Multiple entry visas for cruise passengers by September

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) hopes that the multiple entry visas for cruise tourists will be permitted by UAE by September and the initiative will surely make the emirate as regional hub for cruise tourism.

Plans are already underway for such a visa, while the talks have been on for the past three years now. This will finally happen by September, said the DTCM statement yesterday.

The Executive Director – Business Tourism at DTCM, Hamad Bin Mejren, said that the importance of having implemented a multiple entry UAE visa for cruise tourist is on at the highest level and is underway.

At present, the visa processing is a major financial burden, has several documentation procedures for nationalities of different countries. Multiple entry visas will help in bringing in tourists from major markets such as Russia, India, China, Brazil, South Africa and other emerging markets.

Last year, the Dubai Cruise Terminal handled 396,500 cruise tourists, and this year, Dubai will see 420,000 such tourists, which will help in tourism growth and economy.

The visa can help in speeding up things, as ships use Dubai as the hub for sailing to other nations Accomplishment of such a visa will be of great help to cruise lines in selling their vacation packages across the region, and consequently UAE stands to benefit.

Dubai, being the cruise hub of the region, serves as home port for five leading cruise lines of the world. The Dubai Cruise Terminals completed 10 years of successful operations last year, and has been seeing significant increase in cruise ship and cruise passenger numbers with every passing year.

Posted on 29/5/2012

Recent Articles