SOARING ABOVE THE REST

Issam Kazim, CEO Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism explains how one of the most visited places in the world remains young, raring to go and refuses to submit to the cliché of 'impossible'.

- Amin Ali

From celebrities, movie stars, and sports icons to UFC fighters and industry leaders, Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism calendar is packed. In between his meetings, when he sits with us at the Dubai office from where his team orchestrates the global campaigns that keep the city in the spotlight, his excitement about the Emirate is infectious. He reminds us that none of Dubai's achievements, from the tallest tower, the busiest airport to the safest city status, happened by chance. Every step was part of a well thought out plan. He explains Dubai's success as a city that thinks like a startup, moves with agility, and continues to reinvent itself as home to over 200 nationalities.

Q: When and where did the Dubai story start?

In the early 1980s, Sheikh Mohammed, present ruler, was driving through a secluded part of Dubai. He noticed a few foreigners on that deserted beach area and stopped to ask if they were stuck or lost. They said they were tourists from Germany; to which he asked what brings them here. They replied, Dubai has the sun, sand, and sea. Why won't they be here. This statement stayed with him. Shortly after, he attended a GCC meeting and among various ideas for the region, he presented tourism. But, he didn't get a positive response and was told no one would come to this hot and humid place. He took it upon himself to make Dubai one of the tourism capitals of the world.