Dubai hotels to drop rates by up to 60% for shopping festival

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Hotels in Dubai will offer discounts of up to 60 per cent on room rates besides a 25 per cent reduction in food and beverage prices from mid-January until mid-February to mark the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF)Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), the emirate's Department of Commerce and Tourism Marketing (DTCM)Department of Commerce and Tourism Marketing (DTCM) said yesterday.

"A new marketing campaign aimed at increasing the number of tourists and visitors during DSFDSF is being adopted. The plan includes discounts on room rates ranging from 40 per cent to 60 per cent... The new campaign is slated to begin on January 10 until mid-February to coincide with DSFDSF 2009," the DTCMDTCM said.

Khalid Ahmed bin Sulayem, Director-General of DTCMDTCM, said the campaign includes eight major markets for DTCMDTCM: "the United Kingdom, Germany, the GCC states, India, China, Japan and Australia".

"This campaign comes in the framework of promoting the emirate in all occasions and at all events throughout the year," he said.

The move comes close on the heels of DTCMDTCM's decision to implement a new marketing plan to attract more tourists and visitors from various international markets and the GCC and to revitalise domestic tourism.

"The new marketing strategy will be targeted at services, which aim to attract more tourists and visitors from various international markets besides the GCC nations," said Bin Sulayem said recently.

The department formed a special focus group with the task of studying and making recommendations on how to deal with changes in global markets and their impact on tourism, with the special committee consisting of members from Atlantis, Grosvenor House, Jumeirah Group, Arabian Adventures, Alpha Tours and White Sands, DTCMDTCM said.

The original plan, however, also talked about discounted airfares, involving talks with Emirates. "The new plan will include discounts on airlines regarding which meetings are taking place with Emirates," Bin Sulayem said last week.

With Dubai accounting for $381.4bn of projects in the region either planned or under way, hotel rooms in the emirate are expected to climb to 64,179 in 2010 from 51,168 last year, according to the DTCMDTCM statistics.

"We are on track to move Dubai up the ladder on the global tourism map, and continue providing direction to consolidate the emirate's position as the tourism hub not just of the region but of the world," Bin Sulayem recently told Emirates Business.

By Shweta Jain

© Emirates Business 24/7 2009