Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism briefs stakeholders on future plans

The Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) hosted its second City Briefing of the year, providing stakeholders with an overview of the department’s collaboration-focused initiatives and campaigns, and highlighting the vital role the tourism, events and related sectors continue to play in achieving the ambitious goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of DET, opened proceedings at the latest edition of the bi-annual event, which took place at InterContinental Dubai Festival City, drawing a record attendance of more than 1,300 industry executives and professionals. Among them were representatives of a wide range of stakeholders such as hotels, attractions and venues, tour operators, airlines and other government entities.

On this occasion, Almarri underlined the vital role of the growing public-private sector collaboration in driving Dubai's sustainable development as well as advancing its tourism sector to new heights. He highlighted the emirate's commitment to redefining global benchmarks for excellence in the hospitality industry, focusing on innovation and quality.

Almarri also highlighted the instrumental part played by partners in developing unique solutions and experiences that enhance Dubai's appeal as a global tourism destination. Dubai continues to introduce distinctive new initiatives to strengthen its reputation as the world’s best city to visit and live and work in, he added.

Participants were updated on the destination’s robust performance. Dubai attracted 14.96 million international visitors from January to October 2024, up 8 percent from the same period last year. Attendees were also given insights into the growth of the hospitality sector, which saw the city providing 152,000 hotel rooms by the end of October. Key metrics including average occupancy, occupied room nights, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) showed year-on-year uplifts.

Snapshots were also provided of some of the recent campaigns and marketing initiatives driven by DET, in collaboration with stakeholders, as well as key projects identified as drivers for continued tourism growth, including destination weddings, cruising and yachting, accessibility, gastronomy, and sustainability.

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “Guided by our city’s visionary leadership, and the priority placed on strategic public-private partnerships, Dubai’s tourism sector continues to gather momentum, building on last year's record visitation performance, and making vital contributions towards achieving the ambitious goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

“By its nature, our industry has always been dynamic, with many factors outside of our control influencing tourist travel. Yet, amid all of this, we are pushing collectively to grow our market share, consistently creating our own narrative and leading trends, innovating to stay ahead of the game, and further consolidating Dubai’s status as a leading global lifestyle and tourism destination.

“We once again extend our gratitude to all our stakeholders and partners within the tourism ecosystem for their ongoing support, and their contributions to making the city the global benchmark for service quality. As we approach 2025, we will look to further enhance Dubai’s global standing, working together to elevate an already powerful destination proposition, and embracing innovative approaches to promote the city around the world.”

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said, “The success of Dubai’s tourism, retail and events sectors in 2024 reflects the city’s visionary leadership and is aligned with the goals of the D33 Agenda to further consolidate Dubai’s position as a leading global city for business and leisure. Dubai has grown to become a global events and entertainment hub, and this year the city has achieved major milestones with record-breaking levels of participation in the Dubai Fitness Challenge, and the start of the landmark 30th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival. With a year-round calendar of retail events, international conferences and sporting championships on the agenda - all being planned and executed with the support of our stakeholders - we are optimistic that 2025 will continue to reinforce Dubai’s appeal as a premier destination for international visitors, while also providing residents with enriching experiences.”

Emphasising the significance of collaboration both locally and globally, the event outlined details of DET’s International Operations, managed from Dubai through 36 brand offices covering over 60 countries. Across these markets, DET has built relationships with more than 3,000 travel trade stakeholders, including 270 formalised or soon-to-be formalised agreements. Underlining the importance of face-to-face engagement in promoting Dubai and supporting trade partners, DET has conducted over 45 international roadshows and workshops this year.

Details were also provided of the department’s comprehensive PR and communications capabilities, which have enabled the city and its stakeholders to enhance the city’s global profile, support major events and initiatives, and highlight innovation and sustainability efforts.

The comprehensive scale of the department’s social media reach was also highlighted. In the second half of 2024 alone, the multi-language, multi-platform Visit Dubai channels garnered over 290 million engagements. Additionally, strategic partners contributed 375 million engagements, while key opinion leaders generated more than 104 million interactions, showcasing the department’s wide-ranging digital impact.

The launch of an Arabic-language Visit Dubai WhatsApp channel, gamification through ‘Dubai, Always’, and a Chinese-language podcast that has already accumulated more than one million listening minutes provided even more ways to engage with local and global audiences. The department also leveraged relationships with popular global personalities, including J.Balvin – for two music videos filmed in the city – and Mr. Beast, for a YouTube content collaboration.

Stakeholders have also been at the heart of campaigns developed by DET, with their hotels, attractions, experiences and services being creatively showcased. Notable campaigns in 2024 included Dubai - What’s Not To Love – positioning the city as the destination of choice for the winter season; Dubai: A Whole New You, featuring father-daughter Bollywood duo Saif and Sara Ali Khan; Dubai: Who’s Ready?, starring Korean actors Park Shin-Hye and Park Hyung-Sik from the Netflix series, Doctor Slump; and This Calls For Dubai (Yabeelha Dubai), promoting Dubai’s cross-generation appeal to audiences across the GCC. Taking a fresh, unique approach, the latest global campaign – If You Go, You Know – features different Dubai families and couples speaking in their native languages to encourage their compatriots to visit the city and experience all it has to offer, letting the voices of the city with genuine advocacy promote what they love most about it.

Emphasising the strategic goal to make the city not just the best to visit, but also to live and work in, global business marketing activities were also highlighted, including participation in major international shows and global content partnerships. Stakeholders were encouraged to build on the success of the recent World Travel Market in London that featured more than 60 partners, by joining the department at the exhibitions it will be participating in throughout 2025. These exhibitions cover the leisure, business events, cruise and yachting segments.

The success of the recent Dubai Fitness Challenge was also put into perspective, with DET officials outlining how the 8th edition of the initiative, driven by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, attracted a record 2.7 million participants.

Meanwhile, with the Dubai Shopping Festival already underway, attendees were updated on plans for the rest of the landmark 30th edition, including promotions, concerts and entertainment, as well as a preview of the wider 2025 Dubai Retail Calendar, encompassing major festival and events, including Ramadan and Eid in Dubai, Dubai Summer Surprises, Dubai Fashion Season and Dubai Home Festival, as well as promotions including the Great Online Sale and 3-Day Super Sale.

Looking ahead to the coming weeks, DET also provided an overview of key events on the Dubai Calendar, including concerts by Sherine Abdel Wahab and Lionel Richie, major international sporting events such as Dubai Marathon and golf’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, as well as stage shows like Singin’ in the Rain, The Nutcracker, and CoComelon LIVE: Sing-A-Long.