Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

Al Bandar Rotana, a five-star hotel with a prime waterfront outlook, sees the Netherlands and Austria as one of the major feeders markets after Germany, Switzerland, and Spain.

Ayman Ashor, Cluster General Manager, Al Bandar Rotana and Arjaan by Rotana, said that the European tour operators have huge confidence in the UAE tourism market, especially Dubai, adding that the ease of restrictions and total recovery in UAE proved to the world that it is one step ahead.”

“We agreed on marketing features with the operators in the European market, which makes Rotana a major player in this market.” Ashor added.

He echoed that the European market is increasing year on year after the worst covid-19.

“We are very proud of our hotel performance for the first half of the year, and we are positive that we can keep the momentum till the end of the year.”

“Apart from other financial benefits of the upcoming FIFA world cup will extend to tourism and hospitality sectors as well. This will eventually benefit the economy on the whole,” Ashor added.

“Dubai received 8.1 million tourists in the first seven months of 2022, a 184 per cent jump compared to the same period a year ago. The emirate had welcomed 7.12 million international overnight visitors in the first six months of 2022.”

“The wide geographic spread reflects Dubai’s diversified strategy aimed at driving traffic from a broad spectrum of countries and visitor segments, mitigating the risks associated with over-reliance on any one region, and underscoring the success of destination marketing campaigns delivering customised messaging across specialised audience-specific platforms.” Ashor concluded.