Irish travel agents from eight agencies recently enjoyed a four-day fam trip to Dubai, courtesy of Dubai Tourism, Emirates, JA Resorts & Hotels, and Arabian Adventures.
Accompanying Ingrid Aagesen, Dubai Tourism, and Stephen Davitt, Emirates, were eight travel agents: Qi Luo, Club Travel / Budget Travel; Orla Tooher, GoHop.ie; Anna Mills, Eimear Hannon Travel; Kerry McCarthy, Lee Travel; Lorraine Noctor, Topflight; Jeanette Coughlan, Travel Counsellors; Romy Birdthistle, Tropical Sky; and Rachel Dempsey, World Travel Centre.
Highlights of the trip included overnight stays at the fabulous JA Palm Tree Court and JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel (www.jaresortshotels.com), where the agents had a day to enjoy all the facilities, including lunch, water sports, beach time – and a spa treatment!
The 5-star Palm Tree Court and 4-star Beach Hotel are beachfront family resorts and part of the award-winning JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort. The Palm Tree offers 208 spacious low-rise one- and two-bedroom suites as well as junior suites, while the Beach Hotel provides 231 rooms and suites overlooking the Arabian Gulf, private marina and hotel gardens.
Adrenalin rushes were provided by a scenic tour of the picturesque Dubai skyline by seaplane with Seawings (www.seawings.ae), and a city tour and Sundowner desert excursion with Arabian Adventures (www.arabian-adventures.com).
The agents also sampled some of Dubai’s world-class cuisine, with a hosted dinner at the Vida Downtown Hotel (www.vida-hotels.com) amid the inaugural Dubai Festival of Lights (http://mydowntowndubai.com), and lunch al fresco at the gorgeous Fairmont, The Palm (www.fairmont.com/palm-dubai).
Commenting on her visit, Travel Counsellor Jeanette Coughlan said: “I had an amazing trip to Dubai, thanks to Dubai Tourism and Emirates. As a holiday destination Dubai has everything you could ask for and caters for all markets. The seaplane tour over Dubai gave us a fantastic overview of the city and surrounding areas such as the Palm. Dubai has a truly impressive range of accommodation and restaurants that serve world-class cuisine. The contrast from souks to malls was fascinating and my favourite tour was the Desert Safari – beneath all the glamour, from its foundation Dubai’s desert revealed its true magic.”
Orla Tooher, Gohop.ie, added: “I would like to compliment Dubai Tourism and Emirates on a fantastic fam trip. I learnt so much in such a short space of time and I really loved the fact that we got to see all areas of Dubai – Downtown, the Creek, JBR, and Jebel Ali. I can now sell these areas with confidence because I got a great feel of their amenities and hotels. Having dined in some hotels and viewing the rooms, I also now have a great idea of what it would be like to stay in these properties. We managed to see and do so much and yet it was not over-tiring. It definitely was one of the best fam trips I have been on. Thanks again!”
