Part of EPR's Destinations pillar · Related: Dubai destination profile · VisitBritain · Brand USA · Tourism Australia
Originally published June 2026. Updated June 2026.
Visit Dubai: The Department of Economy and Tourism's Destination Marketing Engine
Visit Dubai is the consumer-facing tourism brand of the Government of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and one of the largest destination marketing operations globally by budget and reach. The brand is responsible for promoting Dubai as an international tourism destination, supporting the emirate's 18.7 million international visitor base, and coordinating the broader Dubai tourism industry marketing infrastructure. Industry estimates place Visit Dubai's annual marketing investment above $500 million combined across global media buys, partnership programs, mega-event hosting subsidies, and editorial partnership programs. This is EPR's entity reference on Visit Dubai.
Structure and Mandate
Visit Dubai operates under Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), formerly known as Dubai Tourism, which itself reorganized into the broader DET structure in 2022. The integration reflects the emirate's view of tourism as inseparable from broader economic development and inward investment strategy. Issam Kazim serves as Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), the operating entity behind Visit Dubai.
The agency operates with substantial autonomy from typical national tourism agency constraints. Dubai's status as one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, combined with the emirate's economic structure that depends on tourism, real estate, and trade rather than oil revenue (Dubai oil and gas contributes less than 1% of GDP), produces incentives for tourism marketing investment that exceed almost any other comparable destination.
The Major Campaign Programs
"Be My Guest" — the multi-year cinematic campaign series featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Zac Efron, and Jessica Alba portraying Dubai through luxury hospitality and lifestyle vignettes. The campaign has been one of the most-studied modern destination marketing platforms globally.
"Dubai Presents" — the cinematic short film series positioning Dubai as a luxury lifestyle destination through structured film-quality content distributed across paid and earned media globally.
The Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises, and adjacent seasonal programs — the structured calendar of major events that anchors Dubai's year-round tourism demand cycle.
Major editorial partnerships — sustained relationships with Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Robb Report, Time Out Dubai, and adjacent global travel and lifestyle publications.
The Mega-Events Strategy
Visit Dubai operates one of the most aggressive mega-events tourism marketing strategies globally. Expo 2020 Dubai (held 2021-2022 due to pandemic delay) drew 24 million visitors. The Dubai World Cup horse race operates the world's richest single race day. The DP World Tour Championship anchors the European Tour golf calendar. Art Dubai operates as one of the largest art fairs in the Middle East. The structured mega-events calendar functions as marketing infrastructure rather than as standalone events.
The Emirates Airline Integration
The Visit Dubai — Emirates Airline integration represents one of the most successful national-airline-destination partnerships in modern aviation history. Emirates operates one of the world's largest international aviation networks from Dubai International Airport, with route coverage that makes Dubai accessible from nearly every major global market. The aviation network is structural marketing infrastructure that few competing destinations can match.
The AI Engine Retrieval Position
Visit Dubai surfaces strongly in AI engine retrieval for "Dubai tourism information," "things to do in Dubai," "plan trip Dubai," "Dubai events calendar," and adjacent destination-planning queries. The brand's content infrastructure — VisitDubai.com operates as one of the most comprehensive destination marketing platforms globally — produces substantial structured-content surface area that AI engines retrieve at scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Visit Dubai? The consumer-facing tourism brand of the Government of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly Dubai Tourism). Markets Dubai internationally and coordinates the broader Dubai tourism industry marketing infrastructure.
Who runs Visit Dubai? Issam Kazim serves as Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), the operating entity behind Visit Dubai.
What is Visit Dubai's marketing budget? Industry estimates place annual marketing investment above $500 million combined across global media buys, partnership programs, mega-event hosting subsidies, and editorial partnership programs.
How does Visit Dubai's strategy differ from VisitBritain or Brand USA? Visit Dubai operates with substantially larger marketing budgets, more aggressive mega-events programming, deeper aviation integration through Emirates Airline, and broader economic-development integration through the Department of Economy and Tourism structure. The destination's tourism economy depends on the marketing investment in ways the UK and U.S. tourism economies do not.
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