Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, GDRFA, has said that efforts to develop work in various sectors in the GDRFA is the result of the support of H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.

Major General Al-Marri said the development of the services at Dubai seaports has made sea borders among the world's top destinations for winter cruise tourism due to the quality of work and this came as result of the great efforts of GDRFA staff to enhance tourism in the country.

He added that cruise tourism in the UAE in general, and in Dubai specifically, is increasing steadily along with the number of cruise tourists, as Dubai received more than half-a-million cruise tourists in 2014 and the numbers are expected to cross 600,000 this year with more vessels sailing into UAE waters and the emirate is expected to attract more tourists.

"Cruise tourists numbered only 10,000 in Dubai in 1998, and have risen to be more than half-a-million tourists now, during the tourist season in Dubai which begins in October and ends in July of each year."

Maj. Gen. Al-Marri said that the aim is to attract more tourists by offering unique services to the public and through marketing by cooperating with the relevant authorities such as DP World and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, DTCM, to promote the tourism sector in Dubai and the UAE.

Colonel Hussein Ibrahim, Assistant of the Director-General for the Sea and Land ports at the GDRFA, said that there are six seaports in Dubai including Jebel Ali Port, Port Rashid Port, Al Shindagha Port, Al Hamriya Port, the Dry Dock Port in addition to the Creek, and the GDRFA-Dubai offers different kinds of services in those ports such as the registration of ships, sailors registration and dealing with tourists, visa issuance and more.

He added, "Due to the fact that Dubai airport offers flights that travel all over the world and due to the unique services offered by all the concerned authorities in Dubai that make most of the shipping and tourist companies prefer to come via Dubai seaport."

Colonel Hussein said some vessels that arrive in Dubai seaports have to change crews, which means that sailors leave via Dubai airport while others join, and tourists on a cruise coming from around the world most often use Dubai airport to return to their countries, according to official statistics that say that 75% of tourists across the sea ports in Dubai return to their country via Dubai airports.

He added that cruise tourism in Dubai is increasing steadily as the emirate received a very high number of cruse tourists in 2013 and 2014 due to the quality of services provided. In addition to the cruise tourists, GDRFA staff also deal with the ships' crews which number between 1,500 to 2,000 on each ship.

Colonel Hussein said that next year the number of cruise tourists is expected to rise as the number of cruise ships increases up to four ships per day during the season. Most of the cruise ships sail from Europe and stop in Dubai to load or unload passengers and tourists.

He added that ship arrivals and departures in Dubai ports in 2014 reached a total of 59,197, an increase of 14% from the year 2013.

Captain Ahmed Isaac, Head of Passports Control Section at GDRFA at Port Rashid, said that the port is busy working 24 hours a day in ports to finalise public transactions. He added that the staff completes at least 2,000 transactions for each ship, including the crew and tourists, for every trip.
Source: WAM