Dubai’s Dock & Dine Yacht Tourism

What is this “Dock & Dine” initiative, which recently launched on 1st September 2025? This plan was made by the Dubai Maritime Authority (DMA) and the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). It was made at a time when tourism was growing very quickly. In the first half of 2025, 9.88 million tourists from other countries had already visited Dubai. That’s 6% more than this time as compared to the last year. There is no cost to use Dine to connect 20 of Dubai’s best marine stations. This makes dining a better experience. The Dubai wants to hold a top place for business and leisure travel around the world through its Economic Agenda D33.

Some highlights & key features:

This program eliminates the traditional barriers to short yacht visits.

Free Moorage at 20 Marinas: Guests are allowed to dock at all 20 world-renowned hubs without paying a single penny for it.

Dedicated Dock Tenders: The dock works well because it has professional help to make sure that things go in hand to hand during drop-off and pick-up.

Quick Booking Response: Guests can get their dining confirmations within just 5 minutes to 1 hour, minimizing the gap of waiting to get the spot.

Unified citywide process: Marina rules and procedures are now the same and easy for both yacht visitors and marina owners across the whole city.

Direct Restaurant Communication: Advanced table booking links marinas directly with waterfront restaurants.

Potential Market Growth:

The goal of the programme is to make the most of Dubai’s busiest yachting season, which is from October to April. Foreign events, nice weather, and a lot of high-class tourists come to the emirate at this time. It now has more than 4,000 berths linked to high-class hotels & high-end choices for stays. People who want to have personalized events can use this whole infrastructure and the Dock & Dine programme. Beginning the project at the right time was smart, as it fits perfectly with the GCC yacht charter service market.

Some further key points:

• Many assume that Dock & Dine is only for private yacht owners, but it’s not really true; tourists can access it via short yacht rentals or shared yacht charters.
• This experience is open for all, including families, friends, small groups & couples who want to feel that luxury moment with owning a yacht.
• Dock & Dine allows tourists to skip the road traffic and explore attractions by sea.
• It also combines your dining spot with the sightseeing cruise.
• Tourists can sync Dock & Dine with Dubai’s big events like the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Food Festival, Yacht Show & Boat Shows.