Qatar to host two Celestyal cruise ships for 2025/26 season at Doha Port

Qatar Tourism has announced the dual deployment of Celestyal Journey and Celestyal Discovery for the 2025/26 cruise season, reinforcing Doha’s position as a growing homeport and regional cruise destination. 

The announcement was made on the opening day of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 in Dubai, one of the leading tourism trade events in the Middle East.

Under the agreement with Celestyal Cruises, Celestyal Journey will homeport in Doha, offering Arabian Gulf itineraries from the Qatari capital. 

Meanwhile, Celestyal Discovery will include Doha as a regular port of call during its regional voyages roundtrip out of Abu Dhabi. 

The two ships are expected to make more than 25 calls and bring over 40,000 cruise passengers to Qatar between November 2025 and March 2026, during which the winter cruise season runs in the Middle East.

The move follows a successful 2024/25 winter season for Celestyal in Qatar, which brought over 14,000 passengers to Doha and highlighted the city’s growing appeal as both a cruise embarkation point and a tourism gateway. 

Qatar’s expanded cruise partnership comes at a time of rising cruise activity across the Gulf, as regional ports strengthen their infrastructure and marketing efforts to attract international cruise lines. 

With Dubai and Abu Dhabi already well-established homeports, Qatar has positioned itself as a complementary hub, offering shorter itineraries, streamlined visa processes, and a modern cruise terminal located near Doha’s historic and cultural landmarks.

Doha Port underwent a major redevelopment ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and continues to receive seasonal calls from a range of international cruise lines. With its central Gulf location and close proximity to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Qatar is increasingly part of multi-country cruise itineraries in the region.

In a second announcement at ATM, Visit Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese tech giant Huawei to support destination marketing and visitor engagement. 

Huawei will provide access to its Digital Marketing Platform, helping Visit Qatar target travellers from China, the GCC and Europe through AI-powered tools and mobile services such as HarmonyOS, Huawei Wallet and Petal Maps.

Both announcements reflect Qatar’s broader strategy to diversify its tourism offering through digital innovation, infrastructure development and strategic partnerships, in line with its long-term National Tourism Sector Strategy. Qatar aims to attract six million visitors annually by 2030.