Tag Archives: Issam Kazim

Dubai Business Events (DBE) hosted the third edition of Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat from 9-12 January, 2020. The retreat was held as part of the city’s wider efforts to attract destination weddings and further diversify Dubai’s visitor base. Over the course of four days, the retreat welcomed over 75 destination wedding planners, industry experts and influencers from around the globe with participants coming from India, Turkey, Lebanon, Nigeria, UK, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, US, China, Australia and GCC. The itinerary consisted of inspection visits and events at key hotels, venues and attractions around the city in partnership with stakeholders in the hospitality, events and entertainment sectors. Highlights of the retreat included- an opening party at The Ritz-Carlton Dubai; a themed lunch at Kinara by Vikas Khanna at the new JA Lake View Hotel; a gala dinner at Sofitel Dubai The Palm; and a closing party at Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai. In addition, the retreat included a Leadership Forum at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai, with experts discussing current trends and challenges in the destination wedding sector as well as a workshop of business meetings between the participants and Dubai based wedding industry suppliers.   Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “During their stay, the wedding planners were able to see and experience the city’s diverse offerings and services available to them, and all of this was made possible by the strong support we saw from stakeholders across Dubai, in addition to broadening the overall tourism horizon. As we continue to leverage opportunities to further expand Dubai’s visitor base, destination weddings hold strong potential, with the city’s combination of world class and …

Dubai showcased its diverse business events offerings and capabilities at IBTM World in Barcelona held on November 19-21, 2019. Dubai Business Events (DBE) is once again leading Dubai’s strong presence at the trade show, joined by key partners and stakeholders as they collectively continue to grow the city’s business events sector, a key contributor to tourism and the wider economy. IBTM World has welcomed over 13,000 industry professionals, providing a business platform to promote Dubai’s qualities as a host city for meetings, conferences, and corporate incentive travel programmes during one of the largest trade events globally. Among the co-exhibitors joining DBE at IBTM World are Expo 2020 Dubai, showcasing the opportunities for meeting planners to host their events at the site or include visits into their itineraries, as well as 20 other key partners and co-exhibitors including Jumeirah Group, Dubai World Trade Centre and Nakheel, presenting the city’s world-class infrastructure and event capabilities across a variety of industries including hospitality, attractions and venues. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “Our robust presence at IBTM World, along with valued stakeholders and partners from across the city, is testament to the level of importance we place on promoting the city’s business events offering, and the crucial role this segment plays in our wider tourism strategy. DBE will continue to engage with business events professionals from around the globe to highlight the city’s capabilities in hosting business events of all sizes, and to put the spotlight on opportunities for knowledge sharing.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) announced a new partnership with Tencent Games to develop ‘The Map’, featuring Dubai within the successful online game application. LEGO Cube is a sandbox game developed and operated by Tencent Games under the license of the LEGO Group, featuring LEGO bricks, mini-figures, and other iconic LEGO properties. The free-to-download-and-play game offers players an inventive platform to creatively explore and develop Dubai’s famous landmarks in a virtual world on command. This unique offering showcases Dubai Tourism’s continued efforts to provide customised, engaging, and interactive campaigns aimed at keeping the city top of mind for Chinese travellers. The Map, developed and published by Tencent Games, projects the emirate on a virtual platform, allowing players to experience Dubai’s many local and cultural landmarks. As a city renowned for its forward-thinking and futuristic programming aimed at offering visitors exceptional experiences, it is an ideal destination to be incorporated into the innovative platform. The interactive ‘Map’ features some of Dubai’s most celebrated attractions such as Atlantis The Palm, Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Dubai Frame, Dubai Opera, LEGOLAND Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Green Planet, La Perle, Ski Dubai, and Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. Players are encouraged to delve into the game to learn more about Dubai’s diverse destination offering, with the added opportunity to build recognisable landmarks with LEGO Cube. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), commented, “China continues to consolidate its status as one of the city’s top-performing source markets, and we remain committed to engaging Chinese outbound tourists through innovative and highly targeted marketing activities for their future travel plans. This exciting new partnership with Tencent Games leverages the global trend …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing hosted a series of strategic meetings with tourism and media companies across the GCC, highlighting the positive performance of the emirate’s tourism industry during the first eight months of 2019. The series of stakeholder meetings discussed the region’s standing as Dubai’s strongest volume generator (representing 20 per cent of all tourists welcomed into the city) in the first eight months of the year, with its lead contributor, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), bringing in more than one million tourists as the second largest source market. Chaired by Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), the meetings were held as part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to further enhancing collaboration with partners in traditional strongholds and emerging markets in line with Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2022-2025. The delegation toured Kuwait, followed by Riyadh, and Jeddah, and included senior representatives from Expo 2020 who provided an update on major developments of the hugely anticipated event and explored effective collaborations in the lead up to a momentous year for the emirate. These partnerships aim to drive stronger destination appeal for target audiences across the GCC, particularly across the family segment and those visiting friends and families, as well as targeting emerging segments. Dubai Tourism’s efforts to create targeted and customised experiences for GCC tourists is reflected in the Department’s always-on calendar of strategic activations, marketing campaigns and ongoing trade and business partnerships.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has reported a stellar incline in tourism volumes from Nigeria, Africa’s largest source market for inbound traffic to Dubai, welcoming 113,000 overnight visitors in the first seven months of 2019. With impressive double-digit growth, inbound traffic from Nigeria to Dubai grew by 28 per cent year-on-year, cementing its position as the emirate’s 17th largest source market. Dubai’s diverse portfolio of attractions has experienced sustained interest amongst Nigerian travellers through ongoing strategic trade partnerships, bespoke integrated marketing campaigns, and always-on social media activations. Building on ongoing efforts to provide a platform to broadcast Dubai’s multifaceted comprehensive offerings to African tourists, Dubai Tourism, led by the CEO, Issam Kazim, showcased its support at the Akwaaba African Travel Market for the fourth consecutive year with a strong delegation of 21 Dubai-based partners, which included a team from Expo 2020 Dubai. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “The immense hospitality and genuine welcome we received during our time in Nigeria paved the way for a hugely successful Akwaaba Travel Market 2019. Our continued presence at industry events such as these is testament to our globally diversified market strategy to engage with key strategic partners, cementing our positive relationship with the African travel trade ecosystem.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced a partnership with Turner Asia Pacific, a WarnerMedia company, to launch a new digital campaign starring the popular Chinese emoticon ‘Tuzki’, as part of efforts to further increase tourist traffic to the emirate from China. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “Through Tuzki, we aim to capture the imagination of Chinese netizens to participate in the campaign via social and digital touchpoints, further highlighting our ongoing efforts to work with relevant industry partners to deliver initiatives that will highlight Dubai as a ‘must-visit’ destination.”  In a clear indication of China’s rising prominence as one of Dubai’s fastest growing source markets, the first seven months of 2019 saw over 575,000 visitors arriving from China – a 12 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2018. Notable successes this year include the launch of the Dubai Mini Assistant, an enhancement of the city-experience Mini Program, one of the applications of the WeChat ecosystem, featuring 10 new mobile-based digital audio tours to highlight in-city accessibility, local historic sites and cultural landmarks for Chinese netizens. The Dubai College of Tourism also launched the Chinese Traveller Standards for tourist-facing staff across city touchpoints to enable them to deliver personalised, exceptional Dubai experiences to every Chinese guest. Chinese netizens will also be inspired to book a Dubai holiday during the National Day Golden Week from October 1-7, 2019.  “This digital rabbit is the perfect ambassador for Chinese tourists to Dubai and will show them that this remarkable place has a unique personality and welcomes them with a sense of fun,” said Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of China …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) hosted a series of strategic meetings with tourism and media companies in Moscow and St. Petersburg recently. The meetings drew attention to Russia’s emergence as the sixth largest source market for Dubai. The number of Russian tourists has grown exponentially over the past few years, from 240,000 in 2016 to 678,000 in 2018 and in the first seven months of this year,  Dubai has welcomed 392,000 visitors from Russia. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), who led the delegation, observed that Russian tourist traffic continued to play an important role in helping Dubai maintain steady tourism volumes. He also noted that following an exceptional resurgence in Russian visitors to Dubai in 2018, largely due to the visa-on-arrival enablement, growth from Russia levelled off to more sustainable volumes in H1 2019. Tour operators and destination management companies, who attended the meetings, included TUI – Russia & CIS, Karlson Tourism, Space Travel TO and Art Tour while Dubai Tourism also held wide-ranging discussions with key media companies including Kommersant Style, Spbdnevnik.ru, Proturizm.club, as well as TV and radio broadcasting company Travel.Vesti.  Dubai Tourism also hosted networking events in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which were attended by over 200 travel trade representatives.  

