DUBAI — The Qingdao City Tourism Promotion Conference was successfully held in Dubai on June 16th, organized by Dubai China-Arab TV. The event was attended by Mr. Li Xuhang, the Chinese Consul General in Dubai; Mr. Deng Yunfeng, Vice Governor of Shandong Province; Mr. Zhao Yan, Deputy Mayor of Qingdao City; and Mr. Yousuf Lootah, acting CEO of Corporate Strategies and Performance Sector of Dubai’s Department of Economy of Tourism, who all delivered speeches. Over one hundred travel industry representatives from Dubai also attended the event.
Being a coastal city located on the Yellow Sea with a population of 10.34 million, Qingdao shares many similarities with Dubai regarding tourism resources. It is an essential coastal center, a seaside resort, an international port, and a national historical and cultural hub, with a GDP of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan in 2022. Currently, there are three direct flights per week between Dubai and Qingdao, and in the future, thousands of tourists will be able to fly from Qingdao directly to Dubai.
Qingdao has a demographic dividend, and Shandong, where Qingdao is located, is also a significant economic province in China. Shandong’s cooperation with the UAE has become an essential part of China-Arab cooperation, with a bilateral trade volume of $12.35 billion last year, a 49.1% year-on-year increase.
Mr. Yousuf Lootah warmly welcomed Qingdao for its promotion conference in Dubai. He said that recovering China’s tourism would help Dubai achieve its ambitious vision of becoming the world’s most popular tourist destination.
The Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism further signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China-Arab TV to deepen cultural and tourism cooperation between the two cities. Both parties will leverage their advantages to deepen cooperation in culture, tourism, and film-television program production between Qingdao and Dubai. China-Arab TV will also launch a particular program on television before and after the event, showcasing Qingdao’s cultural and tourism audio-visual works and promoting the beauty of Qingdao in Middle Eastern countries.
