[ad_1]
Q: According to the latest figures released by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), the city received 3.97 million international overnight visitors from January to March 2022, up from 1.27 million in the same period last year, accounting for 214% of visits Year-over-year growth What do you attribute this growth to?
A: I think these numbers speak for themselves and speak to the trust the international community and travelers have in what Dubai can offer them in terms of safety, accommodation and experience. This didn’t happen overnight. This is the will of the government, leadership and government agencies working together to ensure business continuity and the safety of citizens and travelers. Dubai has the highest level of vaccination and the lowest number of infections and deaths. At the same time, business did not stop. This has struck a chord with business and leisure travelers globally over the past two years.
This improves their confidence. So we’re seeing huge growth. In terms of the number of residence visas issued, United Arab Emirates The government has innovated around this. We have introduced remote work visas, issuing five-year tourist visas in a golden visa package for investors and those with special expertise. I think the impact of the pandemic has increased in terms of how other destinations are handled and the difference between how it’s handled and how we’re handling it.
As a result, some destinations are completely closed to international travelers and are also starting to pose challenges for the expat business community. From our point of view, it’s about having all these solutions and providing a whole different level of vaccination services, healthcare services, and connecting it to the general security of Dubai and the tech support of the city. Some come from a travel perspective and stay, and then some move to Dubai as their second home.
Q: Please share more details about the Golden Visa Scheme and Dubai Retirement Scheme?
The retirement scheme is part of a package of innovations being developed by the UAE government. The UAE is home to almost all ethnic groups across the globe, and it has started to become their first home due to the inclusiveness and acceptance of the society. To make the UAE a leading country for business, the government has made many innovations and improvements, from regulations to banking to residential products to business, one of which is naturalization and immigration. side.
To this end, His Highness recently granted golden visas to doctors and scientists working in the midst of the pandemic. Combined with ownership improvements or regulations, many industries can be 100% expat-owned, which brings extra confidence. The Golden Visa is an enhancement and support service for people who use Dubai and the UAE as their permanent home or at least their second base for most of the year. The Golden Visa is divided into the Investor Golden Visa, which is a ten-year visa that individuals can sponsor themselves, and they can sponsor their partners, spouses, children and dependents. Even unmarried women are eligible, and daughters can bring their parents.
The retirement visa is a 5-year program. It is at their own expense and people can continue to live in Dubai. When you retire, you want to experience the world.Therefore, there is no better hub for globetrotting than Dubai Airport Emirates. This is a very good visa. Visa holders can sponsor spouses and children. Golden Visa also has the Entrepreneur Golden Visa for those who are focused on growing startups and businesses in Dubai. There are also golden visas for high-achieving students. All of these residency solutions are designed to keep non-naturalized expats here longer.
Recently, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE, also announced incentives for local residents to participate in the private sector, as well as incentives for the corporate sector to recruit locally. We also kicked off the event for a million programmers led by the Dubai and UAE governments, energizing talent. Another thing we have been working on is making Dubai a global hub for the business community across tech and traditional businesses.
We have seen an influx of businesses coming into Dubai and creating a lot of opportunities. One of the keys they look for is the ability to retain talent, which is one of the best places to improve retention. There has also been an increase in interest from many Indian businesses to expand through Dubai with bilateral agreements between governments.
Q: You said before that you also want a lot of startups to grow in Dubai. How is the Indian startup ecosystem responding? Considering the number of unicorns we have in India, would you consider any special incentives for Indian startups?
A key piece of Dubai’s success over the past 12 months has been attracting the attention of the Indian tech community. We’ve seen huge demand from this community at various stages – from Series A to unicorn status. Founders and talent are considering Dubai as a tech hub. Talented people are sensitive and unstable. Keeping them happy is also part of the solution, not just money. When Indian companies bring in employees from Eastern Europe, the Americas or East Asia, Dubai, because of its experience as the melting pot of the world, makes it easier for them to integrate into the community. Our Personal Safety and Security Infrastructure Our educational infrastructure is one of the best in the world. We have seen a lot of companies looking at Dubai in a very practical way when considering a move, seeing us as a viable option. We have been very successful in attracting companies throughout the growth cycle, not only from India but also from Europe, Asia and Africa.
