Tourism industry offers bright growth avenues for catering business

Mr. Awadh Seghayer Al Ketbi, Director of Dubai Convention Bureau (DCB) gave a presentation highlighting the growth and expansion of the Dubai tourism and hospitality sectors. Dubai hotels played host to over 6.1 million guests in 2005, up by 14 % compared with the previous year.

Citing the massive new tourism and aviation projects that are coming up in Dubai and elsewhere in the region, he said the future holds bright growth opportunities for the catering industry.

Another indication of future business is the substantial increase in the number of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) in the emirate in the years ahead.

Mr. Al Ketbi said the DCB, which operates under the umbrella of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), was aggressively promoting and marketing Dubai as an ideal year-round business and leisure destination.

He asked the participants drawn from different parts of the world to utilize their Dubai visit to explore the uniqueness of the Arabian hospitality and the strengths and opportunity if offers to the catering industry.

The conference was sponsored by Emirates airlines and organized by ICTA. Participants hail from 25 countries from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Americas, Far East and Asia-Pacific. The annual conferences are attended by more than 2000 industry executives.