Top ranking officials from Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) are in Cape Town, South Africa, to boost awareness of the emirate’s destination offer in the African market during the inaugural World Travel Market (WTM) Africa May 2-3.

This follows a successful mission to promote Dubai’s business tourism credentials to the South American market at WTM Latin America which took place from April 23 to 25.
 
Promoting Dubai in markets which have been identified as having significant potential for growth, such as those in the emerging economies of Latin America and Africa, are key components of the Tourism Vision 2020 strategy adopted by the emirate last year.

Under the plan, visitor numbers to Dubai are set to double from 10 million in 2012 to 20 million in 2020.

Speaking ahead of WTM Africa in Cape Town, DTCM’s executive director of Business Tourism Hamad Bin Mejren said: "Dubai is already a major business events destination for African businesses and now we are seeing increased leisure visitors from African countries. In Latin America too, our recently opened office in Brazil and increased direct flights have resulted in increased business and leisure visitors."

"Participating in WTM Africa is an opportunity as we see the potential in this area to further grow Dubai’s leisure tourism numbers from Africa," he added.

South Africa and Brazil are Dubai’s largest source markets for visitors in Africa and South America respectively. As per official data, Dubai had welcomed 80,047 South African and 46,878 Brazilian visitors in 2013.

The Brazilian visitor numbers in 2013 represented an increase of 18 per cent from the 39,629 nationals welcomed in 2012, said the official.

A major factor for the increase in African tourist numbers to Dubai is its flexible flights. In South Africa, 42 direct weekly flights to Dubai are operated by Emirates Airline alone from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban which provide a wealth of options for visitors travelling between the two countries.

Dubai currently has 14 direct flights to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo every week.

Dubai, as a hub between East and West, is perfectly positioned as a global platform for leisure and business tourism, in addition to serving as a conduit for international commerce, stated Bin Mejren.

With world-class air and sea facilities, leading meetings and hospitality infrastructure, a vibrant year-round calendar of events and business-friendly policies, the emirate is primed to continue growing as a natural gateway to global emerging markets, said the official.

"More business travellers from a new region translate to more leisure tourists," added Bin Mejren.-TradeArabia News Service