950804

Emirates leisure

dept records

high growth

KARACHI: Emirates and Leisure Management Department has ended financial year 1994/95 on a successful note, with 39 percent increase in revenue and 40 percent increase in net income.

The department comprises two major divisions: Arabian Adventures, the Destination Management Company, and Emirates Holidays, the leisure management division. Together, both division account for an impressive 62 percent increase in volumes of passengers handled in 1994/1995 over 1993/94.

Maurice Flanagan, Emirates' Group Managing Director, said: "These are extremely impressive results for a department which only began operating as a full fledged leisure entity as late as 1993. What were once basic inbound and outbound operations have grown to rank among the top tour operations of the world. Arabian Adventures and Emirates Holidays are certainly instrumental in their respective contributions to the promotion of tourism into Dubai and to countries in the Emirates network".

Arabian Adventures maintains its lead as a Destination Management Company in Dubai, commanding 60 percent market share of the total number of tourist arrivals to the Emirate. Its volumes of passengers increased 51 percent, underscoring the division's success in the promotion of Dubai as a destination on the international tourist map.

Benefits to the hotel industry translate to 90,173 room nights booked with UAE hotels. Arabian Adventures has also filled the summer months with a steady stream of overseas visitors, reversing a long-held trend that the high summer temperatures deter tourists from visiting Dubai.

Major source markets are Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, with increasing numbers coming from Asia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Italy, France and Austria.