Dubai tourism chief expects ‘aggressive’ bounce back this year

Dubai expects an “aggressive” bounce back in tourism by the year-end after the Mideast travel hub allowed holiday-makers to resume flying into the emirate from Tuesday.

“We’re looking forward to seeing aggressive growth coming once things normalise towards the year-end,” Helal Al Marri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

Dubai, which spent years turning itself into a business and tourism hub, attracts millions of visitors annually thanks to its beaches, luxury hotels and high-end malls. It started easing restrictions in the past months after locking down the city and suspending travel.

Al Marri also said:

• “We’re definitely in a much better place today, people are much more optimistic, and we’re seeing it as definitely something very positive.”
• “As countries get things under control, as things normalise, we definitely see the other side as being a very quick rebound to tourism.”
• “We envisage as we move towards the year-end and as the markets do open up, people are going to start recruiting again, people are going to start to really trying to drive that growth because that’s what they’re there for with their businesses.”
• No plan to introduce gambling