Dubai Tourism marked the opening of its first office in South Korea last week with an Emirati-style ceremony, hosting major partners from the travel industry and media in the country.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the office, located in Seoul, Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said: “With a 10 per cent increase in visitors from South Korea in 2014 compared to the previous year, we have opened Dubai Tourism’s first office here to drive growth from a market in which, like many countries across Asia, we see significant potential. Emirates operates one flight per day between Dubai and Seoul under a code-share agreement with Korean Air, and Korean Air operates a further flight per day. Our new Korean office will engage with the travel trade and end consumer, highlighting the superior destination offering of Dubai to a market that is primarily seeking family, honeymoon and luxury holidays.”

During the opening ceremony, Kazim made reference to the strong overall visitor growth during 2014, which has continued during the first three quarters of 2015.

“Welcoming a total of 10.5 million international visitors in the first nine months of 2015 compared to 9.6 million over the same period in 2014, the increase is testament to the combined efforts of Dubai Tourism’s international offices and our partners in the emirate’s tourism industry. While we stand here tonight in Korea, colleagues and partners in Dubai are hosting more than 450 Chinese travel and tourism delegates and a major study mission from the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events industry of the US. They are also preparing for mega-familiarisation visits next week of delegations from Germany and the US and our first attendance of World Travel Market Africa in Lagos, Nigeria.”

With China representing significant growth opportunities, this year, in addition to the 450-person mega-familiarisation trip (mega-fam) to Dubai earlier this month, Dubai Tourism has organised four separate roadshows in 10 major Chinese cities and hosted multiple media personalities and journalists. This month’s US mega-fam trip will welcome over 200 top luxury travel experts to review Dubai’s high-end and cultural offerings, with planned briefing sessions on Dubai’s Historical District and tours around key art galleries in the city. Dubai Tourism will also host travel and tourism delegates in December from Central Europe and South East Asia.

Recent activities have also included an entertainment-packed evening in Moscow to maintain Dubai’s top-of-mind preference with the Russian market, and participation in World Travel Market in London. Both of these highlighted the continual appeal of Dubai to visitors from the UK and Europe to deliver the message that families should put Dubai top of their list as their 2016 must-visit destination.

Speaking further, Kazim said: “On the back of these highly positive visitor results for the first three quarters of 2015, a big push for us in 2016 is family tourism. We continue to expand Dubai’s offering for the segment, with the next two years seeing the opening of attractions including Dubai Safari Park, Dubai Opera House, Legoland Dubai, Hollywood-themed Motion Gate and Bollywood Parks Dubai. All of these will greatly enhance Dubai’s appeal among families and help us towards achieving our vision for 2020, which aims to welcome 20 million visitors per year by the start of the next decade. As such, we are continuing to invest in new and established markets across the world.”

With a strong increase in visitors from 15 out of 20 of the top source markets, the January-to-September 2015 statistics highlight a 32 per cent increase in visitors from China, a 28 per cent increase in visitors from India, and a 22 per cent increase in visitors from Saudi Arabia, compared to the same period last year, positioning them as the top three growth markets. Key markets such as the UK, US, and Germany also showed steady growth following continued outreach to attract the markets’ returning and potential visitor base. – TradeArabia News Service