Tag Archives: Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing

Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, has recorded exceptional results during the first half of 2019, securing 118 successful bid wins for events to be hosted in Dubai over the coming years. These events won in H1 2019, including conferences, meetings and incentives, are set to attract 75,288 delegates from around the globe to Dubai over the coming years, representing growth of 17 per cent on the delegate impact of bid wins from the same period in 2018. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, ‘’Dubai continues to consolidate its position as a leading destination for global travel and business events, and the recent bid wins are a testimony to the strides we have made as a city to attract and host large scale business events.’’ During H1, Dubai won a variety of key business events across multiple sectors and industries, including: the Amway China Leadership Seminar 2020, which is expected to attract 8,000 delegates, Sun Hope International Incentive 2020, with 1,500 delegates, World Hospital Congress 2021, with 1,100 delegates, Geospatial Week 2021, with 750 delegates, and AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress 2025, with 3,000 delegates. Dubai Business Events also built on its efforts to engage with meetings industry professionals, both in the city and around the world, through a busy calendar of trade shows, roadshows, study missions and other engagements.    

The second edition of the Dubai Association Conference, being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, will take place from December 9 to 10, 2019, under the theme of ‘Driving change: The societal impact of associations’. Over the course of two days the conference, organised by Dubai Association Centre and taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre, will bring together association executives from around the world, government representatives, industry leaders, as well as university faculties and students, in a space focused on building the association community in the region for the purpose of positive social impact. Established in 2014, the Dubai Association Centre (DAC) is a joint initiative of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) which  support and license regional and international associations in setting up an office or chapter in Dubai. The inaugural edition of its Dubai Association Conference took place in December 2017, while DAC last year hosted an Association Leaders Getaway in the city. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “As Dubai continues to grow as a knowledge hub, associations have immense potential for driving growth in our rapidly transforming economy. Along with being a catalyst for business opportunities within a thriving ecosystem, they have the power to fuel innovation and creativity which ultimately contributes to the wellbeing of our communities, and society. We are looking forward to the second edition of the Dubai Association Conference this year to further facilitate our transformation agenda as …

As one of ATM’s longest-standing partners, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) marked the 26th year of its participation in showcasing the emirate’s diverse tourism offerings to the local and international travel trade community at this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Dubai Tourism was joined by over 300 representatives from government bodies, hotels, destination management companies and tour operators. The Dubai stand showcased the breadth of the emirate’s ever-evolving destination portfolio, as well as highlighted an upcoming pipeline of new experiences through numerous interactive activations and content-rich displays. The strategic platform also brought together an extensive network of industry stakeholders across the public and private sectors to strengthen new and existing in-market trade partnerships. In support of the show’s 2019 focus on technological innovation, the state-of-the-art stand will embrace disruptive innovation by providing unique and immersive experiences to visitors, all designed to showcase the city’s unique and attractive tourist proposition for diverse market segments. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) said, “ATM plays a key strategic role in helping Dubai Tourism provide insights into the emirate’s dynamic tourism proposition to international, regional and local travel, tourism and hospitality decision makers. We are delighted to extend our reach this year by hosting more than 300 buyers from around the world to explore how to maximise our combined potentials. Our activations and on-stand experiences will build on the technological innovation theme of this year’s show, and we look forward to highlighting the scale of the activities that continue to build on our ‘digital, mobile and social first’ agenda.” This year, visitors to the Dubai stand could explore a dedicated ‘EMAAR Zone’ with a new Virtual …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is strengthening its bilateral ties with the China market by endorsing Alipay, a mobile payment and lifestyle platform, through a series of activations and promotions during the upcoming Chinese New Year. The inaugural campaign, launched to mark Dubai’s growing popularity among Chinese tourists and Alipay’s continuous efforts to connect them with overseas merchants, will take place annually across the city with the goal to transform the emirate into a cashless destination for Chinese travellers. As part of the ongoing partnership, Dubai Tourism will continue to amplify Alipay’s prominent role in the market to bring further awareness to the industry’s network of stakeholders, facilitating future collaborations with a wide range of retail partners. Underlining the remarkable growth and the importance of tourism from China to the emirate, the city welcomed 779,000 visitors between January and November 2018, representing a 12 per cent increase on the year before. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “Our ongoing partnership with Alipay is testament to our commitment to providing seamless payment and travel experiences to our guests, and is underpinned by the emirate’s China Readiness Strategy with the shared goal of further enhancing the visitor experience of Chinese tourists in Dubai.” Li Wang, Director, Alipay, said, “Chinese New Year is the most important holiday for the Chinese as well as the biggest campaign for Alipay. We are keen to work with Dubai Tourism to provide seamless payment and travel experiences to Chinese tourists. Together with our partners in Dubai, we are committed to create value for merchants and retailers in Dubai, better connecting them with Chinese tourists.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and HIS Co, one of Japan’s leading travel agencies, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tokyo to confirm a strategic collaboration between the two entities. This month’s agreement marks the first-of-its-kind for Japan’s travel and tourism sector, and emphasises the commitment from Dubai Tourism and HIS Co, to increasing awareness amongst Japanese travellers, while positioning the emirate as the destination of choice across multiple target audiences including female travellers, honeymooners, families and seniors segments. The MoU was signed by Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) and Tatsuya Nakamori, President, HIS Japan at the HIS headquarters in Tokyo. The MoU outlines plans to deliver an enhanced visitor experience for Japanese tourists in Dubai by providing increased ease of access to marketing collateral for the emirate’s variety of travel products, tailored information through localised campaigns and retail store promotions in major cities across Japan. Kazim said, “HIS is a significant partner for Dubai with its considerable reach across the Japanese market and longstanding history in the travel sector. Our future focused collaboration allows us to promote Dubai as the destination of choice for Japanese travellers, as we work together to drive our efforts in the market. We have seen continued positive growth in the number of Japanese guests visiting the city.” Tatsuya Nakamori, President, HIS Japan said, “Dubai is the number one destination in the Middle East for HIS due to its level of safety, variety of tourist attractions and high quality accommodation options. We have seen consistent growth in the demand for travel to the emirate from Japanese tourists, and are expecting this to …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fliggy, the online travel service platform of Alibaba Group. Aimed to boost the number of Chinese tourists visiting Dubai, the MoU was signed by Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) and Jerry Hu, VP, Fliggy and Alibaba Group, as part of a broader long-term alliance discussion at the Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou in China. The MoU entails among other aspects, collaboration between the partners to deliver an enhanced travel experience for Chinese visitors to the emirate by providing easy access to Dubai’s travel products and information, initiating a payment scheme, etc. In addition, Dubai Tourism would continuously maintain and update the ‘Dubai Destination Mall’ page on Fliggy, providing a comprehensive overview of the city’s tourism proposition to the broad customer base that Fliggy delivers. As a major online travel platform in China, Fliggy is a strategic travel partner for Dubai Tourism within China, allowing Dubai’s entire travel and tourism ecosystem to set up and operate their own ‘shop’ on the Fliggy virtual marketplace. Additionally, being extremely popular amongst the younger generation of Chinese tourists, Fliggy is an even more relevant partner for Dubai as there is a clear priority to build a strong base within this segment as potential visitors to the city.

