Dubai attempts to attract more Czech tourists

Dubai wants to attract more tourists from the Czech Republic. The country’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing is set to open a subsidiary in Prague. Some 45,000 Czechs visited the Emirates last year.

Dubai, photo: Joi Ito, CC BY 2.0

Dubai’s office for tourism is already operating in a number of West European and Scandinavian countries. Its representative office in Prague will focus on wealthy tourists from the Czech Republic and other countries of the former Soviet Bloc.

The office in Prague will be operated by the company Travel Advance and will coordinate activities not only in the Czech Republic, but also Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

In September, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing will launch a large-scale communication campaign. Its aim is to present the country as a tourist destination not only for wealthy couples and celebrities, but also for families with children and seniors.

“We are planning a number of social events, as well as marketing cooperation within the travel industry and media campaign. The campaign will focus on promoting the image of Dubai as a major tourist destination, with the goal to attract 20 million visitors by the year 2020,” Lenka Fidranská, head of the destination management division at Travel Advance, told the daily Lidové Noviny this week.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing is the country’s official government organisation, promoting the image of the Emirates in the world. Apart from a global campaign, it also issues licenses for all services in Dubai’s travel industry.

Dubai already took a step in boosting tourism with the Czech Republic earlier this year. In May, the country’s Emirates carrier started using the Airbus A380, the world’s biggest transport aircraft, on its regular route to Prague.

The airplane, which can take up to 519 passengers, has enlarged the capacity by 44 percent.