TravTalk India Online Magazine
Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, believes that with Indians’ growing interest for Dubai, the destination is like a second home for Indian travellers.
Nisha Verma
For Dubai, India remains the number one tourism market, claimed Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. “Since 2016, India has become our number one key source market. Last year, it became the first market to break the 2 million visitor mark for any one market, which was a huge achievement. This year, until July we’ve reached about 1.2 million visitors from India and year on year, we have witnessed 2.2 per cent growth,” he claimed.
In terms of segments, Kazim insisted that they don’t want to stick to a one-size-fits-all approach. “We are now focusing a lot more across different geographies, but then we are also looking at the typographies as opposed to the demographic make-up. We cover every segment ranging from newly-weds, honeymooners, young couples, young couples with young kids, grandparents with parents and grandkids as well as old parents who now want to travel. Then we started with business travels, followed by groups, friends travelling together, women travellers, as these segments are fit for what Dubai has on offer. Apart from that, global trends include millennials and the kind of travel they look for,” he said.
This year, until July we’ve reached about 1.2 million Indian visitors and year on year, we’ve witnessed 2.2% growth
He further said that they are also plugging in the ‘bleisure’ approach for those who come for business to Dubai. With the wedding segment gaining popularity, Kazim claimed that they still have more to do in this area. “Several properties here blend themselves beautifully for memorable wedding settings. We need to be more aggressive about that since this is a growing trend in India,” he claimed.
Another segment that works perfectly for Dubai is staycation from the Indian market. “A huge population residing in Dubai are Indians. We are looking at leveraging that and hence VFR becoming a huge factor for us. This shows the power of those who live in Dubai to become ambassadors of the destination. In terms of staycation, not only do we focus on hotels, but we also have many holiday homes, and we already have a lot of Indians who have invested in properties in Dubai who use that as almost like their second homes and getaway,” claimed Kazim.
Talking of the Dubai Tourism, featuring Shahrukh Khan, he said, “With this campaign, the bonus is not only that he is a hugely popular name, but the fact that he genuinely loves Dubai and considers it as his second home. Hence, his influence on what he wants to show as a backdrop, where he wants to be, and what he wants to highlight is personal to him as well. This is the reason we believe that the campaign has been successful and has resonated so well.”
New Initiative
- Dubai College of Tourism not only focuses on the big brand hotels with training facilities, but also develops the skills of people by imaprting the basic training of engaging with agents and guests
- New tools are alos created to update guests with the relevant information
