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Royal Caribbean urges UAE to allow more cruisers

In:
06 May 2011

Royal Caribbean is trying to convince the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to introduce a special visa allowing passengers more than one entry to the country.

Royal Caribbean claims that the cost of having to buy several single-entry visas to sail to destinations in the UAE is hampering the growth of the cruise industry in the country.

The way things are set right now, tourists from most countries must purchase single-entry visas to enter the UAE.  This means cruise passengers through the Persian Gulf each have to buy up to three visas at a cost of $225 for all three.  This means a family of four would have to pay about $900.

A Royal Caribbean regional director Helen Beck sees this extra cost as inhibiting cruise growth in the UAE, "It's a challenge - it's an inhibitor to sales. It's a federal issue and at some point it will be resolved because the different authorities will all understand the impact it's having and the block it's having on growing.  The Russian market, China, those very large emerging markets that are required to get the single-entry visas for entering the UAE, that's a huge chunk of the world."

The UAE has become increasingly more popular with cruise line guests with the UAE expecting to draw 120 cruise ships with about 425,000 passengers this year.  By 2015, that number will grow to 180 ships and over 625,000 passengers.

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