Dubai’s tourism drives economic growth

The tourism industry has been one of the key drivers of Dubai’s economic growth, and despite being buoyant and competitive, there are numerous untapped opportunities for additional investment, says a senior government official. Director General, of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hamad Buamim emphasised that the tourism sector’s growth has reflected positively on the emirate’s other key divisions like logistics and infrastructure. He noted that there are ample of opportunities, especially given future growth forecasts for this important industry. The director general made the remarks on Monday during the latest round of CEO Dialogue on Dubai’s Tourism Industry held at the Chamber headquarters in Dubai. The theme of the event is ‘Achievements, Strengths and Future Growth Prospects’. Buamim noted that vocational training and awareness are two important factors in attracting young citizens to work in the tourism sector. The CEO Dialogue organised by Dubai Chamber also provided the latest insights from industry experts who discussed the current opportunities, trends and economic highlights within Dubai’s tourism industry. Tourism industry leaders and the private sector operating in the UAE, at the same time hailed Dubai’s strong public-private partnership. They described the tourism sector as very vibrant as it demonstrated sustainable growth. Giving a statistics on the tourism industry’s performance, Buamim noted that the sector has been consistently performing well as 10 million tourists visited Dubai during 2012 with a 9.3 per cent growth rate compared to the same period in 2011. He disclosed that the number of guest nights recorded was 37.4 million with a 14 per cent growth rate as the revenue of hotel and hotel apartments rose by 17.9 per cent to reach Dhs18.82 billion during the same period. The Director General however anticipated the emirate’s visitor numbers to reach 15 million by the year 2015 which will come in the wake of combined efforts driving new growth through a number of initiatives as the hotel rooms capacity of the emirate is likely to increase to more than 100,000 by 2015. Speaking at the same event, Gerald Lawless, President and Group CEO, Jumeirah Group, also responded to a question on how to attract more Emiratis to the hospitality sector. He highlighted the opportunities that Dubai provided to citizens and residents while endorsing the importance of vocational training and awareness. The availability of opportunities for citizens are more now as this sector offers wide scope in other related professions like engineering, HR and many more as well as good employee benefits, he said. Lawless at the same time said he was optimistic that the emirate’s winning of the bid to host Expo 2020 will work wonders for its economy, particularly its tourism sector. Another speaker, Alan Leibman, CEO, Kerzner International said that there has been a strong relationship between the public-private sectors as they work hand in hand to ensure a strong and positive tourism growth. Dubai’s first-rate infrastructure, high-class accommodation and diverse cultural heritage have made it into a world-renowned tourist destination, said the Director General. The government’s commitment to diversify its economy into areas such as tourism means the industry will continue to grow further. Endorsing the success of the tourism sector to the world-class infrastructure of advanced road and metro network as well as airlines and easy visa facilities, which attracted a large number of tourists to Dubai. From The Gulf Today