Tourism, hotel sectors play a significant role

The tourism and hotel industry directly contribute 19 per cent to Dubai's GDP, while their indirect contribution to GDP stands at 32 per cent in 2008.

In the last week of February, the average occupancy of five-star beach hotels was 95 per cent with the average room rate for the five-star hotel being Dh1,239.

A three-month familiarisation programme – Keep Discovering Dubai – targeting 2,000 tour operators, Mice agents and Media representatives had been launched by DTCM in co-operation with Emirates airlines and other key players of Dubai's tourism industry to provide them a hands-on experience of Dubai. In 2008, Dubai hotels showed an 8.3 per cent increase in the number of hotel guests compared with the previous year, DTCM said. Dubai hotels and hotel apartments played host to 7,531,299 guests as against 6,951,798 in 2007.

The guest nights increased by 9.2 per cent in 2008 to touch 22,421,067.

The number of hotels and hotel apartments stood at 493, an increase of 11 per cent over the previous year.

The average length of stay touched 2.98 compared with 7.3 in 2007. Similarly, the number of hotel establishment rooms increased by 17.9 per cent to reach 50,457 in 2008. Khalid said: "The performance reaffirms that tourism industry in Dubai is healthy and strong. The results confirm excellent growth in almost every segment. The stunning performance also reaffirms the strong co-operation between various organisations in both public and private sectors."

He said the department, long before the global financial crisis surfaced with intensity, created a task force with experts and representatives of Dubai tourism industry players, to review the market landscape and take appropriate measures. Based on the inputs provided by the industry players and experts, the department took measures which reflected in hotel occupancies getting a boost even in the first quarter of 2009.

The DTCM Director-General said, the department, in co-ordination with the hotels, tour operators and tourism companies, have been working towards boosting hotel occupancies and increasing the number of visitors to the emirate.

He said the 2008 performance of Dubai's hospitality industry is a clear reflection of the success of the marketing and promotional initiatives conducted by the DTCM, especially in the markets where it operates a network of 18 overseas offices.

The department has participated in several travel and tourism trade exhibitions in addition to holding Dubai Road Shows in 2008.

It continues the aggressive agenda in 2009 and the programmes include hosting of workshops and press conferences in the GCC countries, beginning next month, as part of the aim to tap the regional markets potential. The number of hotel guests from the countries where DTCM operates representative offices has been impressive during 2008. There was 24 per cent increase from Americas, while 15 per cent growth was recorded from Australia and New Zealand.

The Far East region's growth was 15 per cent, while France reported 27 per cent increase.

Germany posted seven per cent increase, while India witnessed 20 per cent growth followed by Italy and Russia/CIS and Baltics regions with 31 per cent and eight per cent, respectively. The Scandinavian region recorded 27 per cent growth with South Africa posting 27 per cent growth.

Sustainable tourism

The environmental programme which aims to reduce hotel carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2011 saw a soft launch late last year and has already enrolled a number of prominent five-star properties in Dubai.

"By participating in this initiative hotels will not only protect our environment and benefit from lower utility costs, they will be seen as good corporate citizens at home and abroad," said Shaikha Ebrahim Al Mutawa, DTCM's Director of Business Development Department and Director of Environmental Committee CO2 Reduction Programme.

"The travel industry is incredibly value-driven at the moment with rates being a major factor of the decision making process. By embracing sustainability initiatives, Dubai hotels can gain a competitive edge, that would undoubtedly have a positive impact on like-minded tour operators," she added.

A detailed roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aimed at progressing the initiative for sustainable tourism, will be communicated to all of Dubai's hotels and hotel-apartments shortly. Some of the hotels which have signed-up so far include, Emirates Towers, Madinat Jumeirah, Movenpick Hotel and The One & Only Royal Mirage.

Dubai hotels generally still lag behind their counterparts in Europe, where the average hotel produces 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum. In Dubai that figure is 6,500 tonnes and the size of the carbon footprint produced by all hotels in Dubai, is well over 500 million kilos a year. That is equivalent to 60,000 round-trip flights between Dubai and London.

