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Summer tourism gets a big boost

DUBAI — The Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) has been instrumental in raising tourism activities in the emirate during summer, which was earlier considered a lean season for the travel and tourism industry, industry sources said.

The annual summer event has been drawing an impressive turnout of inbound tourists, particularly from Gulf countries, into Dubai, thus helping travel agencies here promote the emirate throughout the year.

“Dubai has survived the lean summer season of the past and its hotels are now achieving high occupancy rates due to the considerable tourist inflows from different countries,” said Ghassan Al Aridi, chief executive officer of Alpha Tours.

He added that summer in Dubai has been witnessing a steady increase in tourist arrivals on a year-on-year basis. “Despite the remarkable increase in the number of tourists arriving from different parts of the world, the GCC market still comes on top of the list of world regions sending tourists to Dubai. While planning for vacationing abroad, Gulf families take Dubai either as a take-off point or an end-destination for their trips in Asia or Europe,” Al Aridi said. He mentioned that tourist companies have also been offering various options for tourists, especially those from Europe who take advantage of the cheaper room rates and shopping promotions in summer.

Usama Bushra, Travco director-general, said he expects at least a 30 per cent increase in the number of tourists arriving in Dubai this August over the same period last year. “We get more reservations around this time since the vacation season is about to come to a close. Gulf families, for instance, would want to spend more time in Dubai before they return to their respective countries,” he added.