By Jimoh Babatunde
At a recent travel exhibition in Lagos, one stand that was the cynosure of all eyes was that of the
Dubai tourism.
The stand had Emirates Airlines,
Emirates Holidays, IMG Worlds of Adventure, North Tours, Red Apple
Middle East Tourism, Time Hotels, Hilton Hotels, All in One Tourism,
Alpha Tours and Arabian Falcon Holidays displaying.
The pull for Nigerians to the stand was
not surprising to the officials of the Dubai’s Department of
Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) as Dubai, the
commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is one of the
favourite destinations for Nigerian travellers.
It is a top leisure destination for
both leisure and business vacations for many Nigerians. This is
attested to by the volume of flights from Nigeria that terminates in
the city either directly or indirectly.
Speaking on the need for the Dubai
Tourism to participate at the yearly travel show, the Regional
Director Africa for Dubai Tourism, Stella Obinwa, said: “Dubai
continues to establish itself as a destination of choice for
travellers from the African continent, holding particular appeal
amongst those looking for wholesome family fun, incredible shopping
deals and year-long entertainment.
She said the decline in traveling due
to the economic recession has not affected Dubai compared to other
destinations, because Dubai is closer to Nigeria and has more to
offer Nigerians.
“We offer theme parks and some
opening in few months and Dubai keep reinvesting itself that is why
people keep coming back over and over again.”
Stella Obinwa continued: “We are very
excited to provide our African visitors a glimpse of Dubai’s
thrilling additions to the family entertainment portfolio. With the
recent opening of IMG Worlds of Adventure and the soon-to-be-launched
Dubai Parks and Resorts, we are proud to see Dubai’s steady success
towards becoming the world’s number one family holiday destination.
“We are also bolstering our
commitment to further enhance Dubai’s shopping experiences which
include the upcoming Dubai Shopping Festival from December 26 to
January 31.”
On the Dubai shopping festival
First launched in 1996, Dubai Shopping
Festival has grown to become one of the largest shopping, fashion and
entertainment extravaganzas in the world, with exciting activities
such as musical concerts, sports shows and fashion displays.
And what we have discovered is that yes
Africans come to Dubai, but not many are aware that in certain month
of the year that there is what we call Dubai shopping festival, where
all the retailers are mandated by the government to run discount
programmes and each one of them runs a program that is up to 70% on
regularly priced items.
So, we want Africans to experience the
shopping festivals for themselves and then become regulars, so we are
willing in Dubai tourism to pay for 200 Nigerians to come for the
2016 Dubai shopping festival.
Tagged the “Dubai Shopping Festival
Give away” promotion, Dubai Tourism plans to reward Nigerians who
are keen travellers with thrilling shopping experiences in Dubai.
Over the past decade, Dubai has developed into a leading shopping
destination offering visitors a wealth of unique experiences and
opportunities.
The package includes flights, tickets
to some of Dubai Shopping Festival’s many events, hotel
accommodation and visa application – all paid for by Dubai Tourism.
The festival is not all about just
shopping, there is shopping, there is musical experience, there is
gastronomy experience, there is much more. Even if you don’t want
to shop there is so much more to do as we have planned programmes for
holistic experience of Dubai.
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