Tag Archives: Dubai Tourism

Maintaining its stance as the strongest market in the region, Dubai once again recorded a 7.5 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in Q3 2017, according to the latest data released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). A total of 11.58 million international overnight visitors arrived in Dubai during the first nine months of 2017, reflecting a 7.5 per cent increase over the same period last year. India retained the top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets for inbound tourism, with 1,478,000 Indian tourists arriving in the city between January and September, registering a significant 20 per cent rise over the same period in 2016. This increase affirmed the effectiveness of various innovative promotional activities driven by Dubai Tourism in the market, including collaborations with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Almost all the top 10 markets – with the exception of Oman and Kuwait, which saw declines of 23 and 3 per cent respectively – posted healthy increases in tourist traffic.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) undertook efforts to enhance the emirate’s position as the ‘cruise hub of the region’. Dubai Tourism exhibited at Seatrade Europe, held in Hamburg last month, under the Cruise Arabia banner, brought together the tourism authorities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain with the goal of promoting the region as a whole.  Dubai Tourism’s latest promotional drive was aimed at attracting more cruise tourists, specifically from Europe and India. The Dubai delegation at Seatrade Europe was headed by Jamal Humaid Al Falasi, Director of Dubai Cruise Tourism, and joined by several other relevant Dubai government entities and private sector stakeholders. Commenting on Dubai Tourism’s latest cruise activities, Jamal Humaid Al Falasi said, “Our participation at Seatrade Europe came at a time when cruise lines traditionally hold their discussions with destinations and service providers to plan for the subsequent seasons. We are pleased to have participated in the event under the Cruise Arabia banner, as it underlines the members’ commitment to further develop cruise tourism business in the region.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) introduced its innovative Hospitality Sustainability Board Game to all hotels under the Jumeirah Group. Around 40 professionals from hotels under the Jumeirah Group and students of Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management participated in the event held on October 4. The Board Game is an important awareness tool of the Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) initiative launched by Dubai Tourism that aims to encourage hotels in the emirate to focus more on eco-friendly practices and efficiently manage their resources. More than 400 participants from over 150 establishments in Dubai played the game so far during events and roadshows organised by Dubai Tourism. The latest game was hosted by Peter Stubbs, Director of Compliance & HSE, Group & Corporate, Jumeirah Group while Solaiman Al Rifai, Senior Project Manager, Tourism Development and Investments, Dubai Tourism made a presentation on DST and explained the mechanics of the game. The Board Game was developed jointly with Emirates Wildlife Society-WWF, one of four key partners of DST initiative.

As people come together to celebrate the joyous Eid Al Adha holiday, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishments (DFRE) an agency of Dubai Tourism, has released the line-up of exciting events and activities taking place across the city for residents and tourists to enjoy. As there are many GCC visitors during this period many interesting programmes are lined up. It will consist of two concerts taking place across the city by two renowned Arab music icons. On September 2, Emirati singer Shamma Hamdan will perform at Dragon Mart 2 at 6.30pm whilst later in the week Mohammed Abdo will take to the stage at Dubai World Trade Centre on 6 September at 9pm to delight fans with a raft of hit songs. The highly anticipated fireworks will take place on the first day of Eid at Dubai Festival City at 9pm and 11pm. Firework displays will also take place at The Beach opposite JBR daily from August 31 to September 3 at 8.45pm. The venue will also host various performances on a daily basis to keep families entertained throughout the Eid holiday. La Perle as it opens its doors this Eid from 31st August. Sports-lovers can head to Dubai World Trade Centre which is hosting the 7th edition of Dubai Sports World featuring sports, tournaments, academies and activities designed for both serious athletes and sporting novices of all ages.

More than 100 human resources experts from Dubai’s hospitality sector attended the 2nd Dubai College of Tourism HR Forum organised recently by the Dubai College of Tourism (DCT). The Forum was designed to provide recruitment and training specialists in hotels the opportunity to get a better understanding of UAE’s labour laws and find solutions to various work-related challenges. DCT, an institution established by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism),  plays a key role in human resources development in the emirate’s tourism industry and serves as a crucial link between Dubai Tourism and the trade to further enhance the quality of tourism services and the overall visitor experience. During the event held at The Address – Boulevard Hotel, speakers from government and private sector entities addressed the gathering of human resources professionals, covering topics such as Emiratisation, labour laws, and recruitment of staff. The participants were able to glean useful information and get advice from experts during the Q & A session that followed each presentation. Olivier R. Harnisch, CEO of Emaar Hospitality praised the work done by DCT and highlighted the fact that its Emiratisation objectives align with that of Emaar Hospitality. Major Majid AlZarouni, Head of Licensing Department, Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA), a unit of Dubai Police that is responsible for the training of security guards, spoke on issues related to the hiring of security guards including their visas and salaries.

