Dubai: Communication platforms in Dubai need to improve to help engage tourists, according to Helal Saeed Al Merri, director-general of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
“We will be launching a number of platforms over the coming months to allow tourists to [learn] all the different things there is to do in Dubai,” Al Merri said during a session at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai on Sunday. The conference will run until Monday.
“Today we’re all exposed with social media [and] with the digital age that things need to be real-time...all communications [are] open at the government level and between the government and private sectors,” he said.
Under Dubai’s tourism vision for 2020, which was launched last year, the emirate expects to double visitor numbers from 10 million in 2012 to 20 million by 2020. Also, the six-month World Expo 2020, for which the emirate won the bid last year to host, is expected to attract 25 million visitors.
Al Merri said that the “#MyDubai” initiative helped improve communication in the emirate. It was launched earlier this year by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, through Twitter to create an autobiography of Dubai.
He invited residents and visitors to contribute to the project by sending their pictures and videos through social media by using the hashtag #MyDubai.
Entertainment
Al Merri, meanwhile, said that there are a lot of new products coming into the market, such as family entertainment and attractions, which is expected to grow further.
“[There are] a number of hospitality projects, both infrastructure-related and experience-related, which are in the works today [and] will be announced between now and the Expo, [and will] come online just before [or] just after the Expo,” he said. He did not provide additional details.
Al Merri pointed out that Expo 2020 will benefit not just Dubai but the entire UAE.
“From the tourism industry specifically, the build up towards that and the six months of the Expo, and also the development of the legacy after the Expo will give a specific boost during that period of time,” he said.
“The UAE hotel room supply will increase by 5.3 per cent annually from 2012-2016, with the emergence of strong brands like Jumeirah and Rotana,” added Shaikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, executive chairman of Shuaa Capital and chairman of Dubai International Holding Company, during AHIC.
