Time for a united tourism effort

In celebration of the UAE’s 40th National Day on December 2, Hotelier has taken a look back over 40 years of the hotel industry in the Emirates.

With the bulk of development crammed into the past 20 years alone, the country’s achievements are astounding. The consensus is that Dubai will continue to develop, Abu Dhabi will become increasingly dynamic and Northern Emirates will follow suit and increase their own tourism potential.

This may be true, but for me it begs one question. Is it not a little odd to be celebrating the union of a country yet discussing tourism in terms of individual emirates? Fast forward to the 50th anniversary; wouldn’t it be wonderful to celebrate UAE hospitality in its entirety?

Considering the views of the 100-plus general managers who completed the 2011 Hotelier Middle East GM Survey, you may not agree. I was surprised to learn that almost two thirds of the respondents (60.9%) did not think that Dubai and Abu Dhabi should be marketed as one destination.

I appreciate that the Emirates have very special points of difference and that target markets vary. However, bearing in mind the current battering the Middle East is taking in international media — which in headlines rarely distinguishes country from country, let alone identifies individual cities, Egypt and Cairo being the perfect examples — I am inclined to believe that a UAE destination marketing campaign might wield significant weight.

The onus for this would not necessarily be on the tourism authorities, but on the hotels themselves — recall the incredible impact Dubai hotels’ joined-up marketing efforts had in reversing dramatic occupancy drops after September 9/11.

Imagine if Dubai hotels were also supported by their neighbours as the UAE now focuses on bringing back former guests and clients in 2012?

There would be challenges with this of course — the hotel and travel industries are more complex now than 10 years ago — but going forward, small steps could have a dramatic impact. More competition no doubt makes it increasingly difficult to market destinations as a single unit but, as we celebrate the UAE’s 40th birthday, we would do well to remember what has driven our hotels’ success in the past.