Speaking at an event at London's 1 Hotel in Mayfair on Friday (2 October), attended by travel agents and cruise media, Ala Tashkandi, Head of Commercial at Aroya Cruises, outlined the Cruise Saudi-owned cruise line's plans.
It currently operates 3,362-passenger Aroya Manara in the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean but Tashkandi confirmed that Cruise Saudi, Aroya's parent company, has ambitions to launch Aroya 2 and 3.
When asked where the ships would be deployed, Tashkandi said "an area of interest" for Cruise Saudi was Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
"Aroya Cruises is part of Cruise Saudi and is 100% owned by the Public Investment Fund," he told TTG. "We have a very ambitious team with a very ambitious CEO and shareholders. We're very inspired to have Aroya 2 and 3 in the future.
"In the meantime, we're focused on a very large, very beautiful ship and hopefully in the future we will see what happens."
Tashkandi insisted that Aroya Cruises remains "an exciting project" for the Public Investment Fund (PIF) despite its vast investment portfolio.
In May, the PIF approved its 2026/30 strategy, strengthening domestic investment while prioritising tourism, travel and entertainment.
Tashkandi added: "Aroya fits in that bracket. That will only bring more focus to this sector and to this very unique product."
Deployment successes
Last year, the line attracted around 150,000 passengers on sailings in the Red Sea before Aroya repositioned to Mediterranean in February.
Tashkandi explained that following Aroya's successful debut Mediterranean season, it had been decided to extend the programme into the winter.
"We have very solid source markets on these route," said Tashkandi. "It has been a very successful season for us and we wanted to extend the season into the winter and test it for the first time."
The line also appointed its first sales team member outside Saudi Arabia. Sara Amro joined Aroya in May this year and has been tasked with delivering the brand's distribution strategy in the UK and Europe.
Tashkandi said: "In terms of our distribution strategy, we're leaning on finding the right trade partners for us that can help us build the distribution network, build the brand awareness, bring the public knowledge here.
"We have strong partners in Europe and now we're hoping to find strong partners here in the UK as well with Sara's help."
UK market entry
Aroya, he said, had been impressed by the UK and Irish market's growth in recent years and hoped to tap into the large Muslim population in this country. However, he added that non-Muslims would "100%" enjoy the onboard experience, revealing that 100 nationalities have so far sailed on Aroya and the average passenger age is around 36.
"Based on the latest data, the UK and Ireland is the third largest cruise source market," he said, reflecting on the line's entry into the UK market. "It has been growing by 5% to 6% each year so for us that represents huge potential.
"There's also a good size of Muslim population here which this product fits very well with. We're very excited to be here and present our product to the market."
He pledged to invite travel agents onto Aroya soon. "We send agents on fam trips to experience the product, to live it because you can't know the product until you've experienced it," added Tashkandi.
