Christy Anyanwu
Issam AbdulRahim Kassim is the CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce(DCTCM), which was established in December 2013 as an affiliate of the Dubai Government’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). Having built and developed DCTCM’s team from the ground up as well as its network of over 20 international offices, Kassim leads all activities vis-a-vis the branding, promotion and marketing of the emirate. He is instrumental in negotiating and facilitating global partnerships and plays an integral role in the development of relationships with industry stakeholders, partners and investors that contribute to the overall growth in visitation to the city. He spoke with Saturday Sun recently during the 2019 Akwaaba African Travel Market, held at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
Why are you in Nigeria with a delegation from Dubai?
First of all, for us is attending Akwaaba, but more importantly is the importance of the African market and most specific is also the Nigerian market. When we set up a strategy in 2013, we talked about reaching out to as many markets as possible because we wanted to know the number of visitors, we wanted to ensure the visitors are staying for longer time in Dubai, we wanted to make sure that they are also exploring everything that Dubai has to offer. We already have a good number of Africans coming to Dubai, we want to make sure the number grew, and we knew there’s a potential to grow and especially, we knew that there’s affinity for Nigeria and Nigerians knowing the Dubai market more and also getting to understand why they should be coming to Dubai more.
Nigerians, and indeed Africans love Dubai, are there measures put in place to ensure their safety?
Of course, I think the most important thing for us is, the security and safety of Dubai as a whole. Dubai is made up of two different nationalities. If you look at the reasons why people choose Dubai as a destination and why Dubai is chosen by lots of these people to be a destination and also a place where they want to raise their kids is because of the state of security that Dubai has to offer. That is paramount for us as a destination. With that in mind, we also wanted to make sure that the services are of highest standards. So, as part of the strategy that we implement in 2013, we knew that there’s a need for a Dubai College of Tourism. We knew that a lot of hotels have their own training programs for that but we need a College that focuses on how to make people have the Dubai experience, something unique. We focus on getting the Dubai export program. This program helps the sales reps around the world to better understand what Dubai is about and also be the sales representatives of Dubai, therefore earning more money for themselves and at the same time they can also win prizes because 
they collect a lot of point, they can actually take a trip to Dubai themselves and enjoy the experience to educate and earn a reward for themselves. One of the companies here in Nigeria , the Managing Director took it upon herself and she went to do the program herself and she actually, enjoyed and learnt from it so much that she made sure every single employee from that company gets the Dubai export certification. These are the kinds of things we do to facilitate better sales rep so that people can visit and explore Dubai.
You have so much passion for tourism, how did it start for you?
I worked in Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) as Director of DXB Live and Commercial, and I successfully created, developed and launched a number of strategic live events, including Dubai Sports World, Dubai Indoor Football Championship and Dubai Music week. If we talk about events, the Dubai World Trade Centre has the busiest calendar, we have the biggest global exhibitions when it comes to the food exhibition. We had one of the best tech event globally, it happens twice in a year now. My experience started from there. From there, I have the opportunity five and half years ago to join Dubai Corporation.
Is this your first time in Nigeria?
Yes, it’s my first time but definitely not the last.
How do you see Nigeria?
I have been saying this to everyone that I have met; the one thing that struck me when I landed in Nigeria, and every contact that I have made since then, is the warmth of the people. And the one line that stands out, every single person wherever they meet me is asking is this your first time and I say yes and the remark is, welcome home. To me, that resonates. That is such a powerful message, that automatically gave me this feeling of wanting to come back again and again.
Have you tasted any Nigerian food?
Yes, I have. I love spicy food, I love the fact that you have this chilly taste thing that you guys used to make the food and I’m a huge fan now.
You have traveled all over the world, what lessons have you learnt from life as a person?
For me, what I have always made conscious efforts to and I pride myself in, is always finding the strength of similarity between people of two cultures. I think that is such an important thing to focus on. When you look deeper, almost every single person on this surface of the earth will have something similar with the other when it comes to certain values, when it comes to certain principles, when you go back to the root of the family and upbringing. Those little things really tie us together. For me, going round the world, finding those similarities, it’s something that is hugely important and it’s something that has really taught me a lot of lesson.
