“Tourism is one of the cornerstones of Dubai’s diversified economic growth.”
The new figures reinforce the continued strength of Dubai’s tourism sector as a key driver of economic diversification and a reliable catalyst for GDP acceleration through 2020. The largest traffic generators, as well as newer high-potential segments, have set a strong preparatory pace to fuel Dubai’s climb to becoming the most visited global destination.
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism commented: “Tourism is one of the cornerstones of Dubai’s diversified economic growth, and we measure success based on our ability to aggressively advance towards our goal to be the number one most visited and most preferred city as envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The consequent rise in value creation opportunities and more inclusive sector participation are core priorities, as we equally strive to sustainably grow GDP contribution. Our first half results are a particularly encouraging reflection of our progress towards this ambition and underline the effectiveness of our diversified market outreach with holistic ‘awareness to booking’ cycle content amplification and audience delivery, through a deeply networked ecosystem of global partners, industry stakeholders and government enablers.”
The sustained effectiveness of the Department’s market-specific strategies and customised annual programming are evidenced in the tangible visitation outcomes delivered across the traditional strongholds, propelled by targeted campaigns highlighting Dubai’s propositions, and tapping into the city’s dynamic appeal and growing connectivity across continents.
India once again led the pack, drawing the highest half-year volumes with 997,000 visitors – particularly noteworthy given the severe air traffic and seat capacity challenges due to geopolitical volatilities. Dubai continued to drive booking interest from Indians on a mass scale largely due to high-impact delivery of segment and season-specific campaigns across the most accessible Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. From focused ‘family’ or ‘couple’ oriented promotions to the Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan-led global #BeMyGuest campaign, the Department’s investments yielded strong returns, with the latter alone surpassing all records, logging 160 million views in a short few weeks. Additionally, at an audience penetration level, travel share of Indian families with children rose by a substantial 10 percentage points from 24 to 34 per cent, directly reflecting higher GDP impact due to party size and spending potential. With more than 30 in-market trade partnerships initiated in the first half of 2019 alone, Dubai Tourism’s confidence in, and commitment to India is further emphasised by strategic annual collaborations launched with the biggest names in the travel ecosystem – such as Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings and SOTC, as well as OTAs like MakeMyTrip and Goibibo.
Coming in strong as Dubai’s second-largest feeder market once again, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) delivered 755,000 visitors at two per cent year-on-year growth over six months with a notable 4.9 per cent increase over the Eid break alone – signifying continued stability in Dubai’s attractiveness for Saudi families and millennials. With the GCC as a whole, and KSA (as its lead contributor), being key priorities on Dubai Tourism’s strategic agenda, investments in deepening alliances with the country’s travel ecosystem continued to increase in H1 2019, reflecting the value of such partnerships – particularly via consolidated marketing-promotions-sales programmes. In addition to the planned calendar of specialised fam trips for KSA’s top travel agents and tour operators, showcasing the latest and most relevant Dubai offering to help them develop tailor-made itineraries for their audiences, Dubai Tourism entered into a long-term association with the Seera Group, one of the region’s leading providers of travel services in the Middle East and North Africa.
Following an exceptional resurgence in Dubai travel for 2018, thanks to the visa-on-arrival enablement, growth from Russia levelled to more sustainable levels, as H1 2019’s sixth-largest source market delivered 375,000 visitors to Dubai. Venturing for the first time into a ‘reality TV’ style production, “To Dubai with Love” campaign showcased five celebrity couples mentoring participants, highlighting Dubai as the perfect holiday getaway for young Russian couples. The contest premiered to an overwhelming response and closed with high levels of interest in Dubai, with 60 couples winning invites to celebrate 2019 Valentine’s Day in Dubai. Transitioning seamlessly from ‘romantic getaway’ to ‘family fun’ during Spring break, Dubai Tourism continued its well-entrenched pan-European tactical promotions campaign with adapted messaging tailored to be most relevant for Russian audiences, delivered through a strong trade ecosystem, sophisticated targeting and specialist amplification channels.
The United States followed in the seventh spot with 329,000 visitors, marginally up from 327,000 visitors in H1 2018, supported by concerted marketing efforts and trade collaborations with five new trade partnerships developed in the first half of 2019, to raise awareness of the destination and promote holiday packages and deals.
H.E. Almarri concluded: “Remaining relevant and constantly top-of-mind to global audiences in today’s reality of overly saturated and omnipresent communications is one of the main challenges we face across all sectors. Our approach to create a unique positioning and raise Dubai’s consideration among global travellers is to regularly showcase the dynamic evolution of our city proposition and the versatility of our portfolio that delivers truly customisable experiences for each and every visitor. Such a strategy would not be successful without multi-level partnerships between the public and private sector, and our cross-sector efforts are especially evident in the festivals and events spheres where our constructive and cooperative relationships with stakeholders have helped create truly memorable experiences for visitors. Stakeholder engagement is crucial to generating tourism growth and we are confident that it is this collective vision that will carry Dubai’s tourism industry into the future and ensure that it remains a ‘must visit’ destination.”
