Russians will return to Dubai
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Russian visitors to Dubai are expected to return in 2015 following a huge drop in 2014, according to Dubai’s tourism chief Helal Saeed Almarri.
Speaking to Hotelier Middle East, the director-general of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) said he expected the return by the third quarter after the drop off caused by the weakness of the rouble.
The Dubai Annual Visitor Report showed that Russian visitor numbers to the emirate decreased by 23.5% in 2014, compared to 2013 figures.
“I would expect 2015 to be more of a stabilisation year with Russia, so I think by the third quarter we will have seen most of the readjustment from that market,” he asserted.
“We already saw it last year in the second half, so in the second half of this year we wouldn’t expect it to fall much further.”
Almarri added that the Chinese market had helped in offsetting the Russian drop off.
“In China we have more offices than any other country and more people working there from any other country,” he told the magazine.
“We have one of the highest spends worldwide in terms of marketing dollars, we have dedicated Chinese websites and dedicated Chinese content.
“We invest in a lot of these people bring tour guides from China and in training these tour guides. We work with the industry to ensure there are Chinese speaking guests. It’s a market that’s going to continue to grow in importance and we take it very seriously.”
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