Q: How has investment in tourism performed during the pandemic? Have they gone up or down after the Covid pandemic to meet other needs like healthcare?
I can’t share numbers, but from a qualitative standpoint, the mission is to develop all areas. One of them is healthcare. We will continue to increase and improve our medical infrastructure and healthcare delivery. We have seen the importance of medical tourism.we and Ministry of Health, as well as the Dubai Health Authority to ensure we prioritize key medical tourism specialties. Participate in this. There is also participation around improving pharmaceutical manufacturing, so this is a fit. In terms of tourism, for example, in terms of our room night capacity, the continued level of infrastructure is very high occupancy, which is a very good sign that we are on track to achieve the goals set for 2025. We want to focus on specific bespoke lifestyle experiences and want to add more resorts and expand offerings based on source markets. We are in a space that is recovering from the pandemic recession and one of the things we have done during that period is the Dubai government and the Dubai economy and tourism to support operators to stay afloat and support them to reduce fees, defer, cancel fees etc. .
Q: Sustainability is a topic that is very relevant to you. Please share some details of the new initiatives you will be launching around sustainability.
One of the key things the Dubai Ministry of Economy and Tourism aims to do is to align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Dubai is committed to ensuring that many of the Sustainable Development Goals are met at the city level, and for us in tourism, one of the key things we have been working on from the beginning is to ensure that we continue to reduce carbon emissions from tourism.
One of the main contributions to climate change is carbon emissions, so it is a key priority, and we work with other government agencies to manage waste and cover the key UN Sustainable Development Goals related to tourism. We have achieved good results during that time as we work with industry to train, educate and develop sustainability as a core aspect of operations and as a top planning theme in our annual planning. We spent some time educating about 600 institutions.
Overall, the parameters of our strategy are based on creating educational programs, performance monitoring, regulations and targets, as well as working with industry to celebrate and create awards and innovations. In addition to achieving carbon emissions improvements from the 2014 baseline, a key piece of work is getting many businesses to consider a regulation covering 19 aspects of hotel operations that, if done well, would have a huge impact, rather than just involving Carbon emissions also concern the sector’s general resources. We are the first destination in the world to implement sustainability standards in the hospitality industry. Our pass and compliance rates are high, between 80-90%.
We work with hotels and experts when designing regulations. We set easy-to-accept goals. As we go forward, we will increase the target. The Dubai Canning Initiative is an important aspect of trying to reduce single-use plastic canned bottles from our value chain. Many hotels have implemented refill programs in which they refill glass bottles or aluminum cans. In terms of community and public awareness, we introduced 30 touchless fountains across the city. These can be replenished for free for life. We will add another 20 by the end of June.
The goal is for people to remember and complement it. When we do this together, it can have a huge impact. We have seen many businesses and individuals share their experiences through social media. Another is a ban on single-use plastic bags. It went live on July 1. We will be prioritizing retail bags as we expect a complete ban on single-use plastic bags within two years.
This was launched in collaboration with Dubai Municipality, the Executive Committee and ourselves. We’re working hard to make the transition easy for the entire community. We’re glad we’re making a big impact locally. We also have new regulations for the SDGs, so we make sure everyone takes that into account in their business models.
Q: How important is the tourism infrastructure agenda under the 2040 City Master Plan?
A: The goal of our City Master Plan 2040 is to make Dubai the city of the future. Taking into account the innovation and change of life. Increase happiness and improve commute efficiency. In terms of reducing our environmental impact and enhancing the Dubai experience, the scheme is designed to create a city of the future, a digital city, and Dubai Municipality aims to do more to create investment opportunities. From our point of view, as the end part of the ecosystem, our main focus is to ensure that the hospitality industry and the travel experience stay ahead of the curve.
[ad_2]
Source link