UGANDA: Dubai Tourism Pokes Kampala

Dubai Tourism to open up to partnership with local counterparts in Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania.

Delegates will showcase the best of Dubai to further position the city as a must-visit destination for Ugandan travellers – over 38,000 of whom visited Dubai in 2015, registering a 22 per cent year-on-year increase as Dubai set to enter top ten global cities in hotel supply as it marks 100,000 rooms Depending on how the country and the region position itself to partake on this initiative, it could either turn out to be a win-win situation or otherwise.

According to the Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and 14 of its Dubai-based partners will embark on a multi-destination road show across three East African cities, starting in Kampala on 24 August.

Also encompassing tour operators, the aim of the trip is to highlight and promote the wide array of new and upcoming family attractions, experiences and hotels in Dubai that will further enhance the visitor experience.

As for the regional countries, among them Uganda, it will generate an opportunity for local operators to meet directly with the gulf city’s top partners with view to work together and develop the industry.

The 14 co-participants are made up of top brands including flydubai, Emirates Airline and Kenya Airways, as well as hotel groups such as Address Hotels, Rove Hotels, Time Hotels and Crowne Plaza, plus resorts featured by Arabian Falcon Holidays.

Key destination services companies include Alpha Tours, Rayna Tourism, Red Apple Middle East Tourism, North Tours and Connect World Travel & Tourism. Global Village, a leading family, cultural, shopping and entertainment destination in the Gulf region, and a popular attraction with Africans visiting Dubai, will also be joining the delegates to showcase the breadth of Dubai’s destination offering.

Commenting ahead of the road show, Issam Kazim, CEO at Dubai Tourism, said: “The potential of Uganda as a source market is positive, and this road show provides us with the opportunity to directly interact with the operators here, to showcase what Dubai has to offer them. We look forward to making long-lasting and fruitful trade relationships during the trip to further grow the tourism market in Uganda for the benefit of all.”

Dubai continues to be a popular tourist destination for Ugandan travellers, with over 38,000 visiting the city last year, a 22 per cent increase over the previous year.

Overall, Dubai saw a 13.7 per cent increase in travellers from these three East African countries last year. Sudhir Sreedharan, SVP Commercial Operations at flydubai (GCC, Africa & Indian Sub-Continent), said: “We are very pleased to take part in Dubai Tourism’s first-ever roadshow to East Africa and to showcase brand Dubai and flydubai.

We are committed to opening up underserved markets and providing reliable, direct air links to destinations that previously had no very few connections to Dubai.

East Africa is a very important market that has shown significant growth over the past few years. We currently operate 82 weekly flights to 11 points in Africa, including 3 weekly flights to Entebbe and 4 weekly flights to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

The weekly frequency will increase to 4 flights to Entebbe and 7 flights to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar from October.”

With Dubai set to hit the 100,000 rooms milestone this month across its expanding hotel and hotel apartment inventory, the city aims to firmly position itself as a top 10 global destination in terms of available hotel supply, indicating high demand from international travellers and sustained growth in tourism volumes.

Due to launch at the end of August, the park will bring to life the world of Marvel comics, transport visitors back to the Jurassic age in Lost Valley – Dinosaur Adventure and feature family favourites in the Cartoon Network zone.

Another new addition to Dubai’s expansive entertainment offering will be Dubai Parks and Resorts, the largest integrated theme park destination in the region, which is scheduled to open at the end of October.

The destination comprises Hollywood-inspired motiongate™ Dubai, Bollywood Parks™, a first-of-its-kind entertainment theme park that brings the Bollywood experience to life, and the region’s first.