UAE and Saudi Arabia to strengthen tourism links

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and SEERA (previously Al Tayyar Travel Group), one of the region’s leading providers of travel services in the Middle East and North Africa, have signed a strategic partnership agreement which will see both entities unite to further strengthen travel demand from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to the emirate.

Working together previously on a variety of projects, the reinvigorated partnership between the department and Almosafer; SEERA’S consumer travel brand, which recorded more than 100,000 bookings from Saudi Arabian travellers to Dubai in 2018, will see promotional opportunities implemented through the ongoing alliance.

Strategic alliance signed with one of region’s largest travel businesses to attract even more GCC nationals to visit Dubai and the ourists from GCC accounted for 17 per cent of visitors to the emirate during the first three months of 2019.

Almosafer will embrace a new omni-channel approach, offering its customers the choice and freedom to book their travel itineraries across online and offline touchpoints, reaffirming its commitment to promoting Dubai as a top destination for Saudi Arabian travellers. With inspirational content and incentives promoted to consumers both online and offline, Dubai will continue to grow as a key destination of choice for the Almosafer network.

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), said: “Dubai continues to rank among the most popular destinations for holidaymakers from across the GCC with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remaining in second place as one of our leading source markets in Q1 2019. Our partnership with SEERA further supports our ongoing strategy to attract even more visitors from the region year-on-year, with diversified packages and competitive prices keeping the emirate front of mind. We will continue to target every potential segment of this important market, with a special focus on business travellers, couples and families, who remain among our key audiences and make-up the majority of visitors from the GCC region. SEERA has built up a strong reputation as one of the leading travel and tourism businesses in the Middle East and we look forward to further strengthening our appeal to our target audiences across the Kingdom through their extensive network.”

Almosafer will offer special hotel and flight deals exclusively for KSA travellers to Dubai, highlighting the top things-to-do in the city, iconic attractions, as well as travel tips across diverse targeted marketing channels. The brand will also create special Dubai-centric holiday packages, tailored to a variety of travel segments - including couples, families, individuals or business travellers.

Abdullah Bin Nasser Aldawood, CEO of SEERA commented on the partnership: “Almosafer caters for a real range of Saudi travellers and we know, from our 40 years’ worth of travel knowledge and experience, what the varied and complex needs of the Saudi traveller are. We know Dubai is a very popular destination for our customers with more than 4.2 million searches completed on our Almosafer digital platform in 2018 for Dubai flights and hotel.”

“We look to forge long-lasting and fruitful relationships with key partners; offering the best travel experience and most competitive pricing on trips to Dubai and we look forward to offering more opportunity through our new omni-channel offering to Dubai Tourism.”

With the ultimate vision of positioning Dubai as the world’s leading tourism destination and commercial hub, Dubai Tourism’s mission is to increase the awareness of Dubai among global audiences and to attract tourists and inward investment into the emirate.

Dubai Tourism is the principal authority for the planning, supervision, development and marketing of Dubai’s tourism sector. It markets and promotes the Emirate’s commerce sector, and is responsible for the licensing and classification of all tourism services, including hotels, tour operators and travel agents. Brands and departments within the Dubai Tourism portfolio include Dubai Business Events, Dubai Calendar, and Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment.

SEERA (formerly Al Tayyar Travel Group) is the most knowledgeable, accomplished and diverse provider of travel services in the Middle East and North Africa region. A balanced portfolio of brands across six verticals within the travel and tourism industry positions SEERA as a significant contributor to the growth of the domestic, inbound and outbound tourism economies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a best-in-class business partner in unlocking the opportunities in the region.

Providing technology powered travel services for consumers, businesses, government partners and religious pilgrims, SEERA provides the opportunity to travel in the Kingdom, across the region, and beyond, like never before.