AMAZING COURTESY OF CELEBRITY CRUISES

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Carnival Corporation want to  expand their operations in Asia and the Middle East in the coming years.

A luxury cruise ship  will be added to the former’s Celebrity Cruises fleet, Celebrity Constellation, to homeport in Abu Dhabi in November 2016. As the same time, Carnival subsidiary Costa Cruises will send a third vessel to Asia Pacific and China.

Costa Cruises senior vice president of Pacific Asia and China Buhdy Bok said the move will increase their capacity in Asia by 74 % and make Costa Cruises the first international cruise company to deploy three ships in the region.

He also said that they expected significant growth in the cruise market to continue in the foreseeable future due to a tremendous growing demand in Asia, and in particular, China”.

““According to Asian Cruise Association, its 2013 report showed that demand in Asia will nearly triple to 3.8 million annual cruisers in 2020, with 1.6 million from China," Bok added.

All three Costa Cruises vessels will be deployed in China during the spring and summer seasons.

Celebrity Constellation will sail nine- to 15-night cruises featuring five different calls from November 2016 through January 2017 in the Middle East. People  estimated that the cruise line will attract roughly 15,000 guests to Abu Dhabi on those half of a dozen cruises. 

General director Jasem Al Darmaki said Celebrity's arrangement is a "landmark decision for our cruise tourism ambitions reflecting a new horizon for Abu Dhabi’s sector development."

"It is a clear statement that a joined-up partnership approach to infrastructure and product development delivers rewards."

This growth and development  is expected to continue over the next decade.