Tourism Breaking News
The luxury cruise ship Crystal Symphony arrived in Doha over the weekend, marking the opening of the Qatar Tourism Cruise Season 2023/2024. The new cruise season runs until April 2024 when 81 cruise ship visits and around 350,000 passengers, making it Qatar’s largest cruise season ever.
Doha is set to be a departure and return point for many international cruise ships such as the Norwegian ship Dawn, which has a capacity of 2,340 passengers, and the Luganville, which has a capacity of 264 passengers during this season. In addition, several other vessels will continue to offer partial transformation voyages from Doha, including the Min Schiff 2, MSC Vertiosa and the Italian cruise ship Costa Tuscany.
H.E. Saad bin Ali Al Kharji, President of Qatar Tourism, said: “Cruise tourism is a vital pillar through which Qatar seeks to achieve its national tourism strategy to become one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. Qatar’s cruise sector has witnessed remarkable growth in less than a decade, thanks to Qatar Tourism’s participation in international travel and tourism exhibitions, partnerships and agreements, the weight of staff skills, and close collaboration with key partners in Qatar’s public and private sectors. We look forward to the return of the cruise season and welcoming visitors from all over the world who will have the opportunity to experience the authentic hospitality and diverse tourism offerings that Qatar has to offer.”
H.E. Captain Abdulla Mohammed Al Khanji, Chief Executive Officer of Mwani Qatar, said: “With the start of the new season, our focus continues to be on providing the best possible passenger experience by improving cruise ship reception facilities and enhancing world-class services in the State of Qatar in line with the Ministry of Transport’s strategic plan to make Qatar a preferred destination for cruise passengers in the region. We have collaborated with stakeholders to establish a leading infrastructure in the cruise ship sector to provide high quality services in line with The highest international standards and contribute to providing the necessary infrastructure to deal with the large flow of cruise ship passengers.
He added that the new cruise ship terminal at Old Doha Port and its international standards contribute to a key role in promoting global marine tourism, as well as consolidating Qatar’s position and maximizing the growth of the tourism sector, which is one of the pillars of economic diversification that Qatar National Vision 2030 seeks to achieve, pointing out that the cruise ship terminal is expected to receive 81 trips operated by 11 marine lines during the new season, which confirms Qatar’s position on the global cruise tourism map.
Qatar has witnessed a steady increase in the number of cruise ships docked at its port and in the number of cruise visitors over the years, as Qatar achieved growth during the cruise season 2022/2023 with an increase of 151% in the number of visitors compared to the same period of the previous season, receiving 54 visits by cruise ships and 253,191 cruise visitors.
Tourists and cruise passengers arriving in Qatar via Doha Port are welcomed in a new and massive terminal with state-of-the-art facilities. The new passenger terminal at Doha Port will accommodate up to 12,000 passengers per day, making commutes smoother.
Exiting the terminal, passengers will find themselves close to the port area where they canenjoy a variety of restaurants and shops as well as stroll by the sea and take in breathtaking panoramic views of Doha’s magnificent skyline.
