15 January 2010

Plane sailing for Emirates, Costa

DUBAI - The arrival in Dubai of Costa Deliziosa, the 15th vessel to join the fleet of Costa Cruises, will underline the growing importance of the UAE as a cruise hub.

And in a further boost to the regionÃ¢â¬â¢s cruise capacity, this month the new Dubai Cruise Terminal becomes fully operational, with a capacity to handle four ships simultaneously.

Costa Deliziosa, along with sister ships Costa Luminosa and Costa Europa, expect to dock in Dubai 32 times during the 2009/2010 winter season and Emirates will play a pivotal role in connecting holidaymakers with their cruise liners. Ã¢â¬~¨Ã¢â¬~¨

The airline will fly to 25 European destinations in 2010 after announcing the addition of Madrid, Prague and Amsterdam to its network.

Costa Cruises, ItalyÃ¢â¬â¢s largest tourism group, expects this season to bring 140,000 visitors to Dubai

Antonio de Rosa, Costa Cruises VP cruise operations, said, "We were the first major operator to believe in the UAE as a cruise destination and are proud of the economic benefits we are bringing to the region.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe predict the number of guests cruising to Dubai with us will increase by 40 percent, with an estimated boost of Dhs 74 million for the city in the winter of 2009/10."

Richard Vaughan, DSVP commercial operations worldwide for Emirates, said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœCruise tourism has been identified as a key growth segment and we are very excited at the long-term benefits that this partnership can bring to both Emirates and Costa Cruises, not to mention the tremendous boost this gives to the tourism industry in the region.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœEmirates is dedicated to the development of Dubai as an international tourism hub and, with the ships also stopping in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Oman and Bahrain, we are delighted to be playing a role in the growth of a sector which will reap rewards for businesses throughout the region.Ã¢â¬~