Senior officials of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing's (DTCM) 13 Overseas Representation offices are due to discuss the strategies and planning for Dubai tourism's next ambitious growth phase at this year's annual gathering starting from September 11.

The event will last for 10 days and is the longest-ever duration gathering in the history of the DTCM created in 1997, replacing a tourism promotion board that existed for nine years.

The meeting takes place against the backdrop of the ambitious infrastructure and tourism-related projects taking shape in the emirate and projected to catapult Dubai onto the list of big-league year-round business and leisure destinations.

The performance of different established and emerging markets, the future growth opportunities and the ways and means for further promoting and marketing Dubai will come up for detailed review at the meeting to be addressed by the top-brass of the department.

The DTCM Overseas Representation Offices? representatives will present quantitative assessments and their performance reports over the past year and what lies ahead in the near future. The overseas offices will also be presenting their strategies and budgets for the year 2005.

The DTCM Director General Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, said: "This year's meeting is very crucial as we will chalk out long-term strategies and goals for the coming years in order to ensure that Dubai attracts visitors from across the world. All the presentations by the overseas offices will be reviewed on a one-to-one basis and feedback will be provided to each overseas office on the future expectations and targets."

The findings of the Dubai Visitors? Survey will also be revealed for detailed deliberations and follow-up action in respective markets.

He said: "The meeting assumes greater importance as it comes ahead of the ambitious growth targets set for the Dubai tourism industry, now in the midst of unprecedented growth and expansion on the back of a booming economy."

The department has organized presentations on new developments in the emirate and will brief the participants about the key highlights of the upcoming projects in Dubai and their projected impact on the economy and tourism domains.

There will also be brainstorming sessions on new ideas and changes required to achieve the new goals and targets in addition to workshops and focus group sessions.

The DTCM Director Operations and Marketing, Mr. Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, said: "The meeting will discuss threadbare the marketing and promotion of Dubai in the coming years and carry out assessment of its strengths and growth opportunities. It will be a crucial event at a time when the emirate is going through a paradigm shift in the tourism domain. The meeting will also provide an opportunity to officials of different sections within the department to exchange views and ideas to promote Dubai."

He added: "The department is in the process of preparing its Strategic Plan for 2005-2010 as it moves ahead aggressively promoting Dubai.As part of this extensive process, the department is Benchmarking with other successful destinations."

The meet will conclude with presentations by Emirates, Dubai Land, Al Nakheel, Dubai Festival city, Dubai International Airport, Emaar, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Airport Free Zone and Dubai Ports and Dubai Civil Aviation, among others.

The 13 overseas offices in key markets cover the US, the UK, France, Germany, Nordic Countries, Switzerland, Austria, India, Japan, Far East, Italy, Russian Federation, CIS, Baltic States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.