Doha: Qatar’s tourism sector witnessed visitors boom in the last season as Doha Port welcomed a record number of passengers in the 2018-19 season. Doha Port received 144,707 passengers and crew on 44 ships during the season according to Mwani Qatar.
The record-breaking number of tourist arrival has confirmed Doha Port’s important role in boosting marine tourism revenues and transforming Qatar into a regional cruise hub.
Cruise season runs from September to April in Qatar. A total of 65,675 visitors arrived on Qatar’s shores during 2017/18 season, which was a 39 percent increase compared to the previous season.
The port’s passenger terminal infrastructure is being developed to bring it in line with international passenger terminals in anticipation of further volume growth leading to FIFA world cup 2022.
Year-on-year comparison reveals that 2018 was an immensely successful year for Doha Port. According to Mwani Qatar data, Doha Port welcomed 94,473 passengers in 2018 compared to 52,454 passengers in 2017, showing a rise of over 80 percent.
The rise in the number of tourists was a result of mainline cruise vessels expressing their interest in Doha and deploying bigger cruise vessels to Doha.
During 2018, the peak season was December and January, which saw more than 50 percent of the volume handled. The year also saw the debut of Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises at Doha Port, a welcome addition to the region’s port fastest growing cruise port. Due to higher demand during the season, Doha port had at times had to handle two mega-ships simultaneously.
This reinforces the port’s professional capability by the port authority, the shipping lines, tour operators and government authorities like immigration and customs to handle higher volumes in the months to come.
Cruise season 2018-2019 witnessed the arrival of several mega cruise ships. On February 13, German cruise ship AIDAPrima docked at Doha Port on its third voyage in the ongoing cruise season with a total of 3,618 passengers and 957 crew members aboard. The Italian cruise ship Costa Mediterranea, on February 6, marked its maiden voyage to Qatar, with more than 3,000 passengers and crew members.
Doha Port welcomed, on January 24, cruise ship MSC Splendida on its third visit during the ongoing season, carrying a total of 3,456 passengers and 1,305 crew members. Around 3,000 tourists arrived at Doha Port on January 14 aboard MSC Lirica. MSC Splendida anchored on January 3 at Doha Port on its 2nd call with 3,900 passengers and 1,300 crew member aboard.
