The General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP), which regulates Bahrain’s maritime industry, has partnered with Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture and Information to host the first Middle East Cruise Forum.

The two-day forum, which showcases Bahrain’s state-of-the-art cruise facilities and promotes the Kingdom as a major cruise tourism destination, opened yesterday (May 10) at the Al Areen Palace and Spa, bringing together more than 100 experts and leaders from the global cruise industry.

The conference, organised by shipping leader Seatrade, focuses on four main themes: growing momentum for cruise tourism in the region, ports, terminals and destinations, shore excursions and finally marketing, which will focus on how the region can effectively market itself as a cruise destination.

“GOP is committed to playing an active role in promoting Bahrain’s world-class cruise facilities at the new Khalifa Bin Salman Port, and we are keen to play our role in positioning the region as a must-see destination for tourists,” said Hassan Ali Al Majed, director general of GOP.

“Bahrain has a unique offering among other countries in the region and we are confident that the increase in cruise tourism through KBSP will help promote the Kingdom’s rich cultural heritage and archeological legacy,” he added.

“By working with our neighbours and through knowledge transfer in forums such as these, we expect to establish a strong regional proposition for cruise lines.”

“We have invited several of our counterparts from around the region to attend in order to unify the industry, share best practice and raise the bar for all involved in the cruise industry,” he concluded.

Global cruise executives representing leading cruise-liner companies including Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Silversea, TUI Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Sea Cloud attended the forum, which was held during a cruise season that has been especially prosperous.

In the first two months of the year, 22 cruise vessels with over 26,000 passengers visited Bahrain.

The cruise executives took a tour of Bahrain’s new deepwater seaport, Khalifa Bin Salman Port, which offers state-of-the-art facilities including integrated wireless network port communications, mobile wireless broadband access, and real-time communications between the ships and their customers and business partners. – TradeArabia News Service