Dubai Tourism Movie Wins Top International Honours

‘Definitely Dubai’, a film promoting the emirate’s tourism has won the World’s Best Tourism Film award instituted by the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals in Vienna.

The film, a production of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Dubai-based film company Eclipse Film Production, outperformed 1,400 other tourism films to win the award.

‘Definitely Dubai’ is a part of DTCM’s efforts to communicate the emirate’s tourism offerings.

A Youtube video clip on DTCM’s official channel showing glimpses of the film has already received 65,828 views.

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“As announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, earlier this year – Dubai is aiming to welcome 20 million visitors a year by 2020,” said Dr Ahmad Belhoul, CEO strategy and tourism development, DTCM.

“One aspect of the Tourism Vision for 2020 strategy to achieve this increase in visitor figures is to ensure we are communicating Dubai’s tourism offering to as wide an audience as possible, something which this film helps us to achieve.”

The film traces Dubai’s humble beginnings as a small fishing village following a Bedouin lifestyle to the cosmopolitan city it is today. Definitely Dubai then highlights the emirate’s attractions, which include retail and leisure options.

“We’re pleased to have won this award as recognition of the hard work that has gone into creating this high quality film which truly showcases all that Dubai as a destination has to offer,” said Belhoul.

The emirate is aiming to become a major tourism hotspot and received around 7.9 million visitors in the last nine months, representing a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest figures from DTCM.

The rise in visitor numbers also had an impact across hotel revenues and room occupancy rates, as well as the average length of stay in Dubai.

Hoteliers and hotel apartment operators’ revenues touched Dhs15.33 billion, up 17.1 per cent, owing to an upswing in Dubai tourism.