The tourism industry of Dubai continues to portray a strong growth trend that seems to suggest that the destination is making progress towards becoming the world’s most popular city. Dubai’s marketing strategy involves depicting itself as a premium destination (DTCM, 2014). As such, it uses massive amounts of money to maintain and keep improving its image globally. The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has so far done well in facilitating this process.
However, an important question arises about the source of the funds that facilitate the operations of Dubai’s tourism industry. In a bid to address this concern, this essay explores the sources of funding for DTCM, the extent of government involvement, the challenges DTCM faces, and the kind of research it performs to promote tourism in Dubai.
The DTCM established an affiliate body that took over the promotion of tourism early this year (DTCM, 2014). The new body, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) is expected to relieve DTCM of direct involvement in tourism promotion (DTCM, 2014). With the establishment of DCTCM, it was announced that a fee (‘tourism dirham’) would be levied on the earnings of the hospitality industry to fund its activities (Sambidge, 2014). Since its activities include the promotion and marketing of Dubai’s tourism industry, it is apparent that the emirate obtains some of the funds that facilitate the activities of DTCM from the hospitality industry.
Prior to the establishment of DCTCM, DTCM, which was in charge of tourism promotion, had a variety of channels through which it raised funds to sustain itself. DTCM is the authority that has been concerned with the licensing of hotels and tour operators as well as supervising their operations (DTCM, 2014). The implication of this responsibility insofar as DTCM’s funding is concerned is that the license fees from the tourism facilities as well as the penal fees associated with the violation of the established rules and standards also form part of the funding for the body. Further, with the spectacular growth that is ongoing in Dubai’s tourism industry, foreign investors also contribute some funds to assist in marketing the destination because more tourists translate to better business for them.
Finally, the largest portion of the funds that facilitate the marketing and promotion of tourism in Dubai comes from the government (Oakley, 2014). The emirate’s massive earnings from its oil and other industries enable its government to allocate substantial amounts of money towards the promotion of tourism due to its increasing economic importance.
Besides serving as the key financier of tourism promotion activities in Dubai, the government is involved in other ways as well. For example, the defunct Dubai Commerce and Tourism Promotion Board (DCTPB), DTCM, and DCTCM are all creations of the government (DTCM, 2014). Therefore, from this perspective, the government of Dubai establishes bodies and charges them with the responsibility of developing and promoting tourism.
From a different perspective, the government of Dubai invests extensively in building a positive image around the emirate. It makes business in Dubai attractive, avails state-of-the-art infrastructure, and ensures that the emirate is safe for tourists (Robertson, 2014). Further, the government strives to ensure that political and economic stability prevail in the emirate to make it more attractive.
However, despite the government’s close support to the affiliate bodies it establishes to oversee tourism, they have to contend with some challenges in their quest to pitch Dubai as a tourist destination of choice. The challenges are largely image related. Its glamorous buildings and infrastructure make Dubai a ‘must-see-city.’ However, critics have raised concerns that Dubai is largely artificial (Fraser, 2014). Those who have visited the destination once argue that there is no reason to go back. This line of argument suggests that the tourism promotion efforts of DTCM initially focused too much on a few areas of tourism instead of developing a range of varying experiences for visitors (Fraser, 2014).
Additionally, Dubai is seen as a destination with repressive laws (Fraser, 2014). Due to its strict Islamic orientation, the expression of affection in public is prohibited. This law affects the attractiveness of Dubai especially in the eyes of the Western world and other places that have been influenced by the Western culture. Therefore, tourism promoters in Dubai have to grapple with such issues when trying to sell the Dubai brand globally.
Despite the criticism and the challenges faced by DTCM and DCTCM in marketing Dubai as a tourist destination, they have done a commendable job in the past. These bodies closely monitor global tourism trends to understand what drives tourism. Dubai’s quest to become the world’s most visited city by the year 2020 raised concerns about the nature of its attractions (Fraser, 2014). DTCM responded by initiating programs aimed at diversifying Dubai’s attractions to include cultural festivals, events, and other non-traditional attractions even before DCTCM was established (Fraser, 2014).
This trend shows that DTCM is a consumer of tourism market research conducted by global research organizations. It focuses on finding out what appeals to tourists and goes ahead to incorporate it in the overall tourism attraction and development plan of Dubai.
The manner in which this organization operates makes it an attractive prospective employer. Without specifying the tourism promotion body I would wish to work with after my training, I think working with a destination promotion organization in a leading tourist destination can be intriguing. Besides being able to keep track of and visit the leading tourist attractions worldwide, being of part of the team that works towards making a destination attractive can be quite fulfilling especially when one’s personal input facilitates the attraction of more tourists.
References
Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM): Dubai for Tourism. (2014). Web.
Fraser, J. E. (2014). Can this really become the world’s most visited city? The Sydney Morning Herald. Web.
Oakley, L. (2014). Dubai hotels to part-fund new DCTCM tourism body. Hotelier Middle East. Web.
Robertson, E. (2014). Dubai ‘best for luxury’. Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland, (3079), 19-20.
Sambidge, A. (2014). Dubai tourists to face new charge from March 31. Arabian Business. Web.