Anita Mehra Homayoun

'In 1983 I came back to work for the agency that looked after the Dubai Airport Duty Free account, and I then moved to the Department of Civil Aviation in 1984. Five years ago (the DCA President) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum wanted to set up a separate marketing department for the airport and that is how I come to be in my present position'.

These are exciting times for the Dubai International Airport which is undergoing a multi-billion dollar extension, including the building of an underground departures lounge and a third terminal dedicated to the national carrier Emirates. This is part of the Dubai 2010 Vision that is planning to push total visitor nights up from 4.7 million in 2002 to 15 million by 2010.

Even with the recent hiatus in the region, the airport still reported an 18% rise in passenger numbers in the first quarter of 2003, and a 27% increase in cargo movements. There will be around 18 million passengers using the airport this year, which will comfortably hit 22 million when the new airport extension opens in 2006.

'Our next challenge is to go after the North American market,' says Iranian-born Mrs. Homayoun. 'Emirates will be flying to New York next April and San Francisco in August 2004. Americans have a real blind spot about this part of the world and it will be a big challenge to get them to come here.

'At the airport we work very much alongside Emirates and the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Department in getting visitors into Dubai. Indeed, the Dubai Government has always seen the airport and the Duty Free as the first point at which to introduce people to the city.'

With a marketing budget of $2-6 million a year the DCA is a major spender among Dubai advertisers, but Mrs. Homayoun says this budget is still small for the ambitious global reach that her 16-strong department requires.

'The CNN campaign called 'Cultural Voyage' attracted a lot of attention around the world, and we are following up with a campaign entitled 'Why Dubai?' on CNBC. This will focus on expatriates actually living in Dubai and show how they mix their lifestyle, business and family life in a 40-50 second clip'.

Aside from television advertising the DCA marketing department also sponsors local sports events and overseas exhibitions and events, such as horse races in Frankfurt and Newbury. There is also a good deal of time spent trying to woo airlines to fly into Dubai with road shows and other marketing activity.

'It is all about promoting Dubai as a whole. We want to attract people with a better lifestyle and show them that they can do well in their business and career here and still find time for family life. That is something that many people now find impossible in other parts of the world'.

This author required no convincing having initially been introduced to Dubai by a visit to the Duty Free on a stop-over flight 10 years ago and now being a resident with a business, home and wife. Mrs. Homayoun has a good point, and marketing the Dubai dream on CNBC is the next logical step.