Costa slashes cruise costs in bid to win over tourists

Costa Cruises, the Italian owner of the ocean liner that capsized last week off the island of Giglio, has slashed prices of its upcoming Mediterranean cruises by up to 70 percent.

The company is facing legal action after at least 13 people died trying to escape the Costa Concordia after it steered into rocks off the Italian coast. Some 19 passengers are still missing, and the captain of the $590m cruiser is under investigation for multiple manslaughter.

Dubai travel agents said offering cut-price cruises could to further damage to Costa’s tarnished reputation in the wake of the disaster.

“I do not think that it is smart to run promotions… it might reflect poorly on the cruise industry – making it seem like it is desperate for business,” said Basel Abu Alrub, managing partner of Utravel.

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The cruise industry is seen as a growing tourism market for the Gulf states. Dubai said in September it expected to see a 50,000 rise in cruise passengers to the emirate to 2015, with 475,000 passengers expected this year.

DP World said in October in planned to overhaul facilities at Port Rashid to allow it to cater to up to five cruise ships at one time.

Rival operator Royal Caribbean Cruises in November reported a 30 percent rise in passengers on its Middle East cruises, but Alrub said it was too soon to say whether the fledgling local market would be impacted by the recent disaster.

“Perhaps in the short run there might be a slight drop in bookings especially during the off season. I think the drop will not be sustainable over the long run,” he said.

“So far we have not seen the local market react in this regards, clients are still not thinking over their summer plans as it is too early for our market to book from now.

“I think that we will face some questions around April time and we have already started preparing our information and doing background checks on all the cruise operators,” he added.