Wednesday, July 8, 2009

DUBAI AND BEIJING SIGN AGREEMENT FOR TOURISM COOPERATION


The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA) have signed an agreement to share and benefit from each other’s expertise in a variety of tourism-related domains and to enlarge the scope of mutual cooperation.

The Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation was signed by the DTCM Director General Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem and BTA Director General Ms. Zhang Huiguang at the DTCM Head Office recently.

Ms. Zhang headed a five-member delegation which made the first-ever visit to Dubai.

Welcoming the high-level delegation, Mr. bin Sulayem briefed them about the DTCM polices and projects aimed at tourism development and promotion and marketing of Dubai in overseas markets, including China where DTCM operates three representative offices.

He also highlighted various initiatives launched by DTCM to tap the potential offered by markets like China and how DTCM has been participating in various tourism industry exhibitions and road shows over the years.

In her remarks, Ms. Zhang said the delegation was impressed by the spectacular growth and development of Dubai and the high standards of service and excellence in the tourism industry in general and hotels in particular.

She said there has been a substantial growth in the number of Chinese visitors to the emirate, largely due to the enhanced air-connectivity between the two countries and encouraging investment and business climate in Dubai.

Both sides agreed that the Approved Destination Status (ADS) agreement signed between the UAE and China would go a long way in ensuring flow of visitors between the two countries in the coming years and give a big push to tourism development.

The agreement cover among other things exchange of information pertaining to policies related to tourism development, investment opportunities in tourism, identify bottlenecks in the further expansion of tourism traffic and visitor interaction and recommend ways and means for removal of barriers with special emphasis of facilitating flow of tourist traffic in the two countries and support and encourage participation of the business communities and other tourism segments in travel exhibitions, and tourist festivals.

In 2007, the UAE and China signed a MoU for the Approved Destination Status (ADS). In 2008, DTCM opened representation offices in three Chinese cities – Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

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