DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are the venues for introductory workshops on cruise tourism organized for the first time by the Dubai government’s department of tourism and commerce marketing. The workshops for promoting cruise tourism in Dubai, which commenced on Sept. 15 and end on Sept. 27, cover Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Hamad bin Mejren, executive director of business tourism, who represents the department at the workshops along with Jamal Humaid, director of cruise tourism, said the workshops were organized by the representative office of the department in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar.

The department is organizing the workshops in cooperation with Royal Caribbean International and Costa International, the companies that consider Dubai as the home port for tours to the region’s ports.

The workshops are seeking to familiarize the market with cruise tourism programs released from Dubai and to consolidate relationships between Dubai and travel agencies in the GCC specialized in cruise tourism, in addition to providing all the required information and experiences in this field.

The workshops, one of which has already been held in Qatar, will be in Muscat today, Kuwait tomorrow and in Manama on Thursday. It is expected that the workshops will be attended by more than 500 representatives of the main tourism companies specialized in cruise tourism.

The cruise tourism sector in Dubai has been witnessing a substantial development over the years. The department of tourism and commerce marketing has been focused on cruise tourism since the end of the 1990’s, with the department of tourism aimed at making Dubai the headquarters for the operations of the cruise ship companies in the region.

This sector has grown extensively and substantially during the past years and Dubai has succeeded in being the home port for international cruise ships in the region. In 2001, the department of tourism established the first special terminal for cruise tourism at Port Rashid. In February 2010, the department opened its new cruise ship terminal, which is considered the newest among the ports of the Middle East. The existing structure of the terminal enables handling five cruise ships at the same time and it includes the most recent devices, facilities and equipment, which ensure the exit of tourists in record time.

The efforts of the department in promoting cruise tourism in Dubai have continued through its participation in the specialized exhibitions and conferences in addition to hosting delegations related to this sector. Dubai accounted for 103 ship arrivals in 2010, hosting 390,255 passengers. The number increased to 135 ships hosting 396,000 passengers last year. It is expected that ship arrivals will reach 180 with 625,000 passengers by 2015.