Dubai Hotel Travel

Dubai, with its glittering array giant malls packed full of luxury brands, is seen as the world’s best city for shopping among people in the Arab world, according to a new survey.

The survey by Yahoo! Maktoob Research found 32 percent of respondents ranked Dubai as the number one shopping destination, beating out more established global cities such as London, Paris and New York.

Dubai’s retail sector has grown rapidly over the last decade on the back of the city’s economic boom, establishing it as a popular global shopping tourism destination.

The city’s stable of shopping centres includes Mall of the Emirates, which features an indoor ski slope, and Dubai Mall, one of the largest in the world that is located next to the 828-metre Burj Khalifa.

Paris was ranked the second best shopping destination with 13 percent of the vote, followed by Beijing, Istanbul and London in joint third with 5 percent, the survey found. (more…)

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) had launched the first-ever Dubai Green Tourism Award in June this year as part its commitment towards sustainable tourism and incorporate best environmental practices within the booming tourism sector.

Through the pioneering award programme, it wants the tourism industry stakeholders to demonstrate a firm commitment towards reducing the impact of their business on the environment.

Hotels and hotel apartments were invited to participate in the award programme and their business practices were assessed for a wide range of environmental, economic and social issues, including energy saving, nature conservation and community involvement. (more…)

Three cruise ships with 5076 tourists docked in Dubai in the first week of November, giving a big boost to fast-growing cruise tourism at the start of the cruising winter season.

Tahitian Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, arrived with 1151 passengers and crew members from Muscat and left for the Indian port city of Mumbai after a day’s stay on November 3, 2009.

On the same day, Ocean Village Two docked at the cruise terminal with 2236 passengers and crew members for a two-day tour. Operated by P&O Cruises, the vessel had mainly British and Irish tourists when it arrived from Muscat and left for the south Indian city of Cochin.

Legend of the Seas, belonging to the Royal Caribbean International, arrived in Dubai on November 4 with 1689 passengers and crew members from Egypt’s Safaga port and left for Mumbai, India, after a day’s stay. The tourists were mostly American, British, German, Canadian and Australian nationals.

There was passengers exchange programme on all the three vessels.

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), which operate Dubai Cruise Terminal at the Port Rashid complex, organized grand welcome ceremonies for the three cruise ships with traditional local band in attendance.

It also organized a falcon show, while Big Bus and Seawings sold tours directly to the passengers.

DTCM put up information counters inside the terminal to assist the visitors about visiting Dubai landmarks and tourist attractions. Brochures and Dubai maps were made available to the visitors free of cost. (more…)