Msheireb Museums, home to four historic heritage houses restored in the broader sustainable Smart City development of Msheireb Downtown Doha, is positioning itself as a new shore excursion for cruise passengers in the Qatari capital.

Msheireb is promising novel experiences for cruise tourists visiting Doha during the upcoming cruise season and has teamed up with Qatar Tourism in a collaboration designed to immerse visitors in Qatar’s vibrant history and traditions.

Qatar’s fast-growing cruise season typically kicks off in October with the rest of the Arabian Gulf and lasts through March each year, with more than 80 cruise ship calls scheduled for Doha Port during the coming 2023/24 season.

“We are thrilled to continue our work with Qatar Tourism to offer visitors a rich path through which to explore the history and culture of Qatar as Msheireb Museums became a favoured destination during past seasons,” said Mohammed Al Yousuf, Operations Manager at Msheireb Museums.

While most cruise ships calling in Doha Port are one of the eight vessels homeporting in Dubai and sailing roundtrip itineraries in the Arabian Gulf, Doha Port is also growing in popularity as a homeport itself.

Each cruise season, several cruise lines basing ships in the region choose to interport in Doha, offering passengers the choice of either Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha as a the location from which their cruise starts and ends.

This year, MSC Cruises, TUI Cruises, Costa Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line will all interport between the three cities.

“The cruise ship tours are a vital pillar in achieving Qatar’s National Tourism Sector Strategy to become the fastest growing tourist destination in the Middle East by 2030,” said Maryam Saoud, Head of the Tourism Product Support Section at Qatar Tourism. 

“Each season brings new successes to the country’s cruise sector, in terms of growing visitor numbers, additional cruise route launches to Doha, and an increase in the number of layover trips through Doha,” she added.

Msheireb Museums’ collaboration with Qatar Tourism is designed to elevate the visitor experience for passengers looking for an immersive taste of the country’s heritage and history through the four houses that form the museums complex.

Bin Jelmood House pays tribute to the social, cultural and economic contribution of formerly enslaved people, honouring their part in the development of human civilisations. 

Mohammed Bin Jassim House demonstrates the Msheireb neighbourhood’s traditional values as the foundations for the future development of wider Doha and introduces the transformation of Msheireb over time through the latest audio-visual technology.

Company House showcases first-hand accounts of the men who laboured not just to provide for their families but also to lay the foundations for the Qatari nation. Visitors can hear their stories in their own words and find inspiration in their tenacity and ambition.

Radwani House represents traditional Qatari family life and gathers, preserves and shares memories of Qatar in a time of historic social transformation. 

Msheireb means ‘a place to drink water’ in Arabic, and the wider Smart City development of Msheireb Downtown Doha aims to be the world’s first sustainable downtown. This historic sector of Doha is the area from which the modern capital city grew from the 1820s.

Visitors are encouraged to experience Msheireb Museums through a dedicated app that can be downloaded for free on the App Store and Google Play. The app includes free audio tours inside the museums available in eight languages and options to book tours and other activities.