How do you start your day and how do you relax?
To be honest with you, what I do is what I am always passionate about. The team that I work with is amazing. I think it’s important to surround yourself with people at work that you really enjoy, who challenge you and you challenge them on a daily basis because at the end of the day you are spending time with them and in most of our cases, you spend time with them more than your family at home during the working week. So you got to create that amazing relationship, an amazing synergy and amazing atmosphere within the work environment. This way, you will cross over from the job side of it to almost like your daily life and your fun aspect of it as well. When it comes to disconnecting and disengagement, for me it’s the family time that is hugely important. I’m a father of three boys who are quite demanding at this age, so you need to make sure that you still have their energy to keep busy and running around with them as well.
What is your favourite sport?
I love football. And growing up, I can say this also very proudly that I still remember USA 94, watching the Nigerian team participate. They surprised the world. Because they were the under 21 champions of the Olympics and coming into the major team, people were surprised. I still remember Daniel Amokachi, I still remember Emmanuel Amunike, I remember Jay jay Okocha, all these players actually hit the big scene and we were looking at them. That is amazing football they brought to the scene. The other thing I’m very fascinated about is music. I have been listening to Afro beats for such a long time now even before it became the global phenomenon it has become today. A lot of the artistes here, I love their music, it’s such an amazing cultural scene in Nigeria that I think people are just starting realizing and recognizing. I think this is the strongest asset that Nigeria has and needs to capitalize on and take the ownership of that and provide the platform for these beautiful talents to actually get the global skill.
You look fashionable, what is your take on fashion?
For a fashion perspective, I do believe that you need to always make the effort to look good because you owe it to the job that you do and you owe it to the people you meet as well. So always make sure that you are in good shape and in good health as well. So fashion is a passion for me too as well.
Your favourite food?
Living in Dubai, we have different nationalities, we are actually exposed to different cuisines from around the world. I’m a big fan of trying out different cuisines and different foods as well. But if I’m going to choose one item, I would say steaks for sure.
How do you exercise?
For me, I would love to go into the Cardio, (running cycling). I have tried it a few times. It is not for me. I’m one of the old school. Going to the gym, lift weights, I guess that’s more of my style.
You don’t look like old school. Did you grow up in Dubai?
(Laughs) I’m old school. I have lived my entire life in Dubai. I’m of family of four. I have one sister and two brothers. All three of them studied abroad, in North America. I chose to actually study in Dubai. My secondary, primary, University, everything was in Dubai. But through work I have been exposed to so many different experiences, so many different training programs, and certifications that took me around the world to explore. I have done a lot of courses in the UK and Barcelona in Spain. That has really given me the opportunity to interact with so many different backgrounds, so many different cultures and became really more universal in that sense. I think growing up in Dubai, generally was like that. Studying in private schools in Dubai you will see that no nationality is a majority. All of us form small minorities but together as a collective we form the spirit of Dubai. And everyone living in peace and harmony together is such an amazing experience.
Growing up, was Dubai a beautiful place as it is today?
It was as cosmopolitan, it was as international but it was smaller. I remember back in the days, when the shop will open at 10 in the morning and they will shut down at 1pm. They have like a siesta time and open back at 2pm and close at 8pm. That was Dubai. It was such a small neighborhood. Even the police in the neighborhood wave at you, they know you by name. Growing up, Dubai was such a peaceful place. It was such a small neighborhood experience growing up. In general, the spirit of the people still remains and it rubs on so many people as the city is growing bigger. However, Dubai is today bigger now. We have so many districts now and you can actually go and spend days within specific districts and still not have the chance to go out to the next district in the fortnight. Dubai is definitely changing in that aspect. That friendly neighborhood feeling still remains. You see people coming to Dubai for short visits and they end up staying for life. The warmth and welcoming experience that I had with Nigerians is something I feel people feel when they come to Dubai and they end up setting up home and shops in Dubai.