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00:00GENERAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM AND COMMERCE AND MARKETING. WELCOME TO THE SHOW, SIR. WE ARE BEGINNING TO TRY AND REOPEN THE CITY. GIVE US YOUR PLAN TO TRY AND GET THE CITY BACK TOWARDS SOME SENSE OF NORMALITY. WHAT IS THE TIMELINE? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS, SIR? GOOD MORNING. > > GOOD MORNING. FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE TO SAY TO THOSE AFFECTED, THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY STRANDED IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD, -- TO ALL OF THEM. I HAVE TO THINK FRONT-LINE WORKERS -- THANK FRONTLINE WORKERS. WHEN IT COMES TO TOURISM, I LOOK AT IT IN THREE PHASES. PHASE ONE, TOURISM IS DEFINITELY ON PAUSE. I SEE THAT CONTINUING FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF MONTHS. AFTER THAT, IN THE NEW COVID ERA OF REOPENING, I SEE SORT OF A STAGGERED APPROACH AND SOMEWHAT TENTATIVE APPROACH ACROSS THE WORLD, AS DIFFERENT COUNTRIES GET THINGS UNDER CONTROL AND PEOPLE START TO TRAVEL. I DON'T REALLY SEE THIS AS OPEN TOURISM. IT IS MORE NECESSITY TO TRAVEL. WE WILL GO BACK TO A POST COVID NORMALCY WHERE WE KIND OF HAVE A INTERVIEW. JUST TO BUILD ON WHAT YOU WERE SAYING IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS HAS HAD ON TO BUY TOURISM, CAN YOU QUANTIFY THAT FOR US A LITTLE BIT? > > LOOK, AS I MENTIONED, RIGHT NOW IN THE SORT OF PAUSE PHASE. WE SEE TOURISM ARRIVALS DROPPING 20, WHICH OBVIOUSLY HAS -- DROPPING TO ZERO, WHICH OBVIOUSLY HAS A MASSIVE IMPACT. WE ARE SEEING DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS IN TOURISM. MUCH MORE INDEPENDENT TRAVEL, LET'S GROUP TRAVEL. WE ARE ALSO SEEING NEW BEHAVIORS. AND A LOT OF CONCERN AND A LOT OF INTEREST IN GETTING INSURANCE AROUND HEALTH AND HYGIENE ACROSS THE DESTINATION. WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR ANY EVENTUALITY. I THINK DUBAI HAS A REALLY STRONG TRACK RECORD IN OUR AGILITY AND ABILITY TO REACT QUICKLY TO THESE MARKET CHANGES. YOU KNOW, THE ONE KEY THING ABOUT DUBAI IS THAT WE DO RESPOND COLLECTIVELY. THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM IS DEFINITELY TAKING THE NECESSARY TIME AND EFFORT TO GET IT RIGHT SO WE CAN WELCOME THE WORLD BACK TO DUBAI WHEN THINGS DO EASE UP. MANUS: PART OF THAT PLAN TO GET THINGS RIGHT, THE ROAD TO NORMALITY IS GOING TO INVOLVE THE NATIONAL AIRLINE, EMIRATES. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT A TIMELINE? A CAPACITY -- TIMELINE OF CAPACITY RESTORATION? WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR THAT REOPENING? YOU ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO THE ABILITY OF EMIRATES TO DELIVER. > > LOOK, YOU ARE 100% CORRECT. EMIRATES IS OUR KEY PARTNER AND WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THEM. IN THIS SCENARIO, WE ARE ALSO WORKING EXTREMELY CLOSELY WITH ALL THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS. OUR AIM IS TO MAKE SURE ALL ASPECTS OF THE CITY ARE FULLY ALIGNED AND SET TO RECEIVE TOURISTS. THAT EMIRATES HAVE CANCELED UNTIL THE END OF JUNE. THEY ARE TAKING BOOKINGS NOW FOR THE BEGINNING OF JULY. WE ARE WORKING TO SUPPORT THEM ON THE REOPENING. THAT THING ABOUT THIS SCENARIO IS THAT IT IS MORE OF A GLOBAL QUESTION. MANY AIRPORTS REMAIN CLOSED. IT IS REALLY ABOUT BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS UNDERWAY TO HAVE A COORDINATED APPROACH TO REOPENING. I WOULD SAY JULY WOULD BE THE TIME THAT WE START TO SEE THE AIR OPEN UP, AS WE START TO SEE THE EMIRATES NETWORK REBUILD ITSELF. YOUSEF: IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE MEASURES YOU ARE TAKING TO HELP THE INDUSTRY GET THROUGH THIS, CAN YOU RUN US THROUGH MEASURES THAT MIGHT BE ON THE TABLE OR COULD BE IMPLEMENTED SOON? > > WELL, LOOK, I THINK WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL ON THE QUICK RESPONSE AND THE STRONG PROGRAMS PUT IN PLACE BY FEDERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. REDUCTIONS, CANCELLATIONS, FEES, FINES, SPECIFICALLY THE 50% REDUCTION IN FEES, REDUCTION ON UTILITY COSTS. ONE OF THE MAJOR ISSUES IS THE LIQUIDITY AXIS. THE CENTRAL BANK HAS COME IN QUITE SWIFTLY AND WITH A STRONG PACKAGE, WHICH HAS TRICKLED DOWN TO THE LOCAL BANKS. SPECIFICALLY, LOW RESCHEDULING AND LOWER INTEREST COSTS, WHICH IS DEFINITELY HELPING THE SECTOR. THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM ARE CONTINUALLY HOLDING WORKSHOPS WITH DIFFERENT SECTORS. THE KEY THING NOW AS PEOPLE ARE MOVING AWAY FROM REPORTS ABOUT THE IMMEDIACY OF THE HEALTH CRISIS AS PEOPLE START TO THINK ABOUT REOPENING AND THEY START TO THINK ABOUT THE SUPPORT THEY NEED ACROSS DIFFERENT MARKETS. WE WILL ENSURE THAT WE HAVE THE NECESSARY SUPPORT PACKAGES FOR US TO REALLY GET BACK TO FULL CAPACITY ONCE THE MARKETS ALLOW US TO DO THAT. MANUS: PART OF YOUR ROLE IS TO PLAN FORWARD. THE IMMEDIATE QUESTION FOR THE MARKETPLACE IS, WE ARE FACING SOME OVERSUPPLY ON THE DOMESTIC AND RESIDENTIAL MARKET. ARE WE NOW AT THAT MOMENT WHERE WE HAVE OVERSUPPLY IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AND WE NEED TO BEGIN TO CURVE INSPECTION -- EXPANSION AND GROWTH AND BUILDING OF HOTELS? > > I THINK THIS IS AN AN INTERESTING QUESTION. DUBAI CURRENTLY HAS 106 -- 136,000 HOTEL ROOMS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE YEAR END LAST YEAR, IN DUBAI, ESPECIALLY THE TOURISM SECTOR, WE VIEWED AS AN OPEN MARKET. THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED AT ALL IN THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLING EITHER SUPPLY OR PRICING OF HOTEL ROOMS. AT THE SAME TIME, I WOULD SAY THAT THE INVESTORS DEFINITELY HAVE THE EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. WE ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION THEY NEED, IN TERMS OF THINGS LIKE THE SUPPLY PIPELINE AND OTHER THINGS. MANY OF THE OWNERS THAT HAVE BEEN AFFECTED HAVE DEFINITELY CONSOLIDATED THEIR INDUSTRY ACROSS ASSET TO KEEP KEY ONES IN OPERATION. ANOTHER THING THAT YOU MAY BE AWARE OF IS THAT MANY HAVE OPENED THEIR ASSETS TO USE AS QUARANTINED FACILITIES, WHICH DEFINITELY ALLOWS US TO KEEP THEM RUNNING. IF YOU LOOK AT THE RISKS COMING UP, WE ARE QUITE CONCERNED THAT -- ABOUT THE TIMELINE. I THINK THAT IS THE MAIN RISK. IS IT GOING TO BE JULY WHEN THINGS START TO SLOWLY OPEN UP? IS IT GOING TO BE SEPTEMBER? WE NEED TO BE READY IN CASE THINGS COME EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. YOUSEF: ONE OF THE KEY INSIGHTS THAT ARE GLOBAL INVESTING AUDIENCE IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR IS ANYTHING AROUND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR. RUN ME THROUGH WHAT YOU MIGHT BE SEEING IN THE DATA THAT SUGGESTS THAT WHEN WE DO COME BACK FROM THE CORONAVIRUS, WE ARE GOING TO COME BACK A BIT DIFFERENT. > > LOOK, I THINK THERE IS PROBABLY TWO PARTS TO THIS, RIGHT? ONE PART IS OBVIOUSLY TOURISM. ARE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN TOURISM? THE DATA IS A LITTLE BIT SKEWED. MORE PEOPLE THAN EVER ARE LOOKING ONLINE AT THE NEXT HOLIDAY. THIS IS ACROSS THE WORLD REALLY. WE ARE SEEING THESE TYPE OF SEARCHES HAPPEN ACROSS THE WORLD. PEOPLE ARE STUCK AT HOME. ONE OF THE THINGS THEY LONG FOR HIS THEIR NEXT TRIP. THEY ARE SPENDING TIME ONLINE. IT DOES SHOW THAT PEOPLE ARE STILL THINKING ABOUT TRAVEL. THE OTHER SIDE, THOUGH, WHAT OTHER TYPE OF TRENDS WILL WE SEE? SOME OF THE TRENDS WE WILL SEE HAVE BEEN HAPPENING PREVIOUSLY. WE DEFINITELY SEE THERE WILL BE A LOT LESS GROUP TRAVEL. THERE WILL BE A LOT MORE INDEPENDENT TRAVEL, PROBABLY BOOKING VERY LATE BEFORE TRAVEL. THIS DEFINITELY AFFECTS THE HOTEL INDUSTRY, THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE YIELD. THERE ARE THESE NEW CHALLENGES. ALSO, THERE IS GOING TO BE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH INSURING YOU GET THE INSURANCE AROUND THE HEALTH, HYGIENE STANDARDS. THAT IS SOMETHING ELSE

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