Within the UNWTO-UAE Tourism Leadership Programme, this year’s Workshop on “Innovative Approaches to Destination Branding” was inaugurated on 1st May by Mohamed Elnaggar, Tourism Affairs Expert from the National Tourism Programme of Ministry of Economy of United Arab Emirates; Omar Valdez, UNWTO.Themis Foundation Executive Director; Prof. Dr. Jörg Finsinger, Academic Head of MODUL University Dubai; Dr. Edith M. Szivas, Academic Director at UNWTO.Themis Foundation; and the facilitators of the workshop, Adam Bates and Jesse Desjardins.

This year’s UNWTO-UAE Executive Training Workshop is organized by the World Tourism Organization and its UNWTO.Themis Foundation, in partnership with MODUL University Dubai and with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates.

The 3-day Workshop wishes to share - with a step-by-step practical methodology, short presentations, discussions, debates, group work and practical activities - knowledge, processes and tools on global tourism trends, brand types, the experience economy and branding strategies.

Zaid Maleh, Managing Director of MODUL University Dubai, said: “This is a landmark achievement for MODUL University Dubai to be hosting this unique, first-of-its-kind workshop by UNWTO. Through this, the participants aim to acquire knowledge on the tourism trends, understand key concepts on the brand types, and branding strategies and look at ways at developing a brand for a destination. This is a great learning curve for tourism and hospitality professionals in the GCC and region and we thank the UAE Ministry of Economy and UNWTO for their faith in MODUL University Dubai in hosting such a prestigious event.”