UAE’s World’s Coolest Winter campaign nets Dhs1bn revenue for domestic hospitality sector

The campaign helped raise hotel occupancy across the UAE by 17 per cent year-on-year, increasing the average hotel room price to Dhs450 per night

by Varun Godinho

January 28, 2021

The UAE’s inaugural 45-day World’s Coolest Winter campaign to spur domestic tourism has concluded with 950,000 domestic tourists across the country reportedly driving Dhs1bn of revenue into the local hospitality sector within one month.

The UAE’s first federal domestic tourism campaign was launched on December 12 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and which concluded on January 25, will be a recurring annual campaign. Sheikh Mohammed has confirmed that the next campaign will begin on December 15, 2021.

“Over 2,000 media reports and 215 million views on videos captured the UAE’s beauty and the impact of teamwork,” tweeted Sheikh Mohammed.

اختتمت حكومة الإمارات اليوم حملة #أجمل_شتاء_في_العالم لتشجيع السياحة الداخلية، ٩٥٠ ألف سائح داخلي وحوالي مليار درهم نتائجها خلال شهر واحد و٢٠٠٠ تغطية اعلامية و٢١٥ مليون مشاهدة لفيديوهات تصور الامارات بطريقة جديدة ومختلفة وموحدة..ظهر في الحملة جمال الإمارات وجمال العمل كفريق واحد pic.twitter.com/eGIyq8Vgs8

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) January 27, 2021

The Emirates Tourism app was also launched to guide domestic and international tourists to over 600 hotspots across the emirates and feature over 275 exclusive deals in hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions worth Dhs72,000 for every user.

Read: Sheikh Mohammed launches the UAE’s first federal domestic tourism campaign

New major landmarks were launched during the campaign including the Roman-style Khorfakkan Amphitheatre and Rumailah Farm in Fujairah, while Ajman Museum reopened too.

Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said that the campaign helped raise hotel occupancy across the UAE by 17 per cent year-on-year, increasing the average hotel room price to Dhs450 per night.

Al Falasi added that the ministry is currently working on launching future campaigns that stimulate domestic and international tourism. He noted that the unified tourism identity, launched in December, will result in more collaborations among entities across the country to launch major future campaigns targeting international tourists.

“World’s Coolest Winter was a successful start in promoting domestic tourism, and we will take future campaigns to the international level. We aim to promote tourism and encourage SMEs in the sector to increase job opportunities,” said Al Falasi.

For the campaign, the UAE Government Media Office and New Media Academy teamed up with content marketing agency Beautiful Destinations, to shoot 75 videos that were shown on the marketing agency’s Facebook, YouTube and Instagram handles, garnering 93 million views.

UAE telecom operator du too collaborated with the Government Media Office to encourage the public to share videos of their outdoor experiences in UAE on social media using the hashtag #WorldsCoolestWinterChallenge with a chance for winners to receive Dhs25,000 each.

Read: First winners of UAE’s ‘World’s Coolest Winter Challenge’ announced

The UAE’s domestic tourism sector contributed Dhs41.2bn to the national economy in 2019, constituting 23 per cent of the total tourism sector revenue.

The new tourism strategy aims to double the domestic tourism revenue and achieve a greater balance between the domestic and international tourism by 2030.