Abu Dhabi is developing a dedicated cruise terminal for the emirate and its plans are already at the design stage, the head of the UAE capital’s tourist board said on Monday.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), told reporters on Monday at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai that the UAE capital had already chosen the site for a cruise terminal and that plans were currently at the design stage.
Sheikh Sultan also did not rule out the possibility of Abu Dhabi launching its own cruise liner in the near future. “It is not off the table,” he told reporters.
In February, ADTA said it was looking to develop Abu Dhabi’s cruise tourism potential in light of the results of a market study it had commissioned earlier in the year. The report concluded that the cruise tourism industry could deliver a “substantial economic impact annually for Abu Dhabi”.
The study added that Abu Dhabi stood to benefit from the creation of full-time jobs, hotel room nights from pre ad post-cruise stays, increased business for airlines serving the destination and more land tours, which will also benefit Al Ain and the Al Gharbia western region.
The study recommended the development of a dedicated cruise terminal and Abu Dhabi’s evolution into a fully-fledged home port with the potential to deliver at least 50,000 new visitors to the emirate annually.
“There are substantial gains to be accrued from the evolution of Abu Dhabi from its existing ‘port of call’ to ‘home port’ status. There has been heightened interest among major cruise lines with respect to Abu Dhabi’s cruise development as evidenced by an all-time high of about 150 ships calling at Mina Zayed this current cruise season,” Sheikh Sultan said at the time.
