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Foldable pocket guide on Dubai

DUBAI - As part of its endeavours to boost domestic tourism and offer tourists opportunities to explore the emirate in an even better way, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has released the first local version of its foldable pocket guide Dubai At A Glance in both Arabic and English languages.

The popular publication will serve as a perfect tour guide to the tourists with a Dubai map making the tour of the fastest growing destination easy and memorable.

A total of three million copies have been printed and will be distributed free of cost to all the hotels and hotel apartments (372 properties with over 40,000 rooms) for distribution among the guests and visitors. Car rental companies, tour operators and travel agencies will also be covered during the second phase of the initiative.

A promotion is being planned with a private company to provide Acrylic stands to display the publication in hotel establishments and a mystery shopper will verify if the concierge are providing the maps to the visitors.

On the spot prizes will be given to the concierge with a total of 400 gifts up for the grabs.

The DTCM Director Operations and Marketing, Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, said: "The local edition of Dubai At A Glance will be of great help to the tourism industry as well as to the visitors. As we expect to see a substantial increase in visitors over the previous year's 5.4 million hotel guests, we felt the need to bring out this special edition of our popular publication."

He added: "This will be a great boost to domestic tourism as the publication is made available in both Arabic and English languages. Arabs accounted for 34 per cent of Dubai hotels' total guests last year with Europeans and Asians taking up the second and third positions."

The latest publication is reader-friendly, exhaustive and provides information in a concise format. The pocket guide is different from other such publications as it contains updated information on various aspects of Dubai.

The major highlight of the handbook is its centre spread which has an updated map of the fast-developing emirate with all the latest developments, the ongoing projects and landmarks.

The pocket guide also includes a Calendar of Events highlighting all the conferences and exhibitions scheduled to be held during 2005.

The DTCM Manager Media & Advertising, Ahmed Al Tunaiji, said: "The Dubai At A Glance will be a very important guide for the

Dubai visitors. The international edition of the publication has proved to be a big hit with the tourists in different parts of the world. It provides useful information to visitors like general information about the emirate, places to visit, shopping facilities, sight-seeing in the emirate and activities on offer."

Besides providing data on the culture and lifestyle, places to stay, getting around, the latest edition also contain information about the various parks and beaches in Dubai, tours and sightseeing, places to shop, beach and health clubs, sports and leisure, restaurants, dinner cruises, dune dinners, cafes and coffee shops, bars, pubs and nightclubs among others.

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