Keep Discovering Dubai Campaign Successfully Wraps Up
Over 2400 trade and media visitors to Dubai in less than two months
DUBAI, U.A.E, 8th June 2009 - Keep discovering Dubai, the largest familiarization initiative ever witnessed in Dubai, has successfully seen over 2400 travel trade and media representatives experience the emirate in less than two months, helping to push tourism and further broaden Dubai’s international appeal.
In partnership with a number of key stakeholders including; Emirates airline and Group, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Dubai hoteliers and Destination Management Companies (DMCs), the campaign included hosted visits of travel trade, MICE organisers and media. Travelling from a total of 62 countries, across six weekends and incorporating over 7,300 hotel room nights, the initiative has been a critical step in further extending Dubai’s reach in these challenging global economic times.
This landmark programme is expected to help bolster and position Dubai as a first choice holiday and conference destination around the globe, with international media exposure from the campaign already proving positive. Feedback from the travel trade has also been exemplary, with many important business relationships established, that are expected to prove fruitful for the Dubai tourism sector across the coming months.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates airline and Group said: “The Keep discovering Dubai campaign is a shining example of Dubai’s key players working together to drive and sustain a positive and lasting image of Dubai. The unique mix of nationalities hosted from across the world has helped Dubai further position itself globally as a leading holiday destination, an important step in retaining market share within the current environment. Emirates has always been committed to actively promoting Dubai around the world and we are pleased that the campaign has been such a success.
“Across the coming months we expect to see a heightened interest in Dubai globally. The purpose of this trip was not only to generate positive leads but also to create lasting business relationships with the many people that visited Dubai. Furthermore, the intense media scrutiny Dubai has received over the last few months has now been overshadowed by the positive experiences of the many high profile international media invited as part of the campaign.”
Mr. Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, DTCM Executive Director Operations and Marketing Division, said: “The unique campaign, combining both the travel trade professionals and media representatives, has helped tremendously in creating better awareness about Dubai and its strong tourism product offerings to visitors from different parts of the world. The tourism industry will benefit enormously from this initiative in the months to come and this will help boost hotel occupancies and visitors’ number to Dubai.
“At the DTCM, we continue to aggressively promote and market Dubai in our established and emerging source markets. Keep discovering Dubai formed part of our overall strategy that we are pursuing in the wake of changing global economic environment. We are confident that Dubai will be able to post far better results than other destinations in the near future. It is critical that we maintain a constant dialogue with international travel agents, tour operators and MICE agents, about the destination and its growing strengths and attractions. This campaign has helped achieved significant goals that we have set for it, in consultation with the tourism industry players in the emirate.”
Hundreds of people from multiple nationalities, working across the travel and tourism industry in Dubai, helped coordinate and bring the Keep discovering Dubai campaign to fruition, creating a seamless programme built on Dubai’s core strengths of warm Arabian hospitality, inspirational developments and natural beauty.
Each group that took part in the campaign was individually managed, ensuring the highest quality service throughout. MICE organizers were also targeted as part of the Keep discovering Dubai campaign, in a bid to secure a higher share of the lucrative global meetings, conference and exhibition market.
To further reinforce the key messages and maintain the global buzz achieved during the Keep discovering Dubai campaign, Emirates airline and Group have invested an additional AED 40 million promoting Dubai in their new Meet Dubai global advertising campaign.