Dubai Business Events (DBE), Dubai’s official convention bureau, hosted 85 guests from Western Europe as part of a Discover Dubai Study Mission 2016. 70 hosted buyers and a further 15 of Europe’s leading media experts from the business events industry. Ozgur Tore representing ftnNEWS was among the media group.
Dubai Business Events showcased the Emirate’s world class meetings, incentives, conferences and event capabilities. A tailored itinerary that covered incentive, meeting and conferences was developed for the three day study tour.
The media group is comfortably stayed at Fairmont Dubai, located just opposite to the Dubai World Trade Center, the region’s largest purpose-built complex for events and exhibitions. Fairmont Dubai is also 10 minutes away from the Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping center.
Western Europe is a vital market for Dubai, and in 2015 it remained the second highest regional contributor to the emirate’s visitor volumes, bringing in nearly 3 million overnight visitors, reflecting a solid 6.1% growth in numbers.
A tailored itinerary that covered incentive, meeting and conferences was developed for the three day study tour. It included a number of the city’s leading attractions, such as a desert safari at Platinum Heritage, a cultural tour of Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding and a series of hotels and venues such as Taj Dubai, Palace Downtown Dubai, St. Regis Dubai, Mina Al Salam Hotel, and Al Qasr Hotel.
Delegates also had the opportunity to experience the added extras that DBE can offer to make events truly memorable. This involved a bespoke team-building exercise which required an interactive iPad app to offer a series of challenges for the delegates, ensuring they learnt about the culture that underpins the city, while helping them to build lasting relationships with their fellow attendees.
We also attended an industry round-table which included presentations from a number of DBE’s key partners; Emirates Airline, Dubai Airports, Dubai Parks and Resorts and Zayed University. These emphasize that Dubai is one of the most well connected economies in the world and the business and knowledge hub of the Middle East. Please see photos from the media roundtable below.
Steen Jakobsen, Director, Dubai Business Events said: “Dubai has continued to build momentum in the business, conferences and events industry. Inviting European buyer and media stakeholders to experience the plethora of incentives and first class facilities the city has to offer, as well as providing unique networking opportunities with a number of key suppliers, enables DBE to demonstrate why Dubai is continuing to grow in popularity across the sector.”
Commenting on the experience, attendee Sonia Graupera, said, “I loved my visit to Dubai. A fantastic three days, with an exciting and varied agenda. I really enjoyed the opportunity to gain insight into Dubai’s culture as well as experience some of the city’s best quality hotels and incentives, and learn more about its developing knowledge hub and innovation credentials. I thought the idea of introducing a team building challenge really helped drive engagement among the attendees as well. A brilliant all-round experience and I very much look forward to returning.”
Kuba Piotrowski, from Oriflame, one of the hosted buyers said: “Dubai is an amazing city and we have had a brilliant three days. From a night in the desert, to a seaplane tour to camel polo, we were able to experience the range of incentives and world class facilities that the city has to offer. Being able to meet with DBE’s partners was a great touch and a very valuable opportunity to grow and develop future relationships that will enable us to provide a better service to our customers.”
The European study tour is the first in a series of events that will see DBE host over 800 buyers and media delegates from its leading markets in 2016, as it continues to build towards Dubai’s ambitious target of welcoming 20 million visitors per year to the city by 2020.
#DiscoverDubai16 is the hashtag for the Dubai Study Mission 2016 delegates used during their discovery of Dubai. Search and see more photos in Instagram, Tweeter and Facebook.
