Dubai aiming to double visitor numbers
Dubai is aiming to almost double its number of visitors to 20m annually within six years.
The chief executive of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Issam Adbul Rahim Kazim, unveiled the destination’s new logo, which has the name Dubai written in Arabic inside the English letters, at the opening of the Advantage conference in Dubai.
"Our target is to become the number one most visited city in the world," he said. "We’re barely 43 years old but we have moved from a fishing village to the seventh most visited city in the world.
"In 2013, we had 11m visitors, the first time we broke the 10m mark and we’re trying to get to 20m by 2020, not including Expo 2020."
Kazim, who has been in the position for three months, said the UK was its third most important source market for Dubai with 759,000 visitors.
Dubai currently has 87,000 rooms and there are plans for up to 30,000 more to be constructed by the end of 2016. Kazim said Dubai was building three and four star properties, as well as five-star hotels, to cater for all budgets.
"Dubai has something for everyone, with everything from sport, to restaurants, to art and culture," said Kazim.
Referring to Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope, he said: "We’re creating unique experiences. In Dubai, you can go shopping and then skiing as a break from shopping – where else can you do that?"
Dubai is encouraging people to write about their experiences, using the hashtag #MyDubai.
Jeremy Skidmore
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