On 18 April, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing (DTCM) launched
Tourism 2.0. The initiative is DTCM’s participation in Dubai 10X, and will
further the department’s mission to establish Dubai as the leading destination
for global travel, business and events by 2020.
Dubai’s Tourism
Vision 2020 is a strategic roadmap that set a goal of welcoming 20 million
visitors per year by the year 2020, doubling the number welcomed in 2012. In
2017, Dubai welcomed 15.79 million visitors, an increase of 6.2 % over the
previous year. Tourism 2.0, will bring Dubai another step closer to achieving
the Vision 2020 goal. The overall goal of these initiatives and the strategy is
to position Dubai as a top choice for the international leisure and business
traveller.
Tourism 2.0 is a blockchain-enabled marketplace that
connects potential buyers directly to hotels and tour operators. As a business
to business (B2B) marketplace, it will allow hotels and tour operators to
connect directly. By accessing hotel occupancy and room rates, operators can
communicate offers and availability more effectively to their customers.
With the rise of social media channels promoting destination
travel globally, the tourism industry has seen a rise in the demand for
personalised travel packages. Tourism 2.0 will also be a consumer-friendly
platform that will enable travellers to design personalised travel experiences
in Dubai.
Dr Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of DTCM, noted the
Department’s commitment to adopting emerging technologies such as blockchain to
enhance the tourism sector in Dubai.
“By increasing the pace of digital transformation in the
travel sector, Dubai Is positioned to expand tourism by bringing innovative
start-ups into the ecosystem, which will ultimately deliver value in terms of
higher and faster visitor conversion, and greater GDP impact,” said Dr Helal Saeed
Al Marri.
"As the pioneer in adopting the most secure and
transparent virtualisation technology in the tourism sector, we will be able to
streamline booking processes and create democracy in travel for
all.”
The Dubai 10X initiative aims to enable government entities
in the emirate to foresee global trends in all sectors and position Dubai as
the city of the future. Recent new initiatives aligned with the Dubai 10X
initiative include the Dubai
3i project, “Police
without Policemen” project, the
Human Genome Map, Rammas
AI platform by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and gateless
border using biometrics and blockchain.
