By Rafiq Vayani
DUBAI: Copthorne Hotel Dubai, the popular hotel in Deira, recently hosted a group of travel agents, tour operators and journalists from Vietnam visiting the UAE on a three-day familiarization trip.
In collaboration with Rida International Tourism & Travel, a leading Destination Management Company in the Gulf, agents from Deks Air Vietnam Travel & Tours, Atoz Travel, Ido Trading Travel & Event Co. Ltd., Tugo.com, Vietravel, VYC Travel, Royal Brunei Airlines, VJ Links Travel, Vini Travel and Lua Viet Tour were invited to experience and explore the emirate and the hotel’s accommodation, service and culinary delicacies.
Journalists from Vietnam FDL, Brands Vietnam, Truong Son Media and Thanhnien News discovered the different elements of the destination for their stories in order to promote the city to Vietnamese travelers.
Vietnam is a potential tourism market for Dubai and the city is welcoming a huge number of visitors, with reports citing that in 2013, there were only 500 visit visas issued to Vietnamese nationals but the figures leapt to 25,000 in 2015. With Emirates flying daily service to Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, in addition to its service to Ho Chi Minh City, more Vietnamese visitors are expected to flock to the emirate.
Glenn Nobbs, General Manager, commented: “This is a great opportunity to support the government’s efforts to strengthen awareness of the emirate and promote the destination to all types of travelers across the globe. There is no better way for a travel agent to sell a destination to their clients than to experience it first-hand for themselves. In addition, the fam trip will enable journalists to write an informative and creative content for their readers.”
During the trip, the agents and media visited Dubai’s popular attractions such as the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and Dubai Museum as well as enjoyed a guided city tour.
The group noted Dubai’s similarity to Hanoi with its diverse aesthetic charm, offering the glimpse of the old and new, from the heritage houses to the new and modern buildings, small cafes to high-end restaurants, and budget to luxurious hotels.
They also enjoyed their stay at Copthorne Hotel Dubai where they experienced the true warm hospitality and were very satisfied with its quality and standard of service.
“Dubai appeals to a wide spectrum of visitors and we hope that this fam trip will result in increased interests from the Vietnam tourism market. We plan to host more groups in the future to let them see first-hand just how welcoming and convenient the city is for business and leisure trips,” noted Nobbs.
