Ajman: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Sunday launched the latest edition of the nationwide annual winter tourism campaign, ‘World’s Coolest Winter’.
This year’s edition was launched under the theme of ‘Our Heritage’ during a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Vice President in Al Zorah Natural Reserve in Ajman.
“Ajman, the white sands and red fort, Masfout Mountains and Al Manamah Valleys, is the starting destination for the winter campaign this year,” he said in a series of tweets.
Highlighting Ajman as the starting point for the new season of the World’s Coolest Winter, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Ajman witnessed a tourism, economic, and urban transformation under the direction of my brother Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid. We are proud of the dedication of Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid and his brothers.”
The meeting was chaired in the presence of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Finance; and Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.
Growing tourism
Sheikh Mohammed affirmed that tourism is a major component of the Emirati economy, where all federal and local entities partner to support this vital sector, stressing that the sector development needs cooperation between government and private sectors.
“The World’s Coolest Winter campaign, sparked an increase in domestic tourism by 36 per in 2021, reaching 1.3 million domestic tourists. This year's theme is 'Our heritage', and it will focus on spreading the Emirati values.”
The current edition of the campaign aims to support domestic tourism within the UAE and attract tourists from around the world to enjoy the pleasant winter by highlighting the key UAE tourism attractions and the most famous recreational, cultural and natural landmarks of the country.
'Our Heritage'
The ‘Our Heritage’ theme of the 2022 campaign is in favor of highlighting the rich Emirati values and culture and its distinct features that include hospitality, tolerance and solidarity.
Entities concerned with heritage and culture in the UAE will cooperate to provide a wide range of the programsme and activities that show the uniqueness of the Emirati heritage during the campaign period.
This year’s edition of the World’s Coolest Winter campaign celebrates the human element in every visit to the UAE, which is central to its status as a sought-after global tourist destination with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and is reflected in its values of tolerance, inclusion and respect for every visitor from every background.
In its second edition that took place last year, the campaign achieved distinguished results, where Dh1.5 billion in revenues were generated in one month as well as an increase of 50% in the number of hotel guests.
More initiatives
Sheikh Mohammed said: "I chaired the cabinet meeting. We approved the establishment of an integrated national platform that highlight opportunities for investors in various sectors, such as financial technology, tourism, manufacturing, and renewable energy. The platform will be supervised by the Ministry of Economy.”
He added: “Also, we approved the national building regulations and standards, which includes sustainability standards for roads, buildings, housing, etc... The goal is to decrease the consumption of natural resources and reduce the carbon footprint of the UAE.”
Foreign investor compass
The Cabinet meeting approved the foreign investor compass project, which represents one of the transformative projects of the Ministry of Economy, and constitutes a qualitative leap in promoting the investment environment in the UAE, and highlighting the country's capabilities in the targeted sectors.
The new project includes an electronic platform, guides and promotional tools that highlights various opportunities for foreign investor’s in the sectors of financial technology, agricultural technology, health care, education, communications and information technology, media and entertainment, e-commerce, tourism, space, logistics, manufacturing, medical tourism, renewable energy, creative industries, games and smart cities.
Building regulations
Also, the Cabinet meeting approved the National Building Regulations and Standards, which includes sustainability guides for buildings, roads, housing, and a National Guide for Building Sustainability in operation and maintenance.
The National Building Regulations and Standards will ensure reducing the use of materials and natural resources by 15 per cent, reducing the carbon footprint by five per cent, reducing energy in roads by 45 per cent, reducing energy in buildings and housing by 25 per cent, reducing water consumption by 16 per cent, in addition to supporting the green economy, and the welfare and comfort of the people of the UAE.
Enhancing health
The meeting approved the national policy to promote healthy lifestyles in the country. It aims to improve the quality of healthy life for individuals and society, create healthy environments that promote and protect the rights of all people of all ages, and encourage multi-sectoral partnerships to ensure effective preventive interventions for problems and diseases related to unhealthy lifestyle. The policy aims at consolidating the concept of community partnership by increasing community members' awareness of healthy behaviors.
Smart Health
The Cabinet meeting also approved the Smart Health Initiative which aims at developing health services in the country through partnership and cooperation between various governmental health entities and private sector institutions. This initiative will work on developing and updating the rules governing the use of modern methods and technologies to provide advanced digital health services, and enhance the efficiency of health devices, as well as the accuracy of diagnosis, prescription and dispense medical products. The initiative will encourage telemedicine interventions, remote medical follow-up and monitoring, in order to provide 100 per cent remote health services.
Cleaning landmarks
The Cabinet also approved the launch of a campaign that aims at cleaning the tourist landmarks and destinations in the UAE, in line with the International Volunteer Day. The campaign comes in cooperation between the Ministry of Community Development and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
The campaign, which runs December 5 to 15, will witness the participation of officials, ministers and work teams of federal and local authorities in cleaning up tourist destinations in the country, in cooperation with the Emirates Environmental Group.
The initiative target is to enhance the role of federal government employees in supporting the volunteer work process, spreading the culture of volunteering in society, supporting the environment, and enhancing UAE’s efforts to host the COP28.
Housing grants
The Cabinet meeting reviewed a detailed study on the monthly income ceiling for requests for housing assistance and grants within the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme. Also, the UAE Cabinet reviewed the suggested requirements to support citizens with limited income who do not meet the conditions of loans in housing grants.
Also, the meeting approved a number of agreements with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Kingdom of Tonga, in addition to approving the UAE’s accession to the Beijing Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Related to International Civil Aviation for the year 2010.
