We need to focus on branding ...

Having studied in Australia for four years and having faced the misconceptions that people have about not only the GCC, but the Middle East, I agree that we should promote our culture and identity and push our presence further. We need to take our weakness for a strength and work on branding ourselves, and with that in mind, not only branding major cities, but countries as a whole. The main issue that we encounter is that the West tends to recognise our countries based on main cities, such as Dubai or Abu Dhabi in the case of UAE, and the same goes for other GCC countries. We need to work on rebranding ourselves and our products rather than just being tourist attractions. If we manage to do so, we will attract business people from all around the world for reasons other than leisure. The GCC is a region with a lot of culture and values that the rest of the world can learn from, and that does not stop with being oil rich. There are a lot of cities that are unique and have contributed to the countries reputation, unfortunately they tend to be outshone. In addition, just like we adapt to the West when travelling abroad, in turn, those visiting the GCC need to adapt to our culture and identity. It is a joint responsibility that should be taken seriously by citizens of the world to preserve and shine a light on all cultures as at the end of the day, each and every culture is unique and adds to diversity. From Mr Hamad Al Marzouqi Acquisition specialist based in Dubai

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