WELCOME DTCM
the ‘Internet Awards Middle East in the Best Government Website’ category, the Definitely Dubai portal caters to three distinctly different audiences – tourists, business travellers and residents – in five languages. In 2011, DefinitelyDubai brought the emirate to visitors’ fingertips with the launch of its smart phone application. These smart phone apps enrich the Dubai experience with a range of highly functional and useful features. Using ‘Near Me’ tourists can scan their surroundings to locate nearby attractions and landmarks, while the ‘Deals’ feature provides shoppers with an extensive list of special offers running across the city.
GREEN TOURISM A slew of Green Tourism initiatives have been launched by DTCM to help the city’s hospitality industry reduce its electricity and water consumption and present its environmentally-friendly properties to guests from across the world. In 2009, DTCM launched the Dubai Green Tourism Award to encourage five, four and three-star hotels to reduce hotel carbon emissions by 20%. In 2011, the award submissions were extended to include twostar hotels and standard hotel apartments. Through the Green Tourism initiative, the department has been successful in reducing CO2 in the tourism industry by 20% and the target for the year 2012 is 30%. Dubai now has over 576 Green Teams in hotels and more than 1,500 tourism industry professionals have been trained under this programme. This year DTCM also launched ‘Together for a Green Environment’ initiative that aims to improve the tourism industry’s service standards through the development of projects and events that support and enhance the concept of sustainable tourism and social responsibility. More than 175 participants, including hotel owners, directors, general managers and tour operators, attended this training to share and discuss their experiences and achievements.
TRAVEL FAIRS Tourism expositions form a significant platform for DTCM in showcasing Dubai. The department participates actively in local and international travel fairs to promote brand Dubai. Tourism Manual 2013
The Dubai tourism industry also shone at IMEX America Show held in October 2011. IMEX America is the world’s newest exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events. The show witnessed the largest hostedbuyer programme ever-held in North America with over 1,500 exhibitors from across the world in attendance. 16 co-participants shared the impressive 1,539-square-feet Dubai Stand.
ROAD SHOWS
Creeekside Park DTCM made the most of the 19th edition of the prestigious Arabian Travel Mart 2012 to showcase the best of Dubai and how it has been working to enhance the performance and quality standards of the tourism industry in the emirate. Dubai stand witnessed a 29% increase in the number of co-participants with a record number of 183 companies and government organisations joining hands with the DTCM. A delegation of Dubai’s top hotels was led by DTCM at the 18th International Trade Fair for Tourism OTDYKH Leisure Moscow 2012 in September. OTDYKH Leisure Moscow is one of the foremost tourism exhibitions in Russia. The Russia/CIS/ Baltics (RCB) market is considered one of the most promising ones for the emirate as it attracts an extraordinary number of tourists every year. DTCM went a step further to consolidate the Dubai tourism industry’s position through its first-ever participation in the Riyadh Travel Fair (RTF). Saudi Arabia has been a major regional tourist source market for Dubai; the kingdom was first among Dubai’s Top 20 markets in 2011 and Q1 2012 in terms of hotel guests. The Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meeting Exhibition (GIBTM) 2012 was another successful forum for the Dubai Convention Bureau, a division of DTCM. Dubai is a key MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) destination and ranked among the top 10 most popular business destinations in 2011. After the 2012 show, the Dubai Convention Bureau conducted a study mission for eight American
corporate meeting planners to promote Dubai as a MICE destination in the North American market. The Dubai Convention Bureau also conducted two study missions from the Chinese market aimed at developing MICE players from Guangzhou and the Delta Pearl Area. The Americas Meetings and Events Exhibition (AIBTM) held in June 2012 provided the perfect showcase for DTCM and its co-participants to promote Dubai’s convention and business tourism facilities in the US. Taking place at a time that is witnessing rapid growth in air traffic between the US and GCC, the exhibition brought together 3000 meeting professionals from across the globe. For the 23rd consecutive year, Dubai had a strong presence at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) held in March this year. The 528 square metre Dubai stand was shared by 115 co-participants, a 33% increase from the previous year’s participation. The Definitely Dubai smartphone apps were also introduced at this exposition. DTCM participated in the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) held in New Delhi in February. South Asia is one of the top five sources for leisure and business visitors for Dubai and as such is a strategic market. The finest travel exhibition of India and South Asia, SATTE is a one of a kind forum featuring buyer-seller meet in the region. With an aim to boost inward traffic to the emirate from India, DTCM and its coparticipants had a strong presence at the exhibition showcasing Dubai’s top attractions and landmarks.
As a part of its promotional drives, DTCM stages various road shows and workshops globally. In May, DTCM intensified its drive to promote Dubai as a year-round tourism destination in Japan by conducting road shows in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. More than 300 tourism and travel trade professionals in addition to Japanese media representatives attended the workshopformat road shows. To boost the number of Indian travellers to Dubai and to intensify its network with the Indian travel industry, DTCM conducted the Dubai India Tourism Roadshow 2012. The Roadshow covered the cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Ahmedabad, and comprised of workshops that targeted over 1,000 Indian trade professionals.
RAISING THE BAR DTCM strives to ensure that it continues its world class development by involving itself with world class people at all levels. Offering a vocational hands-on approach to learning, it set up Training Solutions, a unique programme that combines the best learning and training tools in the market. An active participant in local career fairs, it is dedicated to attracting talented and committed professionals. Joining hands with the American Hotel and Lodging Association and Cambridge University, DTCM offers training solutions that give students an insider’s look into the hospitality and tourism industry. Launched in 2011, the Dubai Expert Online Programme is another innovative training solution of DTCM. The modular and flexible elearning scheme helps travel agents build on their knowledge of Dubai and sell the city as a destination of choice to their customers. 13