DTCM hosts 'largest ever MegaFam trip'
Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) welcomed the largest ever tourism industry multi-itinerary familiarisation trip (MegaFam) trip earlier this month.
Between December 6th and 9th, travel operators, wedding planners, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) operators, niche segment specialists and media experts from 16 cities across India headed to Dubai.
The DTCM played host to over 440 representatives from some of the country's travel industry partners, with the aim of giving them first-hand experience of what the emirate can offer as a leisure and a business destination.
Issam Kazim, chief executive officer of the DTCM, described the MegaFam trip as a success and said he was pleased to welcome travel representatives from one of Dubai's key source markets.
'In fact, in the first six months of 2014, India was our second top source market and saw tremendous growth,' he continued.
'It continues to be a key focus for us and roadshows to India and MegaFam trips such as this are a great way to ensure our partners in the market remain up to date with everything going on in Dubai - the first-hand experience is also the ideal way to drive enthusiasm for the destination.'
He also believes that the trip was a valuable exercise for stakeholders in Dubai, as the face-to-face meetings and networking that was possible allowed them to exchange information with the Indian representative, further strengthening business relationships with the country.
A session that involved business-to-business networking was created for the delegates, of which 95 per cent were company directors or owners. It featured presentations from the DTCM and key stakeholders, including the Dubai Food Festival, the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment and the Dubai Cruise Terminal.
The DTCM has been arranging events such as these to boost the amount of tourists heading to the emirate from key markets in order to help Dubai achieve its goal of attracting 20 million visitors every year by 2020.