The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) released the 2009 edition of its yearly tourism manual - Destination Dubai. The magazine was officially launched at the World Travel Market (WTM) 2009 in London.

The colourful and attractive manual is a comprehensive book for all potential visitors to Dubai and documents the emirate's progress in trade, travel and tourism, sports in addition to listings of airlines, tour operators, shopping and other leisure options.'Destination Dubai 2009' features Dubai's fast transformation into a haven for sun seekers and shoppers and also a city of adventure, offering exciting discoveries in both mountain and desert terrain. The manual fulfils a genuine attempt to present Dubai's fantastic tourism options to a global audience.

Mohamed Khamis bin Hareb, DTCM’s Executive Director of Operations and Marketing said “This year 20 more pages had to be added to the manual which contains valuable information like tourist attractions, heritage sites, entertainment and tours and dining out options in a budding destination. It also has useful tips and information regarding visa, immigration and customs rules and regulations and a quick version of Dubai at A Glance, Dubai’s tourist map.”

Dubai's emerging reputation as a shopping and real estate oasis with features like the Dubai Duty Free and Dubai Shopping festival and the new projects like the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Land and Dubai Waterfront are well represented in the manual. She added that Destination Dubai 2009 also explores the interesting spots in other emirates to offer a total UAE tourism experience for the visitors. A complete listing of Dubai's rapidly expanding list of hotels and hotel apartments, foreign embassies and consulates in the manual will help guide tourists through the multiple leisure options that are available in Dubai.

The tourism manual also aims to educate the foreign traveler about sponsorship details, transit visas, customs and duty free allowances, language, climate, local press etc. The manual is distributed free of charge locally and at the 18 DTCM overseas offices and during exhibitions and road-shows. DTCM will also be producing the Arabic, Italian, German, French, and Chinese versions of the manual very soon like every year, to boost its global reach.