New plan to attract more tourists Special fares, excursions to be implemented.

Mr. Khalid Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Director General of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), met the special committee which was set up last month to tackle the global economic transformations that are affecting all markets including tourism.

The committee discussed a new marketing plan, which will be announced soon. Services that aim to attract more tourists and visitors from various international markets and the GCC along with promoting domestic tourism were decided to be implemented during the Dubai Shopping Festival 2009 and the subsequent year.

The meeting was attended by Mohammed Khamis Bin Hareb, Executive Director of Operations and Marketing and Eyad AbdulRahman, Executive Director of Media Relations and Acting Director of Business Development of DTCM. Also attending were Laila Suhail CEO of the Office of Dubai Shopping Festival and the members of the special committee from Atlantis, Grosvenor House, Jumeirah Group, Arabian Adventures, Alpha Tours and White Sands.

Mr. Bin Sulayem stressed the need to finalise this plan as soon as possible in order to start with the Dubai Shopping Festival next month and to implement it until the end of 2009. He pointed out that the new plan will also include discounts on airlines regarding which meetings were taking place with Emirates Airline.

Bin Sulayem said that these plans were over and above other year round marketing efforts of DTCM through road shows, exhibitions and advertisement campaigns in various parts of the worldBin Sulayem said that these plans were over and above other year round marketing efforts of DTCM through road shows, exhibitions and advertisement campaigns in various parts of the world .

The plan will also include inviting a number of representatives of major tourism companies from international source markets in Dubai, to foster cooperation with their counterparts in the tourism industry in Dubai.

Provision of new and exclusive rates in the hotel and service sectors was also discussed in the meeting.

New marketing strategies for the GCC markets were also laid down, commensurate with the nature of this market and its proximity to Dubai. These included special offers for weekend holiday makers and advertising campaigns in these countries to promote the plan.

The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai has announced the formation of special working committee with the task of making recommendations on how to deal with changes in global markets and their impact on tourism.