Emirates reveals the value of its sports sponsorship
Roger Duthie, head of sponsorship at Emirates, has been talking about the airline’s involvement in sports ahead of the season finale of golf’s European Tour, which sees The Race to Dubai’s Top 60 battle it out at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
"Sport is a great communication tool," Duthie told 7DAYS in Dubai.
"The decision to tie up with next week’s tournament, and golf in general, is a no-brainer.
"The DP World Tour Championship and all the other golf tournaments we sponsor give us a great audience to push our lifestyle brand. We want customers to be fans of the brand and golf helps us achieve that goal.
"The great thing about a golf tournament is that when you take into account the pro-ams, you have five days to basically tell the Emirates story," Duthie said.
Duthie says Emirates has two boxes to tick before sponsoring an event: Does it take place near a city the airline flies to, or is about to; and is the event world class?
"We will only sponsor great events. We don’t go for second-rate outfits."
As title sponsor at the Emirates Australian Open last year the airline found the event paid for itself when Tiger Woods teed off in Sydney.
"If Tiger Wood is playing then there’s no doubt he increases the global coverage the event gets and the value of your association with it.
"Regardless of what’s happened he’s still a huge draw for sports fans around the world," says Duthie.
"Rory [McIlroy] is getting that way but Tiger’s still the huge draw for golf fans."
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent