Tag Archives: Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

According to Dubai tourism, Dubai will be the first city to embark on the journey of democratising travel through the use of emerging technologies as it adds an additional distribution channel for hotels in its first phase, as its recently announced 10X initiative. Launched at the World Government Summit by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai Government as one of the ‘Dubai 10X’ projects, Dubai Tourism (DTCM) is set to implement this ground-breaking programme within the next 24 months, enabling Dubai to enhance distribution of its tourism inventory through a future-proofed virtual B2B marketplace for the travel industry. Explaining the objective of 10X, Al Maktoum said, “Success of governments is determined by their ability and flexibility to re-invent themselves, and upgrade their services to cater to the evolving needs of the community.” Dubai Tourism aims to give global guests direct choice across the breadth and depth of the local tourism inventory within a highly safe, transparent and real-time environment. As the first mover in the facilitation of this type of technologically advanced, secure and scalable digital solution for the travel industry, it positions Dubai as a think-thank and innovation leader seeking to truly democratise travel.

The inaugural Dubai Association Conference opened on December 11 at Dubai World Trade Centre under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. Industry leaders from around the globe attended the two-day event. The leaders of the Dubai Association Centre expressed optimism about the future for associations in the emirate. The Dubai Association Conference is being hosted by the Dubai Association Centre (DAC), 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). In the opening session, His Excellency Helal Al Marri, Director General, DTCM and DWTC, and His Excellency Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discussed their vision for growing the association market community in Dubai and the wider Middle East region. The programme will focus on building the association community, skill development for association executives and sharing best practices from around the world.

Facilities provided to the tourism sector in the recent years had raised Dubai’s hotel capacity from 15,000 rooms to more than 100,000 rooms, and tourist arrivals to more than 14.2 million in 2015, revealed Dubai Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on a recent visit to DTCM. He was there to monitor the progress in keeping with the Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Vision 2020. “Sheikh Mohammed’s directives to property developers to develop family leisure destinations will enable us to welcome an additional five million holidaymakers,” he added. Moreover, His Highness’s directives to grant Chinese tourists visas on arrival would bring about a paradigm shift in the sector, Sheikh Hamdan noted. “We are planning to establish Dubai as the first destination for tourists from Asia,” he continued. Sheikh Hamdan directed the team in the presence of Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), to adopt an indirect marketing strategy. Dubai welcomed 14.2 million visitors in 2015, a rise of 7.5 per cent from 2014, according to the DTCM. The growth in visitor numbers is double the United Nations World Travel Organisation’s (UNWTO) projected 3-4 per cent global travel growth for the same period.India has become Dubai’s top tourist source for the first time, with more than 1.6 million visitors in 2015. Saudi Arabia followed with 1.54 million visitors.