Dubai warms up Russian market with big presence in Leisure-2006

For the ninth consecutive year, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is putting up an impressive Dubai Stand shared by 61 co-participants, including hotels, tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs) and public sector organisations.

Leisure-2005 attracted 55 co-participants from the emirate's booming tourism industry.

This year's international autumn trade fair for tourism is being held in Moscow's Crocus Expo with an exhibition space of 20,000 Square metres, up from 15,000 square metres last year.

Dubai Stand measures 280 square metres and has 44 booths in addition to the reception area shared with by the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) to highlight the best of the annual shopping and recreational extravaganza. Last year's stand measured 242 square metres.

The DTCM Manager Overseas Promotions, Mr. Khalifa Ali Buamaim, who is representing the department at the show, said:

"We accord great value to the Russian market. We have been successfully promoting and marketing Dubai in this market. Our strong commitment to high quality and standards of service has a strong support here. The increasing number of Russian visitors is a clear proof of Dubai's popularity."

In 2005, Dubai hotels and hotel apartments received over 422,000 guests from the Russia, CIS and Baltics, more than four % than the previous year. There was 10 % growth in the number of Russian passengers using the Dubai International Airport in 2005.

The number of weekly flights between Dubai and Russia grew to 38 in 2005, up from just six in 2002. The number of tour operators featuring Dubai in this market during 2005-2006 is 830, which is 38 % more than the previous year. The first half of 2006 too recorded impressive growth levels.

Leisure 2005 recorded the participation of 967 exhibitors representing 67 countries. About 60,000 people, 85 % of them trade professionals, visited the exhibition.

The number of visitors touched over 53000, of which 83 % were trade visitors. The gross exhibition space was 14,000 square metres.