The Middle East’s First Cruise Leadership Roundtable to Chart the Future of Regional Cruising

On September 18, 2025, the Resilience Council’s sister brand, Connecting Travel will convene the Middle East’s first dedicated Cruise Leadership Roundtable, Connections Cruise Arabia hosted aboard the QE2 and at Atlantis Dubai. This landmark gathering brings together airlines, ports, governments, tourism authorities, and leading cruise lines to examine what it will take to position the Gulf as a true global cruise hub.

Cruise penetration across the GCC remains very low, less than 0.05% to 1.5% of the population has ever cruised, yet the growth potential is extraordinary. International benchmarks show that when markets reach ~5% penetration, cruise lines gain the confidence to commit long-term ship deployments. For the Middle East, this represents a transformative opportunity for tourism, aviation, hospitality, and the wider economy.

Confirmed participants include representatives from CLIA, dnata Travel, MSC Cruises & Explora Journeys, Celestyal Cruises, TUI Cruises, Transcend Cruises, PONANT, Aroya Cruises and Cruise Saudi. They will be joined by senior leaders from Emirates, DP World, DET, Atlantis Dubai, and Jacobs Media, ensuring a cross-sector dialogue between cruise lines, ports, airlines, and the broader tourism ecosystem.

The closed door Leadership Roundtable will address questions of air–sea connectivity, home porting, regional market stimulation, ecosystem partnerships, and the critical need for education and certification programs to build both consumer aspiration and trade readiness. Following the Roundtable will be two panels, one session focuses on the inbound and the other on outbound market. Regional cruise operators, Cruise Xplore and CruiseMaster will be participating and sharing the regional markets’ engagement on cruising.

This is the first time such a cross-sector conversation has been staged in the region. Insights generated will feed directly into the official Cruise Insight Report, to be launched later the same day in Dubai. The annual event will launch officially in 2026 on the back of this work.

The Resilience Council is proud to be at the forefront of facilitating these strategic dialogues, bringing stakeholders together to turn opportunity into action.