This development is indeed a powerful engine in the emirate’s growth as it continues to steadily march towards the goals of its vision for 2020.
However, if Dubai is to hit its 20 million visitors per year target in the next five years, the industry needs to deliver a seven – eight percent annual growth rate consistently.
“To that end, we have created a number of suggested itineraries suited to stays ranging from 24 hours to weekend getaways and longer […].
In addition, in markets across Australasia and the Americas, where we offer convenient direct flight access, we work closely with airline partners, the travel trade and the hotel sector to create compelling transit programmes,” explained Kazim, adding that while DTCM is committed to encouraging more transit passengers to exit the airport and experience the city, Dubai is not merely a stopover spot, but rather a compelling destination in its own right.
“Together with our partners, Emirates and flydubai, which are regularly launching new routes and adding capacity to existing ones, we are synergising our marketing and promotional efforts, and leveraging each other’s investments to yield optimal returns for Dubai,” elaborated Kazim.
In order to meet targets, Dubai has relaxed visa regulations, allowing citizens of several markets to attain visa on arrival, reminded Mitchell, claiming that this development has had a major impact on encouraging short-stay visits.
The improvement of accessibility is an ongoing focus for the local industry, reiterated Kazim, saying that DTCM works closely with other government departments at federal level to push this agenda.
“Along with GCC citizens, who do not require a visa to enter the UAE, citizens from a total of 46 countries [...] can now obtain a visa on arrival in Dubai [...].
This has made visiting Dubai simple, fast and cost effective; reflected in an increase in the number of visitors from these markets,” shared details Kazim, disclosing that the multi-entry UAE visit visa for cruise visitors allows cruise tourists to enter all UAE ports by using a single visa.
This has had a big impact on our key source markets such as India, China, Russia, CIS states, South Africa and Brazil.