Momentum is building towards the second edition of the Dubai Association Conference, with more details being unveiled about the event’s rich programme, built around the core theme of ‘Driving change: The societal impact of associations’. Taking place from December 9-10, 2019 at Dubai World Trade Centre and organised by Dubai Association Centre, the agenda of the conference will offer a blend of panel discussions, expert briefings, and interactive sessions, all centred around the core theme and four sub-themes: Community Well-Being, Knowledge and Research, Business and Opportunity, and Creativity and Innovation. The 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 serve as a platform to facilitate discussions on the value proposition of associations that go beyond direct and indirect economic benefits. The programme will be structured by four different pillars that further support the facilitation of these discussions: Impact and Legacy, Designing an Impact Management and Measurement Programme, Organisational Resilience and Foresight, and the Art of Collaboration. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “Along with being a catalyst for business opportunities within a thriving ecosystem, associations have the power to fuel innovation and creativity which ultimately contributes to the wellbeing of society.” Hassan Al Hashemi, Vice President of International Relations at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “Associations are important building blocks for society. They create influential platforms for sharing opinions, they provide fertile ground for the exploration and dissemination of new ideas, and they establish unified codes and procedures.”

Following the success of the first ever City-Experience Mini Programme launched by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in collaboration with WeChat, the programme has been further enhanced with the launch of 10 new digital audio tours which are now available for visitors to use while exploring the city. Inviting the users of China’s most popular social networking site to easily access Dubai’s tourist attractions during their stay, the newly re-branded ‘Dubai Mini Assistant’ elevates the existing programme to a more advanced digital maturity, now offering sophisticated chatbot capabilities, powered by Tencent’s AI technology, to provide seamless experiences and services to Chinese travellers. With robust growth in overnight visitors from China in the first quarter of 2019, the new audio tours further add to the ease of accessibility for these tourists when visiting Dubai, allowing them to discover the city’s many historic sites and cultural landmarks through their mobile phones. Reconfirming its continued commitment to one of the emirate’s top source markets, Dubai Mini Assistant forms part of the Department’s city-wide ‘China Readiness’ strategy, focused on designing an enriching and memorable experience for Chinese travellers. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “China is quickly emerging as one of the fastest growing source markets for Dubai’s tourism industry, with the city welcoming more than 290,000 visitors in the first three months of the year, representing a stellar 13 per cent increase when compared to the same period in 2018.”  

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.