More than 80 key influencers from Germany’s travel and tourism industry spent a week in Dubai as part of the emirate’s ongoing strategy to grow its share of the world’s largest outbound market for foreign travel.
Owners, CEOs and product specialists from Germany’s leading tour operators – including TUI, FTI, Thomas Cook, DER Touristik and JT Touristik – were in Dubai attending the inaugural DRV/FVW Destination Forum, a three-day event created by the German Travel Association Deutscher ReiseVerband (DRV) and FVW – Germany’s leading travel trade and business travel magazine – in partnership with Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). The event, which was supported by Rotana hotels included sightseeing tours, visits to key attractions and a one day conference during which DTCM and partners from Dubai’s hotels and airlines outlined why Dubai’s growing status as a global must-visit destination will result in increased business for the German travel trade industry.
Taking place at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel, the conference featured representatives from Dubai’s tourism industry discussing the ongoing diversification of the emirate’s hotel sector; developments within the cruise sector; Dubai’s credentials as a destination for conventions, conferences and meetings; and the connectivity between Dubai and Germany – Emirates airline alone operates 63 flights per week from Germany to Dubai (Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg). During his welcoming address to the conference, Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “The Government of Dubai’s target of welcoming 20 million visitors per year to Dubai by the end of the decade necessitates a continual focus on enhancing the emirate’s destination offering. For your customers this means greater choice of hotels, attractions and events and a remarkable holiday or business travel experience. Our target is ambitious but with the investment being made by the government and our private sector partners and with your support in selling the destination to your customers, we have no doubt that it will be achieved.”During a panel session on the importance of the German market to Dubai’s hotels, representatives from Rotana, Jumeirah and Ramada discussed Dubai’s reputation for quality and providing value across all star-ratings, emphasising the importance of maintaining this reputation during the expansion of the sector over the coming years. Marc Bennett, SVP of International Operations for the Dubai Corporation of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “The German traveller is traditionally a very loyal one and ensuring we continue to provide a quality product and value for money at every price point is essential in attracting repeat visitors – a key part of our strategy to welcome 20 million annual visitors by 2020. Our hoteliers place a lot of emphasis on this and from the wider destination perspective, DTCM and our partners are focused on providing an exemplary visitor experience throughout the city.”“Germany has been and will remain one of our key feeder markets. A great deal of emphasis and effort is put into developing this market further. We continue to witness consistently increasing numbers of German customers into the destination, and we have no doubt that the DRV/FVW Destination Forum, in partnership with Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), will support this even further,” concluded Guy Hutchinson, chief operating officer of Rotana.
