The DTCM convened a high-level meeting with key tourism industry partners to analyse market trends in view of recent international developments.
The meeting chaired by DTCM Director General, Khalid A bin Sulayem, started off with discussions on the resilience of the tourism industry in Dubai following events in 2001. "Last year was an extraordinary year of growth for Dubai and despite a slump in international tourism receipts and feelings of apprehension among some industry experts, the tourism business in Dubai has prospered," observed bin Sulayem. He noted that the DTCM adopted a series of measures to restore consumer confidence in the destination and made prudent use of the promotional budget and resources while stepping up co-operation between the public and private sector. Bin Sulayem spoke at length about a modified strategy in response to recent developments and sought comments and suggestions from private sector tourism industry professionals to agree on the priority markets for Dubai. "Dubai's tourism industry is entering a phase of phenomenal growth and such meetings help focus on developing appropriate market responsive strategies to attract more visitors to the emirate, raise service standards, and review new strategies for marketing the emirate," remarked bin Sulayem. He assured the participants that an extensive campaign was currently underway to promote Dubai and work was already in progress.