In the current season, which began in October 2024 and ended in April 2025, Doha Port welcomed 95 cruise calls, including 33 turnaround calls, 11 homeporting calls and five maiden calls, bringing over 430,000 visitors to Qatar, Mwani Qatar said in its annual report

Doha Port, which is Qatar’s gateway to marine tourism, continues to play a pivotal role in advancing the country’s cruise tourism with it achieving remarkable annual growth of 27% in visitors and 33% in ships arrival during the previous season, which ended in April 2024, according to Mwani Qatar.

In the current season, which began in October 2024 and ended in April 2025, Doha Port welcomed 95 cruise calls, including 33 turnaround calls, 11 homeporting calls and five maiden calls, bringing over 430,000 visitors to Qatar, Mwani Qatar said in its annual report.

The reporting period for Doha Port spans from January to December, but the cruise season runs from September to April.

The 2024 season witnessed the arrival of notable ships such as Mein Schiff 4, MSC Euribia, AIDAprima, Costa Smeralda, Norwegian Sky, and Celestyal Journey, further solidifying Qatar’s growing status as a premier global cruise destination.

The year saw 23 cruise calls from Florida-headquartered Carnival, 18 from MSC, 15 from Germany-based TUI, eight from Resorts World Cruises, six from Ponant Luxury Cruise, five from Celestyal Cruises, two from Norwegian Cruise Line and one from Plantours.

The Doha Port witnessed the arrival of as many as 74,441 passengers and 21,278 crew in January 2024; 70,826 and 19,453 in February; 47,873 and 13,376 in March; 4,051 and 967 in April; 22,660 and 10,733 in November and 73,966 and 25,190 in December. In 2024, a total of 293,817 visitors had arrived in the port.

The port received as many as 19 cruise ships in January, 14 in February, 11 in March, 1 in April, 9 in November and 25 in December.

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Santhosh V. Perumal