The biggest Indian FAM to Dubai
With Indians being the second largest source market for Dubai, a total of 440 members from the Indian tourism fraternity from across 16 cities were invited on a mega FAM organised by DTCM.
As part of a marketing strategy to expand the understanding and product portfolio; Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) hosted the largest ever tourism industry Mega FAM trip. A total of 440 representatives of the Indian travel fraternity were provided with a first-hand experience of Dubai.
In the first six months of 2014, India was our second top source market and saw tremendous growth. It continues to be a key focus for us and roadshows to India and FAM trips such as this are a great way to ensure our partners in the market remain up to date with everything going on in Dubai – the first-hand experience is also the ideal way to drive enthusiasm for the destination! In addition, this was a valuable exercise for our stakeholders in Dubai who through face-to-face meetings and networking sessions were able to exchange information and ideas which will prove beneficial as we further strengthen business relationships with our partners in India,” says Issam Kazim, CEO, DTCM.
In 2013, the total number of Indian visitors stood at 888,835, placing India on the second spot among the top source markets for Dubai tourism, preceded by Saudi Arabia. Aligning with its Dubai’s vision for 2020, Dubai is now looking beyond the clichés and offers experiences for the whole family. Focusing on tourist-centric sectors, Dubai is broadening its portfolio and creating enough knowledge for the same.
In a bid to emerge as a one-stop destination for practically everything, Dubai seems to stop at nothing, “There's so much more to Dubai than just shopping, we are now showcasing a lot more culture, heritage, art and focusing on the overall experience. We are planning to work closely with DMC’s and educate them further on the product offerings in the city. Listening to our tourists and making sure we offer what they want is also important to us,” says Mark Bennett, Senior Vice President, International Operations, DTCM.
Bennett talks about the recent success of Happy New Year and hopes it will show great results in the coming year. He adds,
We had all the facilities and products all along but this wasn’t communicated well enough. We will very soon grade all the destination management companies. Thus Indian consumers can get the correct range of products and find the right balance and the most appropriate product offering.”
To further help the agents sell the destination, “We are now investing a lot on the digital and online platform.