Dubai Business Events (DBE) secured a total of 212 bids throughout 2017, representing its most successful year to date, the city’s official convention bureau announced. As a result of secured bids and proposals in 2017, Dubai is set to welcome an additional 95,000 delegates, delivering an economic impact of approximately AED 715 million. Dubai submitted a total of 354 bids throughout 2017, and among the wins were those for bids submitted before 2017. At the end of the year, 104 bid submissions were still awaiting decision. The bids and proposals secured in 2017 mark an increase of 64% over 2016 when a total of 129 bids were won, further cementing the Emirate’s leading position as a global business events destination. This success also comes as DBE celebrates its 15th anniversary as Dubai’s official convention bureau. Since its establishment in 2003, DBE has been pivotal in shaping the city’s world-class business events offering. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “The exponential increase in bids won in 2017 is a direct reflection of Dubai’s rapid growth as a leading business hub. 2017’s success in attracting international business events builds on the steady growth the city has experienced, establishing Dubai as a destination of choice for business events from around the globe. These successes have been made possible due to the close collaboration with our stakeholders and partners, who play a crucial role in realising Dubai’s strategic objectives. International and regional business events not only contribute to the growth in overall visitor numbers to Dubai, they also play an important role in the development of our knowledge economy.” Steen Jakobsen, Director, Dubai Business Events, said, …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) have signed an MoU to unite their efforts in positioning Dubai as the destination of choice for tourists from Middle East, Africa, and China. The MoU was signed by Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Gene Jiao, President, Huawei CBG, Middle East & Africa to support the strategic tie-up between DTCM and Huawei CBG. Under the terms of the MoU, Huawei will work with Dubai Tourism to create awareness of Dubai’s local culture and heritage across Middle East, Africa and China. Huawei will share information, images, videos, events information, online booking/ order services of Dubai Tourism with travellers (tourists, businessmen, residents) to provide a seamless online experience in Dubai. Kazim said, “We are fully committed to raising consideration of Dubai as the destination of choice for global travellers and constantly seek exciting opportunities to reach new audiences. This MoU with Huawei will help us achieve that goal by increasing awareness of Dubai’s key selling points including local culture and heritage, gastronomy, retail, entertainment and adventure across Middle East, Africa, and China travellers.”

Dubai’s growing business events offerings and increasing support for associations were key developments at IMEX America, the leading exhibition for incentive travel and events, held at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, USA in October 10-12. Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau and a division of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, once again had a strong presence at the show. DBE was joined by 10 co-exhibitors, including Emirates Airlines, Jumeirah Hotels, JW Marriott Marquis and Arabian Adventures, to showcase the city’s opportunities available for planners and organisers seeking to host small, medium or large-scale business events. DBE also highlighted the upcoming Dubai Association Conference, scheduled to take place in Dubai from December 11-12. Themed ‘Building a Community’, it is set to welcome association executives from around the world, in addition to government representatives, university faculties and students, as well as professionals seeking to develop associations.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), has launched its “Dubai Expert” online training initiative for travel agents in 12 languages and 40 countries, taking this innovative game to a wider travel trade audience internationally, as part of efforts to highlight the multiple experiences that await visitors to Dubai across leisure, shopping, cuisine, culture, family entertainment, and more. The development and roll-out of the Dubai Expert initiative was managed by the Dubai College of Tourism (DCT), an institution of Dubai Tourism. The tool features an engaging interface that includes information on Dubai’s tourism attractions, allowing travel agents to develop their skills and keep up to date with the latest tourism developments in Dubai. The training platform also helps agents to provide potential tourists with customised and unique experiences. ‘Dubai Expert’ was introduced in English during this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in April, attracting an overwhelming response from travel agents. Following the positive feedback shown by travel companies around the world, Dubai Tourism developed the tool in a further 11 languages – French, Mandarin, Russian, German, Italian, Bahasa, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Czech, and Spanish – and launched it in 40 countries alongside the English version. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “Dubai Expert was developed to assist the international travel trade in keeping up to date with all the destination updates in Dubai and ensure that all travel agents and tour operators have a sound knowledge of the emirate that they are trying to promote. Dubai Expert is also part of our continued investment in new technology and facilities that could help boost tourist arrivals in line with our strategic goal of …