By IANS
Dubai : Tourism-related projects in Dubai would touch 450 billion dirhams ($122 billion) by 2018, or more than 50 percent of the 858 billion dirhams ($231 billion) being projected for the whole of United Arab Emirate (UAE), WAM news agency reported Friday.
In a press statement Thursday, the Tourism Development Projects and Investment Market (TDIM), quoting a survey, said the total value of projects for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region would be 1.2 trillion dirhams by 2018.
The survey by Reed Exhibition was commissioned in time for the first major TDIM show to be held Dubai on January 20-22,2008.
“The move to organise TDIM in Dubai underlines Reed’s commitment to conceive and stage events that support the development objectives of governments and needs of the corporate sector in the region,” said Frederic Thux, president of Reed.
“And I believe the show will play a key role in acting as a catalyst in the region’s tourism development,” he added.
In a press conference at the ongoing Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Thux said TDIM 2008 would address various important issues in the tourism industry, particularly the co-operation between and among key government institutions, private project developers, and key industry players.
TDIM said UAE’s tourism projects would spread over 558 million square metres of space when completed in 2018, or more than 75 percent of the 737 million square metre area being planned for the entire GCC.