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Dubai a hot spot for German tourists
More than thee million German tourists have rated Dubai highly on their list of potential travel spots and are “generally” planning to visit
According to studies released by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM’s) Germany office at the International Travel Bourse (ITB) in Berlin yesterday.
DTCM Germany Marketing Communications Manager Dr Rene Hingst said more than 650,000 Germans were almost definitely planning to visit Dubai but an enormous 3.3 million were “generally” planning to visit Dubai.
“The predominant motive for German tourists is sun and sand,” Hingst said. “Most are still there for classic beach holidays. They still spend real holidays - two week holidays in Dubai,” he added.
One of the major travel choices for German tourists is cruise tourism which has recently taken off in Dubai with more than 55 ships to pass through Dubai in the 2007-2008 season.
Aida Cruises plans to double its capacity to Dubai in 2008-2009 using its larger ship, the Aida Diva, the company announced to the German tourism market this week.
“Cruise is a new segment - very very strong with the Germans,” Hingst said.
“Another new segment is city tours. It’s a very popular segment in Germany. Usually people go to cities in Europe but because of the short distance to Dubai, many are embarking on city tours to Dubai.”
Although Dubai rates fifth as a destination for Germans, it also rates highly for stopover tourism, with a potential 360,000 passengers stopping in Dubai before continuing onto their final destination.
“The new trend is business travel because within the UAE, Dubai is the biggest trading partner with Germany in the Arab world,” Hingst said.
With 72 direct flights from Germany to Dubai per week, the UAE also gained the highest number of German passengers in Asia.
It seems Germans can’t get enough of Dubai and the common complaint, as for all tourists and tour operators Hingst said, is a lack of hotel rooms.
“The biggest problem is hotel rooms - there isn’t enough capacity, in luxury and mid-range,” Hingst said.
“They try to get rooms at the beach hotels. People are prepared to pay 400 Euros for a bed, but it’s difficult to get this bed.”
But with 109 co-participants of DTCM at ITB, each showcasing their products and developments, many hotel groups with new projects, and importantly more rooms, Dubai’s capacity is set to increase dramatically this year.
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