UAE introduced multi visas for cruise passengers
United Arab Emirates made some changes to their border control regulations. On November 10, 2012 a multiple entry tourist visa was introduced for cruise passengers. The visa is valid for three months and allows to stay in the country for no more than 14 days at a time. The news has been warmly welcomed by Russian tour operators working on the destination.
According to Ms Anna Shevchouk of Inflot Cruise & Ferry Company (general agent of Royal Caribbean in Russia and CIS), this step is sure to boost the demand for cruises around the Arabian Gulf. "Before that the tourists could only get a single visa to UAE, so a cruise required 2-3 visas depending on its route. From now on one visa will be enough. Both tourists and travel companies alike will have a chance to combine leisure aboard the liner with trips to the shore more conveniently," - she explained to RATA-news.
Cruises expert from Natalie Tours Ms. Nelly Sharonova said: "That is great news. We sell Middle East cruises quite actively, including New Year ones. Not only do the tourists come from Moscow, but from Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Mineralnye Vody as well. Today the tourists have to pay €200 for single and transit visas. The new visa will be three times as cheap." She also added that the greatest demand falls on 1-week itinerary "The Emirates' Treasure" on Costa Atlantica.
But still not everybody is satisfied with the demand for Middle East cruises. "These routes are offered by Costa Cruises and Royal Caribbean. Good prices, convenient timing, decent promotion, but the sales are low. Anyway it doesn't compare with Mediterranean cruises. So the new visa rules are unlikely to spice up the tourist flow" - Deputy Director of Cruises and Travel Club Company Mr. Andrey Bondar said to RATA-news.
Ms Anna Shevchouk sees the demand for such itineraries as "unexplainably low". "Dubai's cruises are not going too well, even despite massive promotion campaigns. The Russian are used to go to Dubai to stay at luxury hotels, relax on the beach and go shopping. That's the kind of leisure we have great demand for," - she explained.
The Russian's interest to beach leisure in UAE has indeed grown significantly. As of today, 62 flights of various frequencies take off from Russia to Dubai, Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah. In 2011 the country was visited by 457.7 thousand Russian tourists, out of which up to 5 thousand were cruise passengers. This year is likely to end with higher figures. As RATA-news has already reported, Dubai alone, that accounts for over a half of the tourist flow to UAE, had welcomed almost 200 thousand Russians in the first half of 2012; this is 51% more compared to the same period in 2011. Sharjah, Fujeirah and Abu-Dhabi have also showed some upturn. During the first nine months of this year the latter received a record-breaking number of Russian visitors: almost 20 thousand, which exceeds the previous year's results by 44%.
According to Director General of Art Tour Mr. Dmitry Arutyunov, the Emirates have a huge potential on the Russian market. "But the tourist flow is unlikely to contribute from cruises; and the implementation of multi visas won't change much. In my opinion, cruises are not the best idea for the region," - he pointed out.