Tourists arriving in Qatar via cruise ships are set for excursions across different destinations in the country but under strict health and safety protocols, a travel agency executive has said.
“The cruise season has started under very stringent protocols by Qatar Tourism. We are quite excited to see the big ships back in Doha,” Tawfeeq Travel Group CEO Rehan Ali Syed told Gulf Times.
Syed noted that cruise passengers arriving to Qatar have a wide selection of destinations to visit while visiting the country. He said all tourism-related activities in Qatar “are going as planned” in the wake of the successful conclusion of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.
“There are several other activities lined up, such as the Turkish Super Cup final, adventure trips to Purple Island and the Doha Quest indoor theme park, apart from national attractions like National Museum of Qatar, Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre, and traditional Souq Waqif tour, among many others. At Tawfeeq Holidays, we offer 19 different excursions for our cruise passengers,” he explained.
The Qatar Tourism website stated that the highlights of the 2021-22 cruise season include a total of 65 confirmed calls, nine instances where Doha Port will dock two ships at a time, 11 cruise ships making their maiden voyages, 11 turnaround voyages, and nine ships staying overnight at Doha Port.”
“This will allow cruise visitors ample time to explore the destination’s travel, hospitality, and retail promotions during the season. Turnaround voyages will start and end their journey from Doha Port for the duration of the cruise season,” it added.
Asked if travel agencies are working with health authorities to ensure that staff members are fully-vaccinated, Syed said: “We are all somehow connected with MoPH to ensure all our staff are vaccinated because health and safety are of prime importance.”
He said, “We ensure that every week deep fogging is done in our head office, and our branches are sprayed with disinfectant on regular basis. In fact, since we do ground handling of some cruise ships, we ensure that apart from passengers being vaccinated we completely sanitise their bags before they are loaded in the cruise ship to minimise any kind of viral infection.”
Syed added: “We have very stringent rules in place for all the passengers joining the cruise or going for shore excursions. The cruise liners are made aware of the rules in advance to ensure seamless operations. Any passenger who is joining from Qatar but is not vaccinated and without proper PCR test cannot enter the cruise; the same protocol applies for the shore excursion passenger arriving from the cruise – he or she has to be vaccinated with a negative PCR test.”
Qatar Tourism’s website also stated that “cruise tourism came to a halt due to the pandemic, terminating by the end of February 2020. To assuage concerns, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has put in place special protocols for travellers arriving to or from Qatar on cruise ships.”
Syed noted that cruise passengers arriving to Qatar have a wide selection of destinations to visit while visiting the country. He said all tourism-related activities in Qatar “are going as planned” in the wake of the successful conclusion of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.
“There are several other activities lined up, such as the Turkish Super Cup final, adventure trips to Purple Island and the Doha Quest indoor theme park, apart from national attractions like National Museum of Qatar, Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre, and traditional Souq Waqif tour, among many others. At Tawfeeq Holidays, we offer 19 different excursions for our cruise passengers,” he explained.
The Qatar Tourism website stated that the highlights of the 2021-22 cruise season include a total of 65 confirmed calls, nine instances where Doha Port will dock two ships at a time, 11 cruise ships making their maiden voyages, 11 turnaround voyages, and nine ships staying overnight at Doha Port.”
“This will allow cruise visitors ample time to explore the destination’s travel, hospitality, and retail promotions during the season. Turnaround voyages will start and end their journey from Doha Port for the duration of the cruise season,” it added.
Asked if travel agencies are working with health authorities to ensure that staff members are fully-vaccinated, Syed said: “We are all somehow connected with MoPH to ensure all our staff are vaccinated because health and safety are of prime importance.”
He said, “We ensure that every week deep fogging is done in our head office, and our branches are sprayed with disinfectant on regular basis. In fact, since we do ground handling of some cruise ships, we ensure that apart from passengers being vaccinated we completely sanitise their bags before they are loaded in the cruise ship to minimise any kind of viral infection.”
Syed added: “We have very stringent rules in place for all the passengers joining the cruise or going for shore excursions. The cruise liners are made aware of the rules in advance to ensure seamless operations. Any passenger who is joining from Qatar but is not vaccinated and without proper PCR test cannot enter the cruise; the same protocol applies for the shore excursion passenger arriving from the cruise – he or she has to be vaccinated with a negative PCR test.”
Qatar Tourism’s website also stated that “cruise tourism came to a halt due to the pandemic, terminating by the end of February 2020. To assuage concerns, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has put in place special protocols for travellers arriving to or from Qatar on cruise ships.”
