TOURISM

Bigger, better, brighter – that's Dubai's tourism sector! Contributing an estimated 18% of the emirate's direct GDP and 30% of its indirect, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Dubai's hotels and apartments attracted around 6.5m visitors, the majority of whom were European, in 2007, generating more than $3.5bn in revenues. Dubai's tourism sector is powering ahead in every segment; retail, through events such as the annual Dubai Shopping Festival; sports, through the likes of the Desert Classic Golf Tournament; meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), set to receive a boost when the Dubai Trade Centre Jebal Ali is completed in 2010; and medical tourism. One thing the visitor to Dubai knows to expect is quality– Dubai is home to the world's only seven-star hotel and luxury locations such as this will soon be added to by Dubailand, set to be the world's largest entertainment and leisure complex. To cater for all this activity, the Al Maktoum Airport, slated for completion in 2015, is expected to be the world's largest airport complex with six runways, a port, attached residential areas and hotels as well as a free trade zone with the capacity to handle between 120m and 150m passengers.

The chapter includes an interview with Khalid bin Sulayem, Director- General, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing; Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free (DDF) and Helal S K Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre Corporation.