According to Markus Oberlin, General Manager of Farnek Avireal Middle East, some hotel managers were initially concerned about the costs. In truth by installing energy saving modules, for example, the return on investment is less than two years. "Given the challenges the industry is facing this year, supporting sustainability by reducing energy and the associated costs must be a priority for all stakeholders, it is a sound business proposition which is kind to the environment as well," commented Oberlin.

Heritage sites

The Heritage sites operated by the DTCM received 1,009,848 visitors last year, up from 873,831 recorded in 2007, the DTCM said.

The heritage sites under DTCM's supervision are Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House, Dubai Museum, Al Ahmadiah School, Heritage House, Heritage Village, Diving Village, Umm Al Shief Majlis, Naif Museum and Hatta Heritage Village.

Abdullah Al Mutairi, DTCM Consultant and Director of Heritage Sites, said: "The sharp increase in number of visitors is due to the aggressive promotional and marketing agenda being pursued by the department locally and internationally through the network of 18 overseas representative offices operated by the DTCM." He said a number of heritage sites have undergone renovation and expansion last year, offering various facilities and attraction to the tourists.

Emiratis topped the list with 24,206 visitors followed by Indians with 10,635. German visitors numbered 8,213 followed by UK nationals with 6,959.

Dubai Museum received 649,058 visitors while Al Ahmadiah School and Heritage House welcomed 63,277 visitors. Sheikh Saeed House hosted a total of 45,376 visitors. The Archaeological Site in Al Quoz attracted 92,429 visitors and Hatta Heritage Village was visited by 111,054 people. Naif Museum attracted 3654 visitors.

The DTCM has won an award for the destination promotion stand for Dubai at the 16th Moscow International Travel and Tourism (MITT). The award recognised the impressive destination promotion presentation done by the DTCM in co-operation with its 52 co-participants who shared the 450-square-metres double-decker Dubai Stand at the four-day show. The stand attracted a large number of visitors at the show which has seen the participation of 3,000 exhibitors from 118 countries.

The award for Best Destination Presentation took into consideration the overall participation, including the size and design of the stand, the number of participants and quality of brochures.

The DTCM's aggressive promotional and marketing agenda has been well received by the travel and tourism industry players in different parts of the world, including Russia, which remains a major source market for Dubai's tourism industry. Dubai was the partner destination for the MITT-2009 and DTCM operates a representative office in Moscow since the past 13 years, covering the Russian, CIS and Baltics markets.

Dubai hotels played host to an estimated 487,000 visitors from Russia/CIS/Baltics in 2008 which is 15 per cent more compared to 2007 with 473,037 visitors.

Cruise tourism

Long established as an excellent maritime city with geographical advantages, infrastructural facilities, ports and logistics, Dubai started looking at developing cruise tourism very lately compared with other destinations. However, the emirate utilised its relatively late entry into cruise tourism sector to its advantage by creating better facilities and services than others.

The DTCM sees Dubai benefiting immensely from the cruise industry in the coming years. Operated by the DTCM, the Dubai Cruise Terminal was officially inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2001 at Port Rashid complex.

The ship-shaped building is located on a 335-metre quay offering the capacity to berth two ships simultaneously, while the terminal itself is around 3,300 square metres in size.

The Dubai Cruise Terminal is the world's first to receive ISO-9002 certification and also the world's only cruise facility run by the government tourism body.

The Director-General of DTCM, said: "Cruise tourism plays a crucial role in the overall growth and development of the tourism industry in Dubai. We realised its importance long ago and created the infrastructure and services that were needed to tap its potential." He added: "There has been an impressive growth in cruise tourist arrivals since the start of the Dubai Cruise Terminal. We will continue to devote our efforts to further promote this economically-crucial sector of the tourism industry." Dubai emerged formally on the world cruise map in 1993 when it welcomed a cruise ship with 703 passengers on board.

Khalid said the bulk of the cruise tourists come from the UK, Germany and the US markets. In a survey, 80 per cent of the cruise passengers in Dubai said they would extend their visit to the emirate during their next visit and 95 per cent said they would recommend others to visit Dubai to enjoy its all-appealing facilities, pristine beaches and unparalleled shopping options.

Dubai leads the Middle East in the cruise ship passenger exchange during their itineraries, said Khalid. Dubai is considered as the home to one of the best cruise terminals and its world-class facility received global recognition when it won the best cruise terminal prize in a trade show in Miami in the US.

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