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Luxury Travel News climbed aboard the 296-passenger Silver Cloud cruise ship last month to discover more about Silversea's onboard product and to learn how travel agents can sell cruise.

Cruise is still very much a new concept for Middle Eastern travellers, but the handful of cruise operators that sail to Gulf destinations are reporting an increasing amount of interest from the region.

To tap into the growing potential of the market, UK-based Silversea, which operates cruises across the globe - including itineraries that take in Dubai, Fujairah, Muscat, Bahrain, Doha, Iran and other Middle East destinations - recently invited a number of travel agents and corporate clients onboard its Silver Cloud vessel to learn more about the product.

According to Silversea senior vice president sales and marketing, UK, Ireland & Middle East Markets, Trudy Redfern, one of the major issues that has limited the growth of cruise sales in the Middle East is lack of awareness as to what a cruise entails and the onboard facilities available, both at an agent and consumer level.

"The main purpose of this visit is to raise the profile of the company so that the distribution channels are broadened," she told LTN on board the Silver Cloud, just before the ship left the Dubai Cruise Terminal and embarked on the first leg of an eight-day cruise around the Gulf.

"It's just a [matter of improving the] knowledge of the travel trade. Over here, in their defence, they probably don't get access to a lot of the product directly, so it is a case of us helping them to improve their product knowledge.

Silversea currently works with a handful of agencies in the UAE - including Al Tayyer and Dnata - who can book cruises direct via an online booking system.

"We have got a presence here in the Middle East, but that definitely needs to be enhanced," Redfern conceded.

The firm therefore plans to work with ladies groups in the region to raise awareness among Arabic women, since they a huge influence on family travel plans.

The company operates a range of itineraries around the Gulf, and several European and Asian itineraries that either begin or end in Dubai.

But that is not to say that a Gulf cruise is the best choice for Middle East residents, Redfern explained.

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