Hoteliers at yesterday’s Great GM debate in Dubai said a unified tourism marketing campaign between all seven emirates was vital to boost the economy of the destination as a whole.
General managers pointed out that while hotels in Dubai were exceeding expectation, those in other emirates were struggling as tourists failed to venture beyond Dubai into the rest of the UAE.
Victor Louis, chief operating officer at Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority acknowledged that while some effort had been made at a national level to increase the amount of cross-selling between the emirates – much more needed to be done at a federal level to encourage tourists to view the UAE as one country.
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“There’s a perception at the moment that you land in Dubai and you stay in Dubai. The problem is that Dubai started early [with marketing] and now the other emirates are following and each emirate has its own branding exercises.
Louis called on the UAE government to increase its efforts and “work hard to take the destination to a new level.”
Michel Noblet, president, Hospitality Management Holdings agreed that a unified marketing push was crucial: “We need a powerful and global marketing campaign for the UAE," he stated. “We need to highlight the other emirates.”
Noblet suggested a ‘welcome motto’ could be introduced as a way for people throughout the UAE to welcome tourists. “For example, in Polynesia they say Aloha; in Thailand they say Sawadika. Why not have a special motto here which everyone can use to get involved?”
Olivier Hick, vice president, operations, Accor Middle East said that while hotels in Dubai couldn’t believe their luck in terms of business levels; it was necessary to focus on the other emirates for sustainability of the destination.
“Everyone who has hotel in Dubai has a big smile on their face. Realistically, that the inventory is still sustainable is a surprise. We are enjoying outstanding performance and I don’t see an impact on that for the next few years.
“The issue here is the other emirates; we need to look at the emirates as a whole destination. We need to look at ways to get people to spend a day in Dubai; one on Abu Dhabi etc. This is a key issue for sustainability of the destination.”
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