Cruise Holidays on the rise in Dubai

Where is the cruise industry performing best? Well, not surprisingly, Dubai. If you’re a travel agent in the oil rich region, you’re laughing apparently, because while much of the international travel industry has been hard hit by the credit crunch cruises are … well, cruising!

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce estimates that cruise passengers in the emirate, both inbound and outbound, will reach 260,817 in 2009 and next year Dubai will be visited by 99 ships carrying a total of 383,432 passengers.

‘There has been an increase in bookings, particularly in the Middle East,’ says Lakshmi Durai, Royal Caribbean's Executive Director. It appears that the cruise industry has succeeded so well because people want value for money and the chance to explore and a cruise allows them to regulate their spending as well as taking them to a number of ports instead of being stuck in a resort.