Video: In this edition of Travel Talk Phil Blizzard meets Paul Griffiths, chief executive, Dubai Airports where the focus is the growth in passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport. According to figures published by Airport Council International, London Heathrow is now in second spot for international travellers, with Griffiths giving his take on this, while also discussing trends in passenger growth and the impact of runway closure for upgrading.

Billionaire Donald Trump recently flew into Dubai to inspect his latest golfing project - the Trump International Golf Club, Dubai, part of the 42 million square foot golf community AKOYA by DAMAC. Talking to Phil Blizzard on the first green, the property tycoon highlights the benefit of golf courses like this to the tourism industry in the Emirates and argues that his courses in Scotland have seen tourism revenues grow by more than 50 per cent.

Tourism chiefs in Dubai have revealed their new target - to make the emirate the most visited city in the world. One year into the delivery of Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020, significant first steps have been taken to achieve the target of attracting 20 million annual visitors by 2020, leading the tourism authority to set the new ambition.

More than six million passengers passed through Dubai International in March 2014, driven by the expanding networks of Emirates airline and flydubai, according to the latest traffic statistics issued by operator Dubai Airports. This is the third time in four months the airport has recorded monthly traffic of more than six million passengers.

Dubai is still the destination of choice of the European travel market, according to the team of Golden Sands Hotel Apartments, who returned from a successful participation in ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade show, held this month in Germany.

After celebrating unprecedented occupancy rates for Tower 1 during its inaugural year, the second tower of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai has officially opened offering an additional 294 luxurious rooms, bringing the total room count to 1,098. Once fully operational by the end of 2014 Tower 2 will comprise of 804 suites and rooms, bringing the total available suites and rooms to 1,608.