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Dubai Tourism Forges Ahead Despite Global Crisis

The emirate maintained this occupancy rate since 2004, which is the highest compared to many other cities like London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Vienna, and others, Khalid bin Sulayem, Director-General, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, or DTCM, told a meeting of Dubai Economic Council, or DEC, 
on Saturday.

The global financial crisis hit the tourists movement around the world but its impacts on Dubai’s tourism sector are less compared to many other countries, bin Sulayem said. “One evidence is the number of visitors to Dubai, which increased from 6.9 million in 2007 to 7.5 million in 2008,” 
he said.

Bin Sulayem mentioned that the growth average of guests was 5 per cent during the first quarter of 2009 compared to 2008, which is considered “good”, given the present situation in many advanced tourist countries.

The growth rate of the number of hotels and hotel apartments reached 9 per cent, and the number of rooms available was 17 per cent, he said.

Bin Sulayem confirmed these achievements were the results of a number of factors such as initiatives made by the Government of Dubai to face the impacts of the global crisis and its continuous support to the tourism sector, political and security stability, availability of modern infrastructure etc.

Bin Sulayem stressed that the department crafted short- and long-term strategies to restore the viability of tourism sector under the present global downturn. The main policies taken in this context are advertising and promotion campaigns, activation of its business group to confront the crisis impacts, conducting research and studies on global markets, organising forums with entities operating in Dubai’s tourism sector, etc.

Earlier in the meeting, the UAE Ministry of Labour has expressed the desire to issue new rules and regulations that meet the requirements of business community.

Saqer Ghubash, the Minister of Labour confirmed the ministry’s endeavour to provide an enhanced business environment to push the development process in all fields.

“The importance of communication between the Ministry of Labour and business sector is to enhance the national economy,” Dubai Economic Council Chairman Juma Al Majed said while chairing the council meeting.

Al Majed underlined the importance of co-operation between the different economic activities from both public and private sector to serve the national economy.

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com