Another successful year for Emirates Holidays, Arabian Adventures and Al Maha with results ahead of expectations. Passenger numbers totalled 170,000 and contributions amounted to Dhs 412 million.
Emirates Holidays maintained its position as the leading tour operator in the Middle East as well as the single largest contributor of leisure traffic to Dubai.

Top source markets in the Middle East were the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. The largest growth was recorded from Iran with 88%, Saudi Arabia (57%) and Lebanon and Bahrain (23%).

The most popular destinations were Dubai, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, India, Egypt, Maldives, Thailand, Lebanon, Singapore, France, Turkey, Jordan, South Africa and Germany. There was a rise of 33% in the traffic heading for Africa, while Australia saw an increase of 32%.

Emirates Holidays received two awards “Best Tour Operator in the Middle East” from Travel Intelligence Middle East and “Best Foreign Tour Operator from the Middle East and Africa” from Tourism Malaysia.

Looking ahead, Emirates Holidays will feature the new destinations of Morocco, Mauritius and Perth, while cruise options will include Scandinavia for the first time. An Arabic language brochure with a range of specific destinations will be launched next year.

New computer software will come into force to enhance the traditional and internet booking process, eventually including online the full functionality of tailor-made holiday reservations.

For Arabian Adventures, the strong growth of inbound business in the first five months - an increase of 23% - cushioned the softer passenger arrivals after September 11. Although the leisure traffic recovered by December, the MICE business continued to be subdued as a number of major events were postponed by corporations. But, undaunted, Arabian Adventures consolidated the marketing activities for MICE business by appointing a representative in the USA in addition to the already established offices in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and Australia. There are also plans to set up a dedicated office in the new Le Meridien Al Aqqa Beach Resort, Fujairah, to operate tours and safaris on the East Coast of the UAE.

Al Maha, too, was affected by the global slump but ended the year in the black. Al Maha has taken the lead in advancing awareness of conservation issues in Dubai. During 2002, plans for the complete protection of a desert reserve will be instituted in conjunction with the Dubai Government. The emirate is now well set for sustainable tourism development while guaranteeing that its impressive desert habitat and wildlife will continue to be a major attraction to international visitors and UAE residents alike.

Some 40% of Al Maha’ s guests were repeat customers with the resort hosting many prestigious events and famous personalities.

During the year, visits were arranged for 200 journalists and the resort was featured in four major international TV programmes.