Saudi Arabia reveals plans for first domestic Arab mainstream cruise line
Cruise Saudi, the cruise tourism agency backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has announced plans to launch the Arab world’s first domestic cruise line following the acquisition of the former World Dream cruise ship.
On the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market event in Dubai this week, Barbara Buczek, Cruise Saudi’s chief asset manager and operations officer, told Hotelier Middle East the new cruise line would take GCC and international passengers to Saudi’s coastal destinations.
The announcement has been heavily anticipated following the acquisition of the former World Dream cruise ship by Cruise Saudi. The 5,000-passenger vessel was put up for auction by Dream Cruises when its parent company Genting Hong Kong filed for bankruptcy.
Saudi Arabia snapped up the vessel for a reported US $350 million, but didn’t announce any plans for the vessel beyond changing her name to Manara. The acquisition came on the heels of an announcement by Cruise Saudi that it is partnering with Aman Hotels & Resorts to launch a new boutique luxury cruise company called Aman at Sea.
The launch of a mainstream cruise line to operate Manara will round-out Saudi Arabia’s domestic cruise offering, with a ship for the ultra-rich on-par with the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, and a mass-market cruise line comparable with MSC Cruises or Costa Cruises, both of which homeport regularly in the Arabian Gulf and have proven popular with the domestic source market.
Buczek said the many giga-projects under development in the Kingdom, such as NEOM, Sindalah, Red Sea and Amaala, will provide a wealth of destination opportunities for the new cruise line.
“We are actively working with NEOM to help present Sindalah island to the world, set to open early next year. We’re working closely with them on what cruise guests [into Sindalah] will require, as well as what infrastructure is needed,” Buczek told Hotelier Middle East.
“The beauty of cruising is that you can sleep on the ship,” she added. “There is a great opportunity to work on the pre- and post-arrival aspect of these destinations. NEOM and Sindalah, for example, guests will be able to cruise to Sindalah, enjoy it for a day or two, then continue their trip to other Red Sea destinations.”
Cruise Saudi sees huge opportunity in the local market for the upcoming cruise line. The Kingdom has hosted two cruise seasons since the pandemic with up to 50% of demand for voyages from Jeddah coming from the local Saudi and wider GCC market.
“The ship is there, it’s an exciting time in terms of its name, its branding. The local cruise line will very much target that local market, 75 percent of Saudi’s population is under 35. We need to explore that from a cruise industry perspective,” said Buczek.
Since opening up to international cruise tourism, Saudi Arabia has welcomed 50,000-plus passengers and five major international cruise lines; and in the future, aims to attract more cruise lines and 1.3 million cruise passengers to experience Saudi via sea by 2035.
While the opening of Saudi Arabia to the cruise industry is a major boon for the regional cruise sector, making repositioning voyages between Asia and Europe, and between the Mediterranean and Dubai far more attractive for cruise lines, this move to launch a domestic cruise line is the most significant expansion of any regional cruise destination.
The Arab world has never had a domestic, homegrown cruise line before, and it’s likely that Cruise Saudi will partner with one of the major existing cruise lines, or ship management companies, to create a product tailored to the local market.
When China moved to launch a homegrown Asian cruise line, it formed a joint venture with Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world. Saudi Arabia’s PIF owns a significant stake in Carnival Corporation, but we’ll have to wait to see if a Carnival Saudi brand emerges from the Kingdom.