This year, Dubai Tourism has provided alternate higher education options for high school leavers, who dont wish to take the traditional academic route to university. The newly inaugurated Dubai College of Tourism, a government-backed institution that will specialise in vocational training for the Emirate’s thriving tourism and hospitality sectors, is now accepting applications for its September 2017 ‘Introduction to the Tourism Industry’ course. The vocational courses offered by DCT have been designed to provide a middle ground between on-the-job training and a purely theoretical degree. Students will learn practical and marketable skills that have a direct application in real life, and the training will open new doors, allowing students to explore a myriad of exciting and rewarding career opportunities. DCT’s courses are focused around five core faculties – Tourism, Events, Hospitality, Retail and Culinary Arts – and aims to help young people learn various trade and soft skills from established professionals in the industry. The college aims to educate and empower the future leaders, entrepreneurs and employees of Dubai’s expanding tourism industry, ensuring a steady pipeline of highly trained hospitality professionals for the city. Until now, there have been very limited options for this type of vocational training within Dubai. According to a 2014 Deloitte study, only one to three percent of Dubai’s students enrol in vocational education after high school, something which could lead to labour shortages within key industries in the future. With Dubai’s tourism and hospitality sectors set to employ a workforce of more than half a million by 2020, the dedicated industry-focused vocational training offered by DCT, has never been more important.

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) recently participated in Dubai Tourism’s ‘Medyaf’ initiative, which is conducted regularly to provide opportunities to UAE nationals to acquire appropriate training and become adept professionals of any sector of the tourism and hospitality industry. The ultimate aim of the project is to build a force of skilful tourism professionals from within the country who could take care of the 20 million guests that are expected to visit Dubai for Expo 2020. Dubai Culture’s participation in this training programme reflects its commitment to nurturing and empowering national talent. Through this training programme, which was held at Shangri-La Hotel on July 18, Dubai Culture aimed to enhance the technical skills of its staff specialising in history, Islamic civilisation and tourism. It also launched a cultural tour guide programme and trained the first batch of employees in this initiative, who were drawn from across the Authority’s numerous heritage sites, including the recently unveiled Etihad Museum. It received a large number of applications from candidates seeking to get trained for the roles of cultural tour guide, customer service, etc. Source – Dubai Media Center

The Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), is gearing up to usher in the 10th edition of the “Eid in Dubai” celebrations with a diverse line-up of events designed to offer families, residents and visitors many memorable moments during the upcoming Eid Al Fitr. This year’s ‘Eid in Dubai – Eid Al Fitr’ celebrations promise to be as exciting as it can get with a range of events and activities for everyone to enjoy including concerts by Arab stars, family oriented events hosted by malls and Modhesh World, one of the most popular indoor edutainment destinations in the region. To celebrate the 10th edition, ‘Eid in Dubai’ will also have plenty of surprises and prizes for Eid shoppers including a six week sale from July 1 to August 12 by Dubai Summer Surprises, the ‘Shop, Spin & Win’ promotion run by the Dubai Shopping Malls Group, with the support of DFRE, and offering AED 250,000 in instant prizes. Saeed Mohammad Measam Al Falasi, Executive Director, Retail and Strategic Alliances, DFRE, said, “As an annual celebration that unites people from different nationalities from across Dubai, there is a great deal of anticipation surrounding Eid in Dubai events. In celebrating a decade of success, this year we want to ensure that everyone in the emirate feels the joy of Eid, in keeping with the true spirit of the slogan of Eid in Dubai – ‘United in Celebration’.”

This year has been carefully planned out by the Dubai Tourism authority to enhance the retail tourism sector with super sales that run for short periods of time attracting the GCC tourists and residents alike. Retail therapy starts early this summer in Dubai with the 3-day Super Sale, a new citywide retail initiative that will offer shoppers the opportunity to pick up amazing deals across a range of merchandise at participating outlets from May 18-20. Organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), the 3-day Super Sale will offer shoppers incredible discounts of between 30 – 90 % on selected items at retailers across the city.  Saeed Mohammad Measam Al Falasi, Executive Director, Retail and Strategic Alliances, DFRE, said: “The 3-Day Super Sale initiative is part of our robust strategy revolving around the Retail Calendar to further boost the emirate’s retail sector with regular promotional periods that benefit both retailers and shoppers. Running promotions that offer retailers numerous options to boost sales during this time of the year will further enhance the emirate’s appeal as a year-round shopping hub, and helps us build on Dubai’s strong position as only the second city after London to host the most number of retail brands. The timing is perfect for shoppers, coming early in the summer and just a few days before the start of the month of Ramadan, followed by the Eid holiday period. We expect to re-energise the retail sector at this event, as large number of shoppers are bound to avail themselves of three days of huge savings.” According to a report by the Dubai Chamber of …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), announced the launch of “Dubai Expert,” an online educational game that has been created exclusively for travel agents. The announcement was made to travel professionals attending this year’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. Created in collaboration with the Dubai College of Tourism (DCT) and KTM Advance, a specialist in e-learning, the learning tool is a marked departure from traditional training programmes. It features an engaging interface that includes information on Dubai’s tourism attractions in an easily-digestible format that will enable agents to promote the Emirate as the ideal holiday destination to their customers from around the world. Speaking at ATM 2017, Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: “Our partnerships with travel agents are critical to us as we look to expand our influence and reach across industry channels and stakeholders that influence tourists looking to visit Dubai. This also means that we need to keep developing new tools that allow us and our partners to highlight what makes Dubai a ‘must-visit’ destination. With the ‘Dubai Expert’ platform, we have used technology innovation to transcend typical training programmes and create an experience that enhances their knowledge of Dubai, so they can build customised itineraries that will attract more visitors. ‘Dubai Expert’ has been created to facilitate this process and is part of our continued endeavour to achieve our strategic goal of welcoming 20 million visitors by 2020.” ‘Dubai Expert’ operates as a turn-based card game, where participants will need to select the best cards – each with an attraction in the city – from an automatically generated deck, to create an ideal itinerary for a …