Dubai keen to woo German tourists

The main objective of the trip was to offer the participating agents a first-hand experience of Dubai and its offerings during the summer, ultimately resulting in increased sales.

A total of 438 German travel agents were invited to Dubai to participate in familiarisation activities. — Supplied photo

Dubai — Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, or Dubai Tourism, recently hosted its largest familiarisation trip to date for travel agents from Germany, with a total of 438 travel agents invited to the emirate to spend four days following three carefully-curated itineraries focused on luxury, family and activities.

Organised in partnership with Emirates airline, the initiative was part of Dubai Tourism’s targeted promotion of the emirate’s wealth of summer leisure offerings to key source markets.

Attendees were made up of Germany’s best-selling travel agents as well as travel agent groups such as RTK, TUI Leisure Travel, Best RMG, Derpart and FCM Travel Solutions. All agents are wholesalers, selling products from major tour operators including TUI, Thomas Cook, FTI, JT Touristik, Dertour, Meiers and Schauinsland.

The main objective of the trip was to offer the participating agents a first-hand experience of Dubai and its offerings during the summer, ultimately resulting in increased sales.

Issam Kazim, chief executive officer of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “Germany is an important market for Dubai as it has consistently been one of our top 10 source markets for inbound tourists.”

“By inviting Germany’s top travel agents to our emirate, our goal is to enable them to sell Dubai as a destination with greater knowledge, conviction and enthusiasm based on first-hand experience, in addition to facilitating and enhancing business relationships between the agents and Dubai stakeholders. This latest familiarisation trip demonstrates Dubai Tourism’s ongoing commitment to growing the German market and encouraging more visitors from the country as we work towards realising Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020.”

A special event entitled “Inspiring Summer in Dubai” was also held, which included a workshop, a number of presentations and other activities. During the event the more than 400 travel agents had the opportunity to meet with approximately 50 key stakeholders, including Emaar Group, Meraas Holding, Jumeirah Group, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai Airports, Meydan Hotels & Hospitality, and Majid Al Futtaim Leisure & Entertainment.

— business@khaleejtimes.com