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The first draw attracted huge number of visitors to Dubai Stand conducted on March 11, the first day of the ITB.

The raffle draws are expected to be a major pull at the Dubai stand which has remained the top attraction of all stands at the ITB over the years.

"The raffle draws will help offer the winners an opportunity to get a first-hand experience of Dubai as a business and leisure destination. As Dubai increases its offering of world-class hospitality, the emirate is the preferred holiday destination for tourists from around the world. Dubai's tourism product offering is going from strength to strength thanks to the diversity of activities and hospitality offerings," said Mohammad Khamis Bin Hareb, DTCM Executive Director Operations and Marketing.

"Tourism is an integral part of Dubai's economy and we are committed to maintaining the strong visitor figures. With Dubai's key travel companies and operators dedicating their services to this initiative we are confident about its success," he added.

Nabil Sultan, senior vice-president, commercial Europe at Emirates said: "Emirates is committed to working alongside DTCM in the 'Keep discovering Dubai' global campaign and we are delighted that Dubai hoteliers have once again offered their resources as part of these packages.

The raffle draw is just another part of this multi-faceted initiative, that will touch over 2,000 travel trade and media and we are certain that it will have a positive impact at ITB.

"ITB is an important global event for Emirates and the travel industry and we expect strong levels of interest from travel operators keen to learn more about Dubai as an exciting tourism and MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions] destination," added Sultan.

The raffle draws are being conducted at the Dubai stand for three days at the world's largest travel trade show.

Backed by a record 96 co-participants sharing 528-square metre double-decker stand with 52 booths, Dubai has a strong presence at the 43rd edition of ITB from March 11 to 15. This is the 20th successive annual participation for Dubai at the ITB.

The 2009 edition of ITB is taking place at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds-International Congress Centre with over 10,000 exhibitors from 180 countries and territories and is expected to draw more than 180,000 visitors, nearly three-fourths being trade visitors.

For DTCM, the ITB remains a priority show to aggressively promote and market Dubai in overseas markets. The department is confident that all its co-partners will benefit immensely from the ITB in one of the most economically challenging times facing the global tourism industry.

German guests in Dubai hotels totalled 255,657 in 2007, while the first half of 2008 recorded 138,125.

During 2007-2008, as many as 276 German tour operators featured Dubai in their holiday packages, an increase of 34 per cent over 2006-07.

There was a 16 per cent increase in German passengers passing through Dubai airport in 2007.

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