Dubai travel agents stay close to home |
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Significantly fewer Dubai hotels and travel agents are going to the World Travel Market in London next week despite reduced costs and the fact that the UK is the emirate's largest single source of visitors, says the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)
.Seventy-seven hotels and tour operators would take part this year, down from the 102 at last year's event, the DTCMDTCM
said. The department had halved its rental rates for space at the market to encourage participation.A source at the DTCMDTCM
said a number of hotels and tour operators did not have the budgets for the event this year and were not convinced that attending the event would boost visitors, given the economic downturn in the UK. A number of hoteliers had said they were focusing their marketing efforts on countries such as India, China and the rest of the GCC.
Space at the Dubai display this year was priced at between US$10,000 (Dh36,730) and $50,000 depending on size and location, hoteliers said.
Dubai will have the same amount of space at the show as last year, but this year some of it will be used for displaying models of the new One&Only resort on the Palm Jumeirah, and a cruise sailing ship called Sea Cloud Hussar, said Saleh al Geziry, the director of overseas promotions and inward missions for the DTCMDTCM.
"A lot of companies are joining their corporate stands rather than having a stand with us," said Mr al Geziry. "It's a strategic decision."
"The Dubai stand will help attract and explore new business opportunities from the UK and Europe, which has remained the largest source market for Dubai's booming tourism industry since 2002," the DTCMDTCM said in a statement.
Mr al Geziry said the exhibition would also be used for the international launch of its "Definitely Dubai" branding campaign.
The emirate's tourism industry has been hit hard by a decline in visitors from the UK and the rest of Europe this year. In the first half of the year, the number of visitors from the UK and Ireland fell by 6.4 per cent to 391,554 from 418,151 in the same period last year, the DTCMDTCM reported.
Sea Cloud Hussar, a luxury ship under construction in Spain, is said to be the world's largest cruise ship powered by sails. A spokeswoman for Sea Cloud Cruises, which has its headquarters in Germany, confirmed that the ship would be based in Dubai for four months from December next year and sail to destinations including Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain.
By Rebecca Bundhun
© The National 2009
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