Director of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih made a tour to client service and inspection centers at Port Rashid customs center. The visit also included passenger terminal at Port Rashid which receives cruise tourists to Dubai.
Musabih viewed the work in progress at these centers and the efforts taken to promote customs services and facilities which were developed based on actual studies of the clients’ needs and their aspirations following the best international standards.
Port Rashid Customs Center dealt with 419,441 customs declarations and 108,158 customs refund claims during the first half of 2019. The center issued 92,490 certificates for vehicles and 70,026 entry permits.
HE Ahmed Mahboob Musabih also viewed services delivered to cruise tourists at Port Rashid’s passenger terminal, which operate under airport’s Passenger Operations Department, terminal 2. Dubai welcomed 150 cruise ships during the 2018/2019 cruise season with around 741,000 tourists on board, and the number is expected to rise to 200 cruises and 959,000 tourists in the 2019/2020 season. In this season 3 customs seizures were made compared to only one seizure in the last season.
Director of Dubai Customs said:
“We continuously develop services provided to our clients following the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai which inspires and urges us to work relentlessly and go above and beyond to ensure best delivery of services to our clients. With this in mind, we upgraded our client service center at Port Rashid following the international star rating as part of our initiative “7 star centers” and equipped our centers with best skilled workforce and latest AI technologies.”
He added:
“We work closely with our strategic partners to boost growth in cruise tourism and we coordinate with cruise companies to improve services delivered to tourists at terminals 1 and 2 at Port Rashid, and Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, the biggest cruise terminal in the region, which received 5 cruise liners on a single day in this season.”
In preparation for the 2020/2021 season, the Passenger Operations Department coordinates with strategic partners and holds meetings with DP World in order to ensure delivery of best services and facilities to cruise passengers, whose numbers are expected to rise with the advent of EXPO 2020.