The variety of shopping, top class hotels, clean beaches and fine dining topped the popularity ratings among visitors to Dubai, according to a new survey.
The Dubai Experience Survey was conducted by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) between July and December 2001. More than 41 per cent of the respondents were of Arab origin from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Libya while over 58 per cent were non-Arabs primarily from the UK, Germany, South Africa, France, Japan, New Zealand and Iran. "The most important input we receive to energise our drive for ongoing improvement is the feedback from our customers. Feedback offers a window to the real world and it is imperative to actively seek feedback to better serve the needs of our visitors," said DTCM director operations and marketing, Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb. The average length of stay of the respondents was 8.41 days. Non-Arab visitors stayed slightly longer (9.20) days than the Arab visitors (7.25). The survey also showed a high level of satisfaction among visitors and on an overall scale of 5, Dubai received a 3.53 rating. The survey will be of immense value to hotels, hotel apartments, tour operators, airlines, shopping malls and other tourism industry related businesses, the DTCM said.