Dubai and Malaysia to enhance cooperation in tourism sector

Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing met on Friday with YB Dato Sri Haji Abd Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak, Malaysia and his accompanying delegation, at Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

During the meeting, they discussed a number of topics of common interest including ways to enhance cooperation between the two parties in the tourism sector and opportunities for enhancing its development.

They also tackled ways to exchange expertise, and the implementation of initiatives that would enhance the industry, all of which will contribute to the recovery of global tourism.

The Malaysian market is considered as one of the important emerging markets for Dubai.

Meanwhile the Dubai Department of Economy & Tourism has revealed that the emirate welcomed 4.88 million visitors between January and October last year.

International visitation during October alone reaching over one million guests.

Reflecting the rising growth momentum and stability of the industry, strong international visitation was complemented by a robust domestic tourism market, further boosting the hospitality sector resulting in 9.4 million room nights sold between January and October.

This is in comparison to seven million room nights sold in the same period in 2019.

Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of the Dubai Department of Economy & Tourism, commented: “Our multi-pronged strategy to combat the pandemic and deployment of wide-ranging initiatives to increase our global competitiveness and attractiveness is a hallmark of Dubai’s highly progressive public-private partnership model, which has been a cornerstone of not only what was achieved in 2021 but what will be achieved in the next critical 12 to 24-month period.

“Expo 2020 also provides us a unique platform to engage with the global community as all hotels and tourism partners work closely to facilitate visits for their guests to maximise this opportunity.”

In a year-to-date study in October, occupancy was at almost 64 per cent, while the length of stay showed a 12 per cent increase from 4.1 nights to 4.6 nights.

During this period, there were 24.74 million occupied rooms nights across the emirate at an average daily rate of Dhs384, in comparison to 15.66 million occupied room nights at an average daily rate of Dhs335. Room inventory is now six per cent higher than 2019.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) through its agency Tourism Malaysia is taking over the Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) between Dec.26, 2021 until Dec.31, 2021.

Promoting Malaysia as the next Top of the Mind Ecotourism Destination in the World, the Ecotourism Week at the Malaysia Pavilion takes the call from Malaysia’s National Tourism Policy 2020-2030 which highlights the practice of sustainable and responsible tourism. Malaysia is joined by 16 organisations, consisting of five (5) state tourism boards, three (3) associations, one (1) hotel chain, one (1) product owner, and six (6) tour operators.

The Minister Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri has graced the occasion today and officiated the launch of the Malaysian classic traditional trishaw, or locally known as beca, as well as several Malaysia packages highlighting new ecotourism products in various destinations in Malaysia.

As part of her first Tourism Sales Mission to the Middle East, Dato’ Sri Nancy attended a networking dinner with members of the travel trade and media in UAE on Dec.30, 2021.

Scheduled from Jan.1 to Jan.5, 2022, the mission aimed to reinstate and enhance the commitment to establishing good tourism cooperation, engaging future collaborations, and cooperation in the tourism industry.

The Malaysian Government launched its first International Travel Bubble by reopening Langkawi Island to fully-vaccinated international tourists beginning last Nov.15, with no quarantine requirements. Following that, Malaysia continued with reopening its land and air borders for Singaporean citizens through a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) Arrangement starting Nov.29.

Malaysia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai is spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) as the implementing agency.