Tag Archives: Dubai Tourism

In a first, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has organised a series of workshops, inviting hotels, tourism agencies and environmental organisations to review the progress of the Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) initiative. Its aim is to explore ways how sustainability standards can be further enhanced to support effective resource management across various hotel classifications, and to contribute effectively to raising professional awareness towards the environment, the economy, and the use of natural resources. These focus groups are a tangible demonstration of Dubai Tourism’s continuing commitment to work closely with its tourism and hospitality stakeholders to promote sustainable tourism and achieve the goals set out in the Tourism Vision 2020. Connecting 40 leading hotel operators, owners and representatives from hotel establishments, as well as environmental organisations, the event offered an interactive platform to discuss knowledge-sharing to discuss the feasibility and implementation of timelines for 19 new industry sustainability standards developed by DST. Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism, said, “Working in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a sustainable environmental destination, the credible and feasible sustainability standards and certification schemes are key tools in the transformation of our tourism industry, working in line with the city’s overall clean energy and sustainable development targets”.

Highlighting Dubai’s position as a leading winter cruise destination, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is on track to welcome 1 million cruise tourists by 2020-21. DTCM also emphasised on the city’s growing popularity as a global cruise destination viable for pre-cruise and post-cruise stopovers, and an apt homeport in the region at the Seatrade Cruise Global in Florida, USA, a leading event for the cruise industry. Exhibited under the Cruise Arabia banner, Dubai Tourism brought together the tourism authorities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain on a unified stand with the goal of promoting the region as a whole, and improving business sustainability and development. The three-day event also saw networking and business opportunities with leading brands in the global cruise industry, to discuss deployments and homeporting opportunities in Dubai to heighten the awareness of the destination’s cruise offerings to a global audience. Hamad Bin Mejren, Senior Vice President, Dubai Tourism, said, “Cruise Tourism is certainly a key industry for the Gulf and we are dedicated to educating consumers around the world about the region as a key winter cruising destination. We have been working to highlight Dubai’s ease of accessibility with the latest introduction of a multi-entry UAE visit visa exclusively for cruise tourists, as well as simplified immigration and cruise-specific visa procedures on our online portals.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is cementing the emirate’s position as one of the top destinations to celebrate Chinese New Year with 10 days of Chinese festivities happening across the city. Running from February 15-24, there will be a host of activities celebrating Chinese New Year for residents and visitors to enjoy, from traditional Chinese dining offerings to breathtaking shows including contortionist dancers, acrobat wheel and a two-time Guinness World record breaking show, as well as shopping promotions in major retail outlets. Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of Dubai Tourism, said: “China is a key source market for us and Dubai welcomes an increasing number of Chinese visitors each year. Along with our strategic partners, we’re excited to announce that this year’s celebration of Chinese New Year will be bigger and better than ever before, with an expanded line up of activities set to spread the festive cheer across the city.”

India retained the top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets in 2017, contributing 2.1 million visitors and becoming the first country to cross the two-million mark in a single year. The country’s performance represented a 15 per cent year-on-year increase and validated, among other factors, the success of Dubai Tourism’s ongoing collaboration with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the #BeMyGuest campaign. Commenting on the annual performance, His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said, “Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the emirate has continued to capture share of the global outbound travel market, complemented by a significant increase in tourism-driven economic contribution to the country’s GDP.” Driven by India, the South Asia region, in the third place, contributed an 18 per cent share of over 2.8 million visitors, up a strong 10.6 per cent, followed by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and North and South-East Asia regions sharing the fourth position, each contributing close to 1.7 million visitors and independently commanding 11 per cent share, the former recording a 3.2 per cent increase and the latter, an impressive 23.6 per cent over 2016 visitation figures.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has collaborated with two digital tour apps to launch two new free Dubai tours that will help visitors discover and learn more about historic sites and landmarks in the city. The tours, titled ‘Metro Moments’ and ‘Al Fahidi Architecture Tour’, are available to download for free from the Apple Store and Google Play. Supported by GPS technology, both tours use audio narrations to guide visitors through Dubai, automatically progressing from one point of interest to the next in real time, depending on the user’s location. The pre-recorded audio is available in English, Chinese and German and each tour also comes in text form and is accompanied by a map to help with navigation. Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Tourism Development and Investments at Dubai Tourism, said, “In accordance with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, we are continually looking for ways to enhance the visitor experience in Dubai, ensuring it is a city that is accessible for all. The launch of these audio tours will help people from all over the world gain an enhanced understanding of Dubai.”

The Dubai Fountain is set to add the Korean pop song, ‘Power’ from the popular Korean boy band EXO to its list of melodies. The song’s inauguration will take place on January 16, 2018. In addition to key media representatives from UAE, GCC, China and South Korea, influencers and fans as well as EXO members and organisers are expected to watch the premiere of the song played at the fountain. “We are thrilled that visitors to The Dubai Fountain will be entertained with EXO’s latest song. Dubai is at the crossroads of the world and it’s only fitting that a major Asian group’s music should become an integral part of one of the most visited attractions in the city.” said Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Tourism. Ahmad Al Falasi, Executive Director – Group Operations, Emaar Properties, said, “Our goal with The Dubai Fountain is to engage every visitor and offer them a memorable time through spectacular performances set to world-famous songs.  The rhythmic swaying of the fountain to the beats of Power will be a delight for all, especially for fans of K-Pop.”  

An introduction conference ‘Beautiful China Amazing Ningxia’ held at JW Marriott Marquise in Dubai was organised by Tourism Development Commission of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and prepared by China Travel Service of Ningxia, representatives from Dubai Tourism Bureau, Chinese and foreign travel agencies along with news media attended the event. Qiu Weining, Senior Executive, International Operation Department, Dubai Tourism Bureau began the conference with a welcome speech. “Dubai creates as world travel destination at all times and welcomes other tourism bureaus from all over the world to promote themselves with inclusive attitude. Ningxia is a very beautiful place and worth to pay visit”, he said. Hu Ling, Vice President, Chia Association of Travel Services, Chairman of Ningxia Travel Agency Association, then delivered a speech. She said, “Ningxia with its abundant scenic spots and traditional Hui folk culture, is one of the world’s 46 best places to visit, according to The New York Times.”

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.