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Arabian Adventures grows bigger

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Payet … expecting a 30 per cent increase this financial year

WHILE Dubai has seen an average 10 per cent increase in the number of visitors over the last three years, with arrivals hitting 11 million for the year ending March 2014, Arabian Adventures, a leading destination management company, has seen the number of visitors it pulls in grow nearly thrice as fast.

“Fortunately for us, our increase has been a tad bit more, about 28 per cent,” says Peter Payet, the senior vice president of Arabian Adventures. “This means that we have gained a lot more market share, primarily because we have looked at technology to lead the way forward.”

Arabian Adventures strongly believes that technology will lead the way into the future, not traditional tour operators. “We got ourselves a new booking engine called Travel Box. With Travel Box we are able to access more customers – because we are able to give them a larger inventory because we link up with the hotels as well. Our APIs (application programming interfaces) are linked up with various XML connectivities all over the world, right from tour operators to online travel agencies as well. We have seen a significant increase in business through this new technology, as we’re able to reach out to our customers who are tour operators.”


IMPORTANT MARKETS
Australia stands out as the market that has shown the maximum increase. “The biggest increase came out of Australia. It’s a great market, when we all need business – in summer! Australia’s increase in 2013 was a whopping 60 per cent, and we are projecting a similar increase for this year as well. Australia is traditionally a tour operator business and we have 85 per cent market share there through our partnership with Emirates and Qantas.”

“Incoming business to Dubai has also increased from the GCC, mostly from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Our German business is up by 22 per cent and CIS is a growing market for us; however, for the new year we see our biggest business coming from China,” says Payet.


BUSINESS TRAVEL
Arabian Adventures recently appointed a senior project manager in China to look after the growth of meetings, incentives, conferences and events (Mice) in the Chinese and Asian markets.

Yun Liu’s appointment demonstrates Arabian Adventures’ commitment to gain a share of China’s Mice market. “We are just about to embark on one of the biggest Mice incentive groups in April, hosting 14,500 people from China in one big group. They are all staying in five-star hotels, and on an average, you can count about 14,000 rooms only for them.

The Nu Skin Enterprises group from China is the single largest incentive group hosted in the emirate’s history as confirmed by the Dubai Convention and Events Bureau (DCEB), a division of the Department Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). “Mice offers greater scope for earnings than leisure because you are not just providing a hotel and transfer but an entire itinerary for a group of people. So you have got the venue, the hotels, the activities and sometimes the conference facilities,” he says.

The automotive industry, pharmaceutical companies, government organisations, healthcare – this is where Arabian Adventures gets most of its Mice business from.

But compare the destination management company’s Mice business with leisure and Payet informs that only 20 per cent of its business comes from Mice bookings. “80 per cent of our business is leisure; corporate incentive is still a growing business. It suffered for four-five years due to the price hike that we had in 2004, but we see it as a potentially large growth area.”


LEISURE OFFERINGS
Arabian Adventures has an exclusive brochure that includes exotic and unique experiences such as fly cruises, exclusive Arabian cooking lessons and extensive explorations in important equine stables in the emirate.

However, the most popular leisure offering in Dubai is an ‘eight-camp nightcap in the desert conservation’ experience called Arabian Dreams. Each tent accommodates two people and is fitted out with a queen-sized bed, linens and towels. There are female and male showers, as well as washrooms within the camp. The overnight safari offers a great opportunity to bond with nature, as well as a glimpse of Bedouin life, while having access to modern amenities.

Operating daily during the winter months – this experience can be booked for Dh895 ($245) per person. The price includes return transfers by four-wheel drive, dune drive through the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR), falconry show, camel ride, barbecue dinner with select beverages, tents to sleep in, hot breakfast and morning wildlife sightseeing.

Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve is one of the largest formally protected conservation reserves in the Gulf, created for the protection of endangered species such as the Arabian Oryx and Arabian Mountain Gazelles. 


PROFITS AND MORE PROFITS
“In terms of revenue, we have seen a double digit increase, that’s only because of the combination of being smart at how we handle our customers and cost reduction by new technology, so we don’t have to employ more staff to be able to handle the additional bookings we had.

“We are expecting a 30 per cent increase in the financial year ending March 2015. There is no sleep for me this year as well,” jokes the Cypriot.

Part of the Emirates Group, Arabian Adventures is rooted in Dubai – it has been operating for 25 years from the emirate. However, Payet insists that the organisation promotes all destinations within the UAE, not just Dubai, where he has lived for 23 years. “A few weeks ago, we started Cruise Arabia, where we are not promoting Dubai as a destination but Arabia as a cruise destination. You’ll see we’re promoting Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Sharjah under one roof.” And that certainly points towards the future of tourism in the region.

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By Rashi Sen

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