TUNISIA: German Cruiser MS Europa Docked La Goulette With 350 Passengers On Board

German cruiser first to dock in Tunisia since 2015 Isis attack.A celebratory band played Thursday as a cruise liner docked in the port of Tunis for the first time since a March 2015 jihadist attack killed 21 tourists in the capital.

The German-operated MS Europa motored into La Goulette with 350 passengers on board for a one-day stopover.

The tourists, cameras at the ready, were greeted by a band of soldiers playing trumpets and drums, as well as camels and North African dancing, while the local tourist shops garlanded them with jasmine necklaces as they disembarked.

Tunisian authorities, who have ordered high security for the visit, are hoping to lure back the big cruise operators who have abandoned the country for the past year and a half since the gun attack on the capital's Bardo National Museum.

"The arrival of the liner Europa does not in itself signal the resumption of cruise liner activities in Tunisia," said Malek Ghanemi, head of La Goulette's cruise liner terminal.

"But it's very important because it sends out a positive and reassuring message," he said.

Gabriella, a tourist from Berlin, was all smiles as she headed off for Tunis medina, or old city, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. "I'm not scared at all," she said.

Tourism Minister Selma Rekik Elloumi was to attend a special ceremony later Thursday underlining the significance of the ship's stopover for a key sector of the Tunisian economy.

Many of the tourists who died in the March 18th, 2015 attack claimed by the Isis jihadist group that also killed a policeman were on cruise stopovers.

Tunisia's tourism sector has been in crisis ever since the revolution of 2011 which led to the overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The industry used to contribute around seven percent of GDP and supported 400,000 jobs.

Dozens of hotels were forced to close last winter following the Bardo attack and another in June 2015 around a beach hotel in Sousse that left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

QATAR: Cruise Ships Dock In Doha As Qatar Tourism Grows

Tourist arriving at Doha Port

As part of an ongoing effort to raise Qatar’s profile as a international tourism destination, three cruise ships have docked in Doha in the past week, the state’s tourism authority has said.

Seabourn Soujourn, MS Island Sky and MS Europa 2 brought with them hundreds of international visitors when they stopped in Qatar as part of separate regional tours.

They are among five eight ships that will include Doha as a destination on their wider Gulf itineraries this winter season, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) added in a statement.

The visits come ahead of Qatar hosting a two-day regional cruise ship forum next month at the Marsa Malaz Kempinski Hotel. Representatives from 11 international cruise companies will join government officials in tourism, immigration, ports and security to discuss future plans for the industry in the Gulf.

“The cruise industry cannot succeed without cooperation between all sides and this is a unique opportunity to find the common ground needed to overcome challenges and lay the ground work for a thriving cruise sector,” Hassan Al Ibrahim, QTA’s chief tourism development officer, said in a statement earlier this month.

In the latest trips, visitors spent a day in Doha and watched Ardha (sword dance) performances, took photos with falcons and participated in organized tours to key landmarks before returning to their ships at the end of the day.

Globally, the cruise ship industry is expected to grow in the coming years as operators launch 55 new ships between 2015 and 2020, according to an industry organization.

Qatar has said it wants to capture a larger share of this market.

More tourists

Qatar has for some years been talking about trying to develop its appeal as a destination for cruise ships as part of an overall strategy of significantly increasing the number of visitors traveling to its shores.

Speaking at the Sea Trade cruise forum in Abu Dhabi two years ago, QTA Chairman Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi said the government was considering transforming the old Doha Port near the Museum of Islamic Art into a docking station for cruise ships.

At the time, QTA said the Gulf currently captures only 1 percent of the global cruise market. Al Mohannadi added: “The presence of a home port for cruise lines would enhance not only Qatar but the Gulf’s position as a tourist destination and promote economic diversity. As the tourism industry develops in Qatar and across the Gulf, the cruise market can be a pillar of growth that accelerates our efforts and brings more people to discover the products on offer.”

Construction publication MEED reported last October that Qatar’s public works authority Ashghal had invited contractors to submit bids for the reconfiguration of the old port. However, Ashghal has not confirmed this and there have been no further details publicly issued on the project since then.

QTA has previously said it wants to attract up to 7 million visitors by 2030. Recent official figures show that some headway is being made towards this target, as mid-year statistics published by QTA showed visitor numbers were up by more than 100,000 in the first six months, putting it on track to meet its target of of 3 million visitors by the end of this year.

Cruise ship Island Sky at Doha Port

Visitors from neighboring Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia made up 41 percent of the total tourist numbers from January to June this year, and overall figures were up 7 percent on the same period last year.

Meanwhile, QTA figures for the first nine months of the year showed that nearly 2.25m visitors came to Qatar.

Outside the GCC, arrivals were also up from France (9 percent), China (16 percent) and the US (2 percent) for the first three quarters of 2015.

Meanwhile, Qatar has already said it is preparing use cruise ships to accommodate football fans during the 2022 World Cup.

Earlier this year, QTA announced plans to contract at least 6,000 cruise ship rooms for the winter tournament, although it did not say where the cruise ships would be berthed during the World Cup.

Note: This article was updated with QTA figures for the first nine months of 2015, and new figures on the number of cruise ships expected in Qatar this season.