With the goal of promoting Dubai products and services to African tourists, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) kicked off its Dubai Tourism West Africa Tradeshow in Nigeria with a one-day event in Abuja on Wednesday, 26th February, 2020.The road-show which took place at Edmund’s Multi Purpose Event Centre, Wuse 2, Abuja, had over 50 companies from the tourism industry including Airlines, Hotels, Destination management companies and entertainment providers in participation.
It was an opportunity for the relevant stakeholders in the travel industry to network, interact and develop solid partnerships with key trade partners in Nigeria. The event which recorded a turnout of over 400 attendees, consisted of breakout network sessions, partner presentations, one-to-one meetings, an education session and Dubai Expert certifications and a briefing update on Expo 2020. Speaking at the event, H.E. Dr. Fahad Al Taffaq, the Ambassador of United Arab Emirates to Nigeria, revealed that in 2019, Dubai announced that a record-breaking 16.7 million international guests visited the Emirate, representing a 5.1 percent year-on-year increase in comparison to 2018.
According to him, “this statistic not only further reinforces Dubai’s global position as one of the world’s top tourist destinations but is also a step towards reaching the vision to make Dubai the most visited destination with over 23 million visitors by 2025.”
He also disclosed that Dubai Tourism is on the verge of hosting the “world’s greatest show” Expo Dubai 2020, which he boasts will not only be the biggest event in the history of the Arab World but the first World Expo ever to hold in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, with participation of over 200 countries including Nigeria and more than 25 million expected visitors.
One of the stakeholders of tourism in Dubai present at the road show was Caesars Bluewaters Dubai. Speaking with the Director of Sales, Patrizia Bernardi, she expressed her happiness with the success of event.
“We are very pleased with attendance of today and the quality of the attendees. I spoke with over 70 attendees. They were quite knowledgeable about Dubai and genuine with their enquiries. I am personally very happy with the turnout, I spoke with over 70 attendees,” she said.
