Emirates, in partnership with Experience Dubai, VisitBritain, and Tourism Ireland, are celebrating the success of its recent trade roadshow. The multi-city event, held from March 20 – 27 2025, travelled across six of Emirates’ seven Australia and New Zealand gateways, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Christchurch, connecting with close to 650 key travel trade consultants.
The roadshow highlighted the strong commitment of Emirates, Dubai Experience, VisitBritain, and Tourism Ireland in driving tourism growth from the Australian and New Zealand market, while positioning Dubai as the premier stopover destination.
Travel consultants gained valuable insights into the airline’s global fleet and cutting-edge products, including Emirates’ US$5 billion retrofit program, the cutting edge Premium Economy offering, and the next-generation First Class Game Changer product now flying on Emirates’ newly retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER on Melbourne’s third daily service.
The event showcased Emirates’ unparalleled connectivity, including service to eight airports across Britain and twice-daily flights to Dublin. A key focus was an immersive update on the Emirates Dubai stopover Experience (DEX) program, demonstrating how Dubai offers a world-class stopover experience for travellers en route to Britain and Ireland.
Exclusive to ticketed passengers, travellers can explore the best of Dubai with Emirates utilising the DEX platform to browse, create and book their own customised travel itineraries, including their flights, hotel accommodation, tourist attractions, dining and leisure experiences. Travellers can enjoy Dubai’s stunning skyline, vibrant culture, beautiful beaches and thrilling entertainment, making it the perfect stopover before seamlessly connecting to over 140 destinations worldwide.
Emirates Divisional Vice President Australasia Barry Brown said: “Emirates is deeply committed to fostering close relationships with our Australian travel trade partners, and the Dubai, Britain & Ireland Showcase was an opportunity to highlight our significant investment in enhancing the travel experience.
“These investments, from our enhanced Premium Economy cabins to our continuously expanding network and seamless connections through Dubai, offer Australian travellers unparalleled choice and flexibility, ensuring a truly seamless and connected travel experience.
“With London and Dublin being top destinations for Australian travellers, we’re proud to work alongside our valued partners at VisitBritain and Tourism Ireland to unlock a world of possibilities for Australian travellers, offering effortless access to over 140 destinations worldwide and making it easier than ever to fly better with Emirates.”
VisitBritain’s Executive Vice President, The Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, Paul Gauger said: “VisitBritain was thrilled to partner with Emirates, Experience Dubai and Tourism Ireland on the ‘Emirates, Dubai, Britain & Ireland Showcase 2025’. Following the recent launch of our new global campaign, ‘Starring GREAT Britain,’ this year’s roadshow presented a timely opportunity to equip travel agents with the knowledge and tools needed to turn the growing interest in Britain’s film and TV experiences into bookings. Agents remain a key source of trust and expert knowledge for Aussie and Kiwi travellers when planning trips to Britain, and we look forward to continuing to work with our dedicated travel trade partners throughout 2025.”
Sofia Hansson, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Australia and New Zealand, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to partner with Emirates, Experience Dubai and VisitBritain for this six-city roadshow which acted as an excellent opportunity to showcase the island of Ireland to travel advisors in Australia and New Zealand. Travel agents remain an important booking channel for travellers from these active markets, so a key element of our extensive annual programme of activity involves working closely with the travel trade, both online and offline. Following our renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) partnership with Emirates for another 2 years, we look forward to continued close co-operation, as we seek to maximise opportunities to grow tourism to Ireland in 2025 and beyond.”
Further investing in its Great Britain services, Emirates has recently announced it will be introducing a retrofitted A380 fitted with Premium Economy on its Manchester route EK017/018 from 6 June 2025. The enhanced service to Manchester complements the four daily retrofitted A380s currently serving the Dubai-London Heathrow route, the Emirates A350 operating to Edinburgh, and the soon-to-launch refurbished Boeing 777 scheduled to serve London Stansted from May. This investment will increase its Premium Economy offering to nearly 5,000 weekly seats in and out of the UK from June.
The roadshow also follows Emirates’ recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tourism Ireland to boost inbound tourism to Ireland through the airline’s global network of over 140 destinations. Building on this partnership, from June 25, Emirates will debut its latest Business and Premium Economy cabins onboard a retrofitted Boeing 777 on EK 161/162 to Dublin, giving more travellers the opportunity to experience Emirates’ next-generation products.
Since the inaugural Dublin-Dubai flight in January 2012, Emirates has carried over 3 million passengers on what has grown to become one of the airline’s most successful routes. The airline currently serves the Irish capital with a double daily flight, utilising its wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, carrying up to 1,440 customers and 25 tonnes of cargo each day on the Dublin-Dubai route, offering a seamless and world-class travel experience. Tickets can be booked on emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents as well as at Emirates retail stores.
