Dubai Tourism Highlights its Commitment to India at Satte 2019

Dubai, UAE - Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) participated in the 26^th edition of South Asia’s largest travel and tourism exhibition, SATTE 2019, in January, in Greater Noida, India, further reinforcing the emirate’s continued commitment to one of its top performing source markets. Marking the first international roadshow of 2019, Dubai Tourism will be represented at key international trade shows over the next 12 months, continuing to strengthen its presence across its global audiences.

Bringing together Dubai’s network of industry stakeholders across the public and private sector, to share key market insights, SATTE 2019 offered a valuable platform for partners to strengthen business opportunities and forge new relationships with leading business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) travel professionals. With exponential growth in overnight visitors from India, the event offered a clear indication of its continued prominence as one of the emirate’s top source markets, closing the first eleven months of 2018 with a record 1.8 million visitors.

Dubai Tourism was supported by partners including Emaar Hospitality Group; La Perle; Atlantis, The Palm; Dubai Parks and Resorts; Jumeirah Group; The Ritz Carlton Dubai International Financial Centre, and Burj Khalifa amoungst others, to highlight the destination’s ever-growing portfolio of bespoke experiences. This included new attractions, cruising itineraries, cultural offerings and the city’s popular festivals calendar, anchored by flagship events such as Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Food Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises. The strategic platform enabled all parties to explore various networking and business opportunities with leading tour agents and local partners, with a focus on driving repeat visitation and further enhancing the visitor experience of Indian tourists during their stay in the emirate.

Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: “Dubai Tourism’s ongoing initiatives across India are testament to our commitment to one of our key source markets, guiding our efforts to continue developing agile strategic programmes that prioritise in-depth analysis of our audience’s travel preferences. We are constantly striving to improve our capabilities to further deliver memorable visitor experiences across our core strategic propositions. Our goal in a high-performing market like India is to further build advocacy in both smaller and larger cities, communicating the evolution of the emirate’s product offering in line with the growing appetite for immersive travel experiences.”

The ongoing relationship between India and Dubai is underpinned by the department’s always-on campaigns, with destination messaging reinforced through multiple touch points and platforms across the entire travel ecosystem. This includes the award-winning #BeMyGuest campaign, celebrating the cultural links between Dubai and the subcontinent by bringing celebrated Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to explore the city and highlight the diversity of its iconic tourist offerings. Employing similarly inspired Bollywood content primarily through video channels, Dubai Tourism also hosted several seasonal activations, encouraging Indian families to visit the city during the summer and Monsoon months - such holistic marketing initiatives are key to lifting Dubai above its peers in a competitive landscape and will remain agile to adapt to industry trends.

Record visitation growth by Indian travellers is supported by a three percent increase in non-stop air capacity in the past year, with seven airlines currently providing more than 550 flights per week to cities across India.

About Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism)

With the ultimate vision of positioning Dubai as the world’s leading tourism destination and commercial hub, Dubai Tourism’s mission is to increase the awareness of Dubai among global audiences and to attract tourists and inward investment into the emirate. Dubai Tourism is the principal authority for the planning, supervision, development and marketing of Dubai’s tourism sector. It markets and promotes the Emirate’s commerce sector, and is responsible for the licensing and classification of all tourism services, including hotels, tour operators and travel agents. Brands and departments within the Dubai Tourism portfolio include Dubai Business Events, Dubai Calendar, and Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (formerly known as Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment).