Qantas and Emirates aim to highlight Dubai with MasterChef Australia showcase
Qantas and Emirates Air have teamed up with Masterchef in a bid to promote Dubai as a destination for food lovers and holiday makers.
Olivia Wirth of Qantas
The promotion saw Qantas flying the MasterChef Australia production to Dubai for programmes that aired over the weekend.
“The Middle East is a key international market for Qantas. Since launching services there in March this year, we have flown over half a million passengers between Australia and Dubai,” said Qantas Group Executive Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Olivia Wirth.
“We are proud to connect Australians to Dubai and highlight new experiences through our sponsorship of the popular MasterChef program.
“We have worked with our partners Emirates and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing to support coverage of Dubai’s wonderful food experiences and we look forward to doing more in future to promote Dubai as a hotspot for Australian travellers.
“Already, many of our customers are choosing to stopover in Dubai on their way to Europe and as they become more familiar with it, we expect to see Dubai become even more of a destination in its own right for Australian holiday makers.”
Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand added: “Through our partnership with Qantas and MasterChef Australia, we have been able to showcase the hospitality and service that Dubai, our hub, is globally renowned for.”
The Director General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Merri said “MasterChef provides us with an exciting platform to showcase Dubai’s diverse range of culinary offerings to one of our main source markets: from celebrity chef dining to local street food favourites; the tastes of the traditional souq markets to extraordinary gourmet experiences.”
He added: “This important collaboration between Qantas, Emirates and DTCM along with Atlantis The Palm, Arabian Adventures and the Dubai Film and Television Commission was a perfect example of what we can achieve when we harness the collective offerings and abilities of the tourism industry.
“This was further enhanced by the guests from both the public and private sectors who volunteered to appear in the show as VIP diners, all of whom acted as great ambassadors for Dubai. In the first half of 2013, more than 110,000 Australians visited Dubai and I’ve no doubt that once the Dubai-based episodes of MasterChef air, many more will be booking their flights and holidays to experience our Emirate for themselves.”