Mein Schiff 2 makes maiden call in Dubai's fourth home porting cruise line

Dubai, Nov 4, 2012 (WAM) - The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Cruise Tourism department are all set to cater to their fourth home porting cruise line, TUI Cruises. The Germany based company made their debut in the region with the maiden call of their cruise ship Mein Schiff 2, which translates as 'My Ship', to Dubai on the 3 November, 2012, DTCM said in a press release. Dubai will be the home port of the ship this 2012/13 season. In this season, the TUI Cruises's luxury cruise ship will set sail from Dubai up to 17 March, 2013 on a total of twenty cruises throughout the Arabian Gulf. DTCM in collaboration with TUI Cruises has arranged for a grand welcome ceremony to commemorate the inaugural call of the ship at the Dubai Cruise Terminals in Mina Rashid. A huge heritage village has been set up featuring various activities to portray Arabian culture and tradition to the passengers and crew of the ship. A press conference was organised on board as a part of this event with Executive Director of Business Tourism of the DTCM Hamad M Bin Mejren, Senior VP and Managing Director of DP World Mohammed Muallem, CEO of TUI Cruises Richard Vogel and the Ship's Captain, Kjell Holm, delivering key note addresses and answering questions from the media. Thereafter, a traditional plaque exchange ceremony was held, where DTCM and the invited dignitaries and senior officials from various Government Departments such as GDRFA, Dubai Customs, Dubai Police, DMCA, Dubai Airports and DP World exchanged plaques with the captain of the ship. A tour of the ship followed by lunch was arranged for all attendees. Bin Mejren, commented, "The continual investment of the Government of Dubai in its infrastructure, confidence of the cruise lines in this destination in combination with the support and cooperation of all involved government departments, ship agents, DMC's and all other stake holders has resulted in Dubai emerging as a destination of choice for cruise tourism in the Middle East." "Dubai is an 'experienced' cruise ship metropolis. Its modern terminals and the strategically favourable location in the Arabian Gulf make it an ideal base port for us to discover this region, which is quite new for us. In particular we certainly appreciate the excellent cooperation with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)," said Richard J. Vogel, Chief Executive of TUI Cruises. The 264 meter long century-class cruise ship with the capacity to carry 1,900 passengers and about 800 crew was built in 1997 and was recently renovated with an investment of Eur50m adding more space and many modern amenities on board. The passenger throughput of the cruise liner's calls to Dubai is expected to exceed 70,000 passengers for this season. Dubai Cruise Terminals received over 390,000 passengers from 102 ship calls last season and the current season will bring 115 cruise ship calls and over a 410,000 passengers. The initiatives and continual efforts of DTCM has reaffirmed Dubai's position as the cruise hub of the region the Department have remarked that there are a combination of highly favourable factors that are driving Dubai's cruise tourism business towards robust growth. Besides the obvious attractions that Dubai has to offer for tourists from around the world in the form of excellent air connectivity, good infrastructure, a multimodal transport system, world-class hotels '&' restaurants, vast stretches of sandy beaches, sprawling shopping malls and an array of outdoor activities, Dubai offers simple immigration formalities, customised operation procedures in a safe environment. Dubai has been constantly enhancing its facilities and services in line with its business growth and accordingly the Dubai Cruise Terminals will have three dedicated facilities to cater to cruise lines and visitors this season. Spanning over 20,000 square meters and a pier length of 1900 meters which can conveniently accommodate up to 6 ocean going ships simultaneously, Dubai will have the largest facility in the Middle East dedicated to cruise tourism. The continual efforts of DTCM and the Government of Dubai with the support extended by numerous government departments such as Immigration, Customs, Police, DP World, combined with the high levels of cooperation from the various cruise lines, ship agencies, DMC's and other stakeholders, the cruise tourism sector in Dubai is set to scale to even greater heights in the years to come. – Emirates News Agency, WAM