UAE PROMOTES ‘EMIRATES’ AS ONE DESTINATION
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The United Arab Emirates National Council of Tourism and Antiquities recently brought all seven Emirates together for a three city roadshow in India. The delegation, comprising five of the Emirates’ tourism authorities, DMCs, hotels and resorts, and the three Arab airlines – Etihad, Emirates and Air Arabia, visited New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, notching healthy response from the travel trade in each city.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mumbai event, Abdulla Saleh Al Hammadi, Director, Marketing & Overseas Promotions, United Arab Emirates National Council of Tourism and Antiquities stated that the increasing Indian footfall to the nation encouraged the UAE to visit the market and promote the seven emirates together, highlighting each of their unique attributes as well as their combined attraction.
“The campaign is ‘Seven Emirates One Destination’ and brings the entities, that otherwise work individually in the Indian market, together for promotions. Each Emirate has its own identity and attractions that it wants to promote, which is what they focus on year round through workshops and roadshows of their own. However, there are aspects that highlight the beauty of UAE overall and we want to promote that under this umbrella. Recently we attended ITB Berlin together and that set the ball rolling for the year,” Hammadi said.
He further stated that the Authority plans to organise a business event next time and will embark on more activities under the single banner in the market in 2016. The body is also mooting a FAM for major tour operators in India and is currently working with its partners for the same.
Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Director General, Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority, revealed that, since the Emirate revived its efforts in the Indian market, the destination has seen a strong growth in numbers. According to him, 2013 saw a 41 per cent growth in Indian hotel guests over 2012, followed by 2014 notching 15 to 16 per cent growth, reflecting good progress.
Speaking about coming under a single umbrella with the other Emirates, Midfa opined that the Emirates compete and complement each other greatly, and this makes it a great destination. In 2015, Sharjah has been named the capital of Arab Tourism, and the focus for the year is capitalising on the benefits of this recognition. Furthermore, the Emirate will increase efforts in product and destination development, he added.
“We will work on two fronts – one, to improve the standards of hospitality and hotel rooms, as well as airport services. We have revived our advisory committee for the same,” Midfa elaborated.
Midfa stated that the Emirate will once again organise its roadshow in India in 2015, but with a different purpose. While the first one was to build awareness, this year’s edition will be more about B2B business. “We want to ensure that our investments in the market are measurable and we want to see results,” he stated.
Relatively new to the Indian market, Fujairah Tourism was on its first roadshow in India, and Khadeeja Al Mesmarei, Tourism Guidance In-Charge, Fujairah Government opined that the experience was a good one, allowing the Emirate a chance to enter the market. “We are promoting our natural attractions and related activities that aren’t available in other Emirates. Our aim this year is to collect feedback from this roadshow and take back to the authorities in Fujairah. Further to that we will map out our activities in the market,” she said.
Ever popular in the Indian market, Dubai scaled new heights this year in terms of Indian arrivals. According to Carl Vaz, Director, Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the Emirate received 3,000 shy of one million Indian visitors this year, and this was only counting hotel guests. The Emirate has become the top destination for Indian outbound visitors, he concluded.