Dubai - all year round. Difficult, but possible ...
So say the participants in the tourism market of Russia and their Emirate colleagues. From June 6 to 10, 2008, the second annual summer conference "Dubai - an all-weather destination" was held in Dubai under the patronage of the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing of the Government of Dubai (DTKM). The second time, a three-day conference was organized by the Russian travel operator Intravel-St Oleshniki together with the Dubai-based tourist company Royal Park Tourism Services and the five-star beach hotel Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa, located on the coast of Jumeirah.
Representatives of leading travel agencies from different cities of Russia: Moscow, Vologda, Kolomna, Ivanovo, Novosibirsk, Astrakhan and others, as well as Russian leaders gathered to attract interest in the development of Dubai as a place for active and family vacations in the summer. insurance and legal companies. This one-of-a-kind event aims to develop Dubai's summer potential for Russians. And, it seems, he is making some progress in this matter.
At present, Russia and the CIS countries are in third place after Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in terms of tourists coming to the emirate of Dubai. Only from Russia in 2007, 473 thousand tourists came to Dubai. According to statistics provided by the DTCM, the tourism industry accounts for 35% of Dubai’s GDP.
The conference participants, who arrived in Dubai in early June, were shown various summer vacation opportunities in the Emirates. Representatives of Dubai emphasized that Dubai at any time of the year provides a favorable and safe environment for relaxation, many amenities, festivals and entertainment, as well as excellent service. Today, Dubai has 51 shopping centers and 331 hotels and 140 hotel apartments. By 2010, it is planned to bring the number of accommodation facilities to 70 thousand rooms. By the end of the year, the third terminal of the Dubai International Airport will be commissioned, and by 2010 it is planned to launch a new international air port - Dubai World Central, designed for 150 million passengers a year. In addition, it was repeatedly noted that all rooms and vehicles in the Emirates are air-conditioned, therefore, the influence of summer heat is almost not felt here.
The conference program consisted of two plenary sessions at which participants in the Russian and Emirate tourism markets discussed the promotion of the Dubai tourist destination as year-round in Russia and the CIS countries.
With the assistance of DTKM, the conference participants made familiarization trips to the main Dubai new buildings - Burj Dubai, The World, The Palm Jumeirah, visited the Ski Dubai indoor ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates, and visited a desert safari. During the meetings, the participants of the conference were presented by the emirate of Dubai, prepared by the DTCM managers on foreign advertising campaigns and working with foreign markets, the Dubai Summer Surprises festival, as well as the existing and recently opened city and beach hotels of 4 and 5 star categories - Habtoor Grand, Le Royal Meridien and Grosvenor House, Atlantis Hotel, hotels of Jumeirah and Rotana groups, Westin Hotel and others. During the presentation of the annual summer festival “Dubai Summer Surprises”, the organizing committee representatives told the conference participants about unique summer offers in shopping centers and hotels of the city, dizzying discounts and incredible lotteries. Representatives of the Department of Immigration of Dubai also spoke before the audience, who spoke about the innovations regarding entry visas to the UAE. Representatives of the tourism and hospitality sector of Dubai, heads of state departments answered the questions of the conference participants.
The main problems raised during the conference by Russian tour operators and representatives of travel agencies, again was the limited supply of rooms in beach hotels on the coast of Jumeirah, the demand for which is traditionally great, insufficient information support for such a promising area as Dubai. Conference participants from the Russian side expressed their doubts about the successful promotion of Dubai as an all-season tourist destination without proper state support from the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing of the Government of Dubai, citing the massive advertising campaigns of competitive summer destinations - Turkey and Egypt as an example.
In general, the conference allowed delegates to debate on hot topics, try to resolve issues that could become a "stumbling block" while promoting a tourist product such as Dubai in the summer, and exchange views on the formation of new, more attractive summer vacation packages in the UAE. Later, the conference delegates were given the opportunity to spend two days in one of the resorts of the emirate of Fujairah, on the east coast of the UAE.
It is hoped that the week spent by representatives of Russian travel agencies in the UAE in early summer will allow them to tell their clients about the positive aspects of this country so that it will attract a new wave of Russian tourists to Dubai. Families, couples or singly. The main thing is to go. And they remembered that Dubai all year round is real, and in the summer it’s also interesting.
