Tag Archives: Issam Kazim

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is rolling out a set of initiatives to deliver end-to-end ‘Only in Dubai’ experiences to ensure tourists get to enjoy an unforgettable stay in the emirate, and encourage repeat visitation, as part of efforts to further strengthen and sustain the city’s world-class propositions. One of the key pillars of Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2022-2025, the ‘Only in Dubai’ set of initiatives will deliver authentic and world-class end-to-end destination experiences across travel touchpoints that are tailored to relevant segments of tourists. The tourism strategy announced by Dubai’s visionary leadership aims to make Dubai the most-visited city in the world, targeting 25 million visitors annually by 2025, and the unparalleled ‘Only in Dubai’ experiences will offer regular unexpected delight moments and active reduction of detractor moments or pain points that will positively impact guest happiness to inspire the millions of tourists to re-visit Dubai. Measuring visitor recommendation and satisfaction is being done through Tourism’s Happiness Index, which was launched under His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai. This index measures not only Dubai’s ability to exceed service expectations, but also helps ensure that every visitor to Dubai becomes a passionate loyalist and a firm advocate of the city. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “While our world-class propositions and experiences showcase the diversity of the destination offerings and provide segment-based preferences for tourists, we are working closely with our partners and stakeholders to curate, create and deliver personalised end-to-end experiences. Visitors will be able to enjoy at every step of their journey, which starts from …

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 …

The Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced a new social media competition under the #MyDubai initiative, offering Dubai residents the chance to win two Emirates return tickets for their friends and family to visit them in the city. The competition will select two winners each week for 15 weeks starting from October 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019. The competition calls on all residents to share compelling moments in their lives that highlight the diverse culture and soul of the city. Participants can submit their entries on the MyDubai Facebook page, or simply upload those on their personal Instagram and Twitter accounts by using #MyDubai and #MyInvite. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing said, “The passion for the emirate that exists amongst both UAE nationals and the communities of more than 200 nationalities living here is a key driver for Dubai’s success. These residents take pride in posting about their experiences in the city and sharing their special moments with the world. The best advocates of a city are the people who live in it and through this campaign, we hope to encourage residents to highlight what truly lies beneath the urban and technological experiences and highlight why Dubai has maintained its position as the fourth most-visited city in the world. What started out four years ago as a city-wide initiative to create the world’s first autobiography of a city has today grown into a mammoth library of user-generated content that has allowed us to tell a unique story by capturing real-life dynamic moments that both residents and visitors experience in this remarkable destination”.

The 57th ICCA Congress is set to take place from Nov 11-14, 2018 at Dubai World Trade Centre under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince, Dubai and Chairman, Executive Council of Dubai. The event will be familiarising delegates with the ICCA “Outside The Box Sessions” by introducing them to curated tours and site visits, showcasing the city’s cultural offerings, ground-breaking innovation and talent development. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “The 2018 ICCA Congress is a key event for the global business events community and provides Dubai a platform to showcase itself as a business and knowledge hub. We hope these experiences, which involve some of our key stakeholders and partners across the city, will inspire delegates and allow them to consider future opportunities in the Dubai. They will also complement the strong core educational programme that ICCA has put together for delegates, as well as the networking and social events throughout the congress.” To help delegates build a more cohesive picture of Dubai, delegates can expect to explore the Expo 2020 Dubai site and see first-hand the scale of the global event and how it is set to provide opportunities for meeting industry professionals. The “Outside The Box Sessions” will also see delegates take a tour of the Emirates airline crew training academy and experience the development of skills as well as the importance of aviation to the city’s development. During the tour, delegates will have a first-hand look at the Emirates airline’s safety and emergency evacuation simulators, service training simulators, as well as the A380 cabin service simulator, among many others.

Dubai has been announced as the winner of the bid to host the 2019 edition of the biggest annual international gathering of destination wedding industry, the Destination Wedding Planners (DWP) Congress, which is set to take place at the iconic Atlantis, The Palm hotel. Dubai overcame stiff competition from several countries to win the bid to host the 6th Annual of the Destination Wedding Planners (DWP) Congress, the premier business-to-business networking event in the USD 300 billion global wedding industry. More than 500 delegates from over 70 countries are expected to attend the three-day conference from March 27th to 29th 2019, to be held in Dubai’s iconic five-star hotel and luxury resort, Atlantis the Palm. Commenting on the upcoming congress, Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “Dubai already holds a strong appeal for destination weddings, and hosting an event like the Destination Wedding Planners Congress will give us the opportunity to familiarise more of the industry with the city. It will also place Dubai at the forefront of the sector’s development and enable the city’s stakeholders to be involved in discussions about the key issues affecting it and shaping its future.” “We at Atlantis, The Palm see great value in the Destination Wedding Planners Congress and look forward to welcoming global wedding and events companies to collaborate and develop this important sector during the 2019 event,” comments Ian Renton, Director of Group Sales at Atlantis.

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.”

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.”  

In a keynote address at the opening session of Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum, Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) confirmed that Dubai remains on track to receive one million cruise passengers by 2020. Addressing delegates, he also referred to DCTCM’s plan to ensure that cruise passengers felt the ‘soul’ of Dubai and there would be an extra concentration on excursions showing the heritage of the city and its older parts. Around 17 cruise line executives from 14 of the world’s leading cruise lines attended the annual two-day event held at Lapita, located within Dubai Parks and Resorts, Dubai. The programme focused on a number of key discussion points, including extending seasonality, opportunities for niche cruising, port and destination development, link with India, the Suez Canal and Red Sea, shore excursion offerings, supporting the needs of the crew and exploiting the potential for inbound Chinese tourism. The event’s return to Dubai reflects the regional significance for the future of cruising in the Arabian Gulf.