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DTCM links up tour operators

DUBAI — The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has provided links to the web sites of inbound tour operators from its popular web site www.dubaitourism.ae.

The web site offers comprehensive information and e-services to visitors from across the world and attracts more than 250,000 hits a day. The new facility is expected to provide immense business opportunities for the Dubai tour operators, which are already benefiting from the aggressive marketing and promotional agenda being pursued by the department.

More than 5.4 million guests were hosted by Dubai's 372 hotels and hotel apartments in 2004. Almost all the Dubai-based tour operators have a strong web presence, but the unique linking will provide prospective Dubai visitors the chance to virtually explore the facilities being offered by the organisations.

The linking forms part of the e-Services being provided by the department, which was among the first government organisations to tap the web potential long before it became a way of life. The web surfers could access the links by clicking the E-Services section on the home page.

From the tourism and commerce list on the One Stop Information Centre (OSIC), the web site visitor will have the option to select the linking to tour operators from a hang-down menu offering a variety of E-services.

Early this year, the department launched the electronic issuance of the Entertainment Activities Permits. The first of its kind of facility is expected to reduce by 90 per cent the need for personal presence for obtaining the permits by the hotels and resorts, sports and leisure clubs and event management organisations.

The user-friendly facility allows settling the fees electronically as well. The department issued 6,767 Entertainment Activity Permits in 2004 and expects a 20 per cent increase in the number of permits during this year.