Doha, April 18 (QNA) - Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), along with its partners in the Cruise Arabia Alliance, has represented the Arabian Gulf, at Cruise Shipping Miami held in Miami, USA. The largest cruise convention in the world has been attended by most of the leading world cruise operators, industry and shipping experts, as well as major cruise destinations.
QTA recently announced its participation in the Cruise Arabia alliance, a group of regional destinations which collectively promote and cooperate to attract cruise operators to the Gulf region, and to develop the cruise industry. Furthermore, the Cruise Arabia Alliance aims to promote the Arabian Gulf as a cruise tourism hot spot regionally and internationality.
Taking part in the event reflects QTA’s vision to diversify tourism services and products by highlighting and supporting the cruise industry. QTA’s aim is to drive cruise traffic to Qatar, particularly since there are already large numbers of international visitors joining cruises in the Gulf, with other destinations receiving over 200,000 cruise visitors per year.
This industry can contribute to the local economy in the long term, and as it develops it would benefit other partners; namely Qatar Airways as passengers will make use of the national carrier’ services when entering or exiting Qatar to join potential cruises. Local excursion and tour operators would also benefit greatly as "Shore excursions" are extremely popular amongst cruise passengers.
Over the past few years, QTA established a number of strong relationships with international cruise operators as well as with other specialists involved in the industry. This has proved to be of great importance especially that Qatar will be extensively benefiting from cruise ships over the 2022 World Cup, as a means of providing additional accommodation supply for fans and visitors over the period. QTA will be contracting a minimum of 6,000 rooms on cruise ships for 2022 tournament, and is building its knowledge base to develop this sector of the maritime industry.
Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development Officer at QTA commented: "Our participation with Cruise Arabia in Cruise Shipping Miami has been extremely fruitful, substantially contributing to our efforts to promote Qatar as a world-class tourism hub. Through Cruise Arabia we aim to position Qatar and the Arabian Gulf as a premier cruise destination, thus reinforcing Qatar’s position on the world tourism map as a premium destination for authentic experiences, business facilitation, and family-focused recreation."
