships sailing in the Caribbean,
attractive itinerary options onboard Freedom and Voyager class ships in Europe and one of the Voyager class ships Mariner of the Seas joining Asia. The recently revitalised Serenade of the Seas is sailing in the Gulf from late January to mid-April,” explained Lakshmi Durai, Executive Director – Middle East Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises & Azamara Club Cruises – Middle East. “The travel trade has been very supportive in generating good business. In 2013, we will continue to enhance our good working relationship with our trusted travel trade partners around the region,” she added. The hospitality industry has of course, gained advantage with the rapid growth of cruise tourism in UAE. “Occupancy levels are estimated to increase and we will expect groups for longer durations. UAE has also granted a multiple entry visa for cruise tourists which will directly benefit hotels around the region. 2013 looks promising in terms of occupancy levels,” commented Wael El Behi, General Manager, Ramada Downtown Dubai.
in 2011, the travel trade has gained a higher momentum in 2012 reaching 26 per cent of total business mix towards the year, he added.
Lakshmi Durai Executive Director – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises & Azamara Club Cruises – Middle East
In 2013, we will continue to enhance our good working relationship with our trusted travel trade partners
“The cruise tourism sector is predicted to generate healthy revenue for the country as the estimate is 837 million in 2015 against
Wael El Behi
Dario Rustico
General Manager Ramada Downtown Dubai
Director - Sales & Marketing, Costa Cruises, Central Europe, Africa Middle East and India
UAE has also granted a multiple entry visa for cruise tourists which will directly benefit hotels around the region 338 million in 2010. We hope to capitalise on this new segment to gain more groups and individuals from the same,” he further added.
We are planning to invest more in the region for communication to develop local source markets and increase seasonality Travel trade and the leisure segment has always been an important element in the overall hotel occupancy. With a contribution of 23 per cent
Moussa El Hayek, COO, Al Bustan Centre & Residence, is of the opinion that cruise tourism will improve and that Dubai will gain strong position for this type of business. “It has been noticed during the last few years that cruise tourism has flourished in the UAE and all over the world. In fact, Dubai became an attractive destination, hence expected to benefit from this kind of tourism, having an advanced infrastructure in terms of hotels, shopping malls and road network which helped to attract cruise tourism,” he asserted. Likewise, this type of business has already helped to increase the occupancy, especially during the lean period. 2012 set a record in terms of traffic from travel trade. Hayek commented, “This segment boosted our occupancy, especially during the last quarter, wherein every month was a new Contd. on page 9