After previously stopping in Kampala, the Dubai delegation and its partners was at Radisson Blu Upper Hill Hotel in Nairobi, before ending in Dar es Salaam/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29 – Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and 14of its Dubai-based partners will embark on a multi-destination road show across three East African cities, starting in Kampala on 24 August and coming to Nairobi on 27 August.
Also encompassing tour operators, the aim of the trip is to highlight and promote the wide array of new and upcoming family attractions, experiences and hotels in Dubai that will further enhance the visitor experience.
After previously stopping in Kampala, the Dubai delegation and its partners was at Radisson Blu Upper Hill Hotel in Nairobi, before ending in Dar es Salaam.
This marks the first time that Dubai Tourism has organised a road show in East Africa, generating an opportunity for local operators to meet directly with the gulf city’s top partners.
The 14 co-participants are made up of top brands including flyDubai, Emirates Airline and Kenya Airways, as well as hotel groups such as Address Hotels, Rove Hotels, Time Hotels and Crowne Plaza, plus resorts featured by Arabian Falcon Holidays.
Key destination services companies include Alpha Tours, Rayna Tourism, Red Apple Middle East Tourism, North Tours and Connect World Travel & Tourism. Global Village, a leading family, cultural, shopping and entertainment destination in the Gulf region, and a popular attraction with Africans visiting Dubai, will also be joining the delegates to showcase the breadth of Dubai’s destination offering.
Commenting ahead of the road show, Issam Kazim, CEO at Dubai Tourism, said: “The potential of Uganda as a source market is positive, and this road show provides us with the opportunity to directly interact with the operators here, to showcase what Dubai has to offer them. We look forward to making long-lasting and fruitful trade relationships during the trip to further grow the tourism market in Uganda for the benefit of all.”
Dubai continues to be a popular tourist destination for Kenyan travellers, with over 64,000 visiting the city last year, a 19.9 percent increase over the previous year. Overall, Dubai saw a 13.7 percent increase in travellers from these three East African countries last year.
SudhirSreedharan, SVP Commercial Operations at flydubai (GCC, Africa & Indian Sub-Continent), said: “We are very pleased to take part in Dubai Tourism’s first-ever road show to East Africa and to showcase brand Dubai and flydubai. We are committed to opening up underserved markets and providing reliable, direct air links to destinations that previously had no very few connections to Dubai. East Africa is a very important market that has shown significant growth over the past few years.”
With Dubai set to hit the 100,000 rooms milestone this month across its expanding hotel and hotel apartment inventory, the city aims to firmly position itself as a top 10 global destination in terms of available hotel supply, indicating high demand from international travellers and sustained growth in tourism volumes. Dubai’s room supply is expected to continue to grow, reaching 138,000 rooms by the end of 2018, with a special focus on expending the budget and four star hotel offering. With demand increasing, overall projected occupancy rates through 2018 are expected to be around 77 percent despite growth in capacity, ensuring the emirate remains a highly competitive visitation draw.
To continue to offer incredible tourist attractions, Dubai is unveiling several world-class theme parks this year, starting with IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world’s largest indoor themed destination. Due to launch at the end of August, the park will bring to life the world of Marvelcomics, transport visitors back to the Jurassic age in Lost Valley –Dinosaur Adventure and feature family favourites in the Cartoon Network zone.
Another new addition to Dubai’s expansive entertainment offering will be Dubai Parks and Resorts, the largest integrated theme park destination in the region, which is scheduled to open at the end of October.
The destination comprises Hollywood-inspired motiongate™ Dubai, Bollywood Parks™, a first-of-its-kind entertainment theme park that brings the Bollywood experience to life, and the region’s first LEGOLAND® Park, complete with a LEGOLAND® Water Park.
