THE Dubai Chapter of Skal Internationl convened at The Palace Old Town hotel in Dubai last week for their annual general meeting, which resulted in the appointment of a new committee led by incoming president Amit Arora.
Skal is a professional organisation of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry. Its members, the industry's managers and executives, meet at local, national, regional and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest.
“The outgoing committee has done a tremendous job, our challenge is to take this club of elite tourism professionals to the next level. Dubai is dynamic and as such, we are focusing on raising the profile of Skal and developing exciting new activities for members, in addition to the already successful monthly lunch gatherings,” said Amit Arora.
“The committee’s objectives include harnessing the strength of a larger member-base representing a wider cross-section of the industry from airlines and tour operators to hotels and travel agencies. Currently the club has 65 members and we are aiming to grow this by 40 per cent in the next year. One of our other priorities will be to work more closely with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing,” he added.
According to Arora, professional clubs such as Skal have to keep their membership base alive with creative new ideas that meet the needs of members, particularly in a destination like Dubai which is developing at a rapid pace.
“At the annual general meeting, we enjoyed an open forum whereby members exchanged ideas and we will be making every effort to facilitate more regular forum style gatherings particularly when key topics need addressing that affect the industry either directly or indirectly,” he said.