FOCUS ON….. ARABIA

The phenomenal rise of Dubai to become one of the world’s leading tourism destinations is reflected in the growing importance of Arabian Travel Market, held in Dubai in May each year.

Not only Dubai but the whole of the Gulf region is developing rapidly, and it is equally important as a high-spending source market. Several major tourist boards have opened offices in the Gulf recently, or exhibited at ATM in 2006 for the first time.

Dubai has attracted global attention due to its highly ambitious tourism infrastructure projects. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, has proved to be a visionary leader.

The largest man-made islands in the world are now under construction, adding over 300 miles to Dubai’s coastline. Called The Palm, Jumeirah; The Palm, Jebel Ali; and The Palm, Deira, these palm tree shaped islands will be joined by a private island complex in the shape of the world map – The World.

Other major projects include Dubailand, to become the world’s largest theme park. The Bawadi complex at Dubailand will have 31 luxury hotels including Asia-Asia, the world’s largest with 6,500 rooms.

By the end of 2007, the new Dubai World Central Airport and its six runways at Jebel Ali will be the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub capable of handling 120 million passengers a year. It will be 10 times larger than the existing Dubai International Airport, to which it will be linked by rail.

Dubai received 6.16 million international visitors in 2005, up 14%, but this number is set to multiply. Dubai’s airline is one of the fastest growing in the world, Emirates having placed the largest aircraft order in aviation history for 71 Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth US$19 billion.

The neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi is also developing rapidly, while Oman (a much larger country than the UAE), Qatar and Bahrain are also growing destinations. Even Saudi Arabia, at present closed to Western tourists, has agreed a system for issuing a limited number of tourist visas.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) members – which also include Kuwait – now contribute over US$12 billion a year in international tourism spending, according to the World Tourism Organisation. Chris Chackal, Group Exhibition Director – Overseas Events of Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser of ATM, says this makes the region an exciting prospect.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest outbound markets with tourists spending US $6.7 billion annually on overseas travel,” he says. “UAE travellers alone spend more than US$4.9 million, an average of US$1,700 per trip, which is US$500 higher than the European average.

“At this year’s ATM we had a record number of national and tourism boards exhibiting, an indication of the Middle East’s massive outbound travel potential.”

Germany, Turkey, Cyprus, Singapore, Malaysia and Morocco have all opened offices in Dubai recently, while VisitBritain is well established there. Japan, Ireland and Poland were first-time exhibitors at ATM this year.

Total visitors to the show were up 18% to 16,250, while trade buyers increased by 11.5% to 12,249. Floor space sold increased by 39% to 22,299 sq m and the largest stand was taken by Abu Dhabi.

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