The 2016-17 season of Dubai Cruise Tourism (DCT) officially concluded with the departure of the season’s final ship, the C.S. Sea Princess, from Port Rashid recently. This season of Dubai Cruise Tourism saw over 625,000 cruise tourists visit the city via 157 ship calls, reflecting an increase of 15 per cent in the number of tourists and 18 per cent in the number of ship calls when compared to the 2015-16 season. The season also saw Thomson Cruises, the first UK-based cruise line home porting in the region, in addition to inaugural visits from TUI’s Mein Schiff 1 Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star and MSC’s MSC Fantasia among the eight other maiden ship calls. Commenting on the success of the 2016-17 season, Jamal Humaid Al Falasi, Director of Dubai Cruise Tourism said, “We are very pleased with the success of our 2016-17 cruising season and with the city’s sustained popularity as a winter cruise destination. We are grateful to DP World, Dubai Airports, Dubai Immigration, Dubai Customs, Emirates Airlines and our other key public and private sector stakeholders for their continued cooperation which has led to an ever-increasing number of cruise operators looking to anchor in the emirate.”
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