flydubai announced the launch of its new online eShop which provides passengers with the option to pre-purchase a selection of duty-free products before they fly and have them delivered to their seat when they travel. The eShop is designed to replace the traditional onboard duty-free experience and offers passengers a wider variety of shopping choices and convenience when flying.   Commenting on the launch, Daniel Kerrison, Vice President Inflight Product at flydubai, said: “we have always been dedicated to adding new features to enhance our onboard experience and the launch of our eShop by flydubai reflects this commitment. With our eShop passengers travelling with flydubai can now purchase a variety of products before their flight and have the items delivered to their seats, providing an incredibly convenient way to shop. We are excited at the possibilities that eShop by flydubai can offer and with our increased range of products and offers there is something for everyone.”   Passengers who have made a booking with flydubai can visit the flydubai eShop, enter their flight details and begin shopping from a wide range of duty-free items including beauty products, beverages, electronics, gadgets, jewellery, perfumes and watches. Once a purchase has been made the items will be delivered to the passengers during their flight.   flydubai has continued to add new services to enhance its onboard experience including an inflight entertainment streaming service on its fleet of Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Passengers can enjoy complimentary inflight entertainment streamed wirelessly to their personal mobile devices, laptops and tablets. Passengers travelling in Business Class continue to enjoy complimentary access to flydubai’s Inflight Entertainment (IFE) on their dedicated HD touchscreens.   flydubai’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft …

Radisson Hotel Group aims to support womens’ growth within the tourism industry by empowering the younger generation and supporting them with their dreams. A key objective for Radisson Hotel Group is to achieve balanced leadership by increasing the representation of women in senior positions, breaking down the barriers that prevent women from speaking openly about their careers and harnessing the individual strengths of their female leaders. The group’s Balanced Leadership initiative aims to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The program takes a three-pronged strategy to tackle the continuing problem of diversity at the top of organizations: leadership programs, inclusive policies and awareness of the issue from top to bottom, including how to tackle barriers to women succeeding in business. At the forefront of this initiative, is Stephanie Aboujaoude, Senior Area Director of Marketing and Communications, Middle East and Africa for Radisson Hotel Group. She has been one of the ambassadors for the Group’s Balanced Leadership programme since its launch in 2014 and is the force championing Woman in Leadership across Middle East and Africa. As men and women grow and continue their education, they have equal ambitions to pursue a successful professional career, with roughly equal levels of achievement — though some studies suggest that women do slightly better. Women in hospitality in the Middle East are not a rare occurrence, but in senior management roles, from general manager to board of director level, the numbers start dwindling. Many women who start out in the hospitality industry reach a certain level and remain there, or leave to join another industry or start a family. A common reason attributed to this is the ‘beyond-9-to-5’ lifestyle of the industry, making …

Emirates is scaling up services with additional route resumptions and more flights across its European network, responding to the easing of international entry protocols and an upsurge in passenger demand. With clear signals that passenger confidence for international travel is returning, the airline is advancing its plans to increase services and capacity to make it easier for its customers to connect to and from its extensive European network via Dubai. In the UK, Emirates continues to boost its operations and will reinstate flights to Newcastle Airport (NCL) from 15 October, offering four weekly flights to the northeast of England, all operated by the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two class configuration. The first flight, EK033, will depart Dubai International (DXB) at 1430hrs and arrive in Newcastle (NCL) at 1910hrs, while flight EK034 will depart Newcastle at 2110hrs and arrive in Dubai the following day at 0725hrs. By the end of October, the airline will offer 77 weekly flights to the UK as it gradually recovers operations in one of its most important global markets. UK weekly operations include a six times daily London Heathrow operation with five A380 services; double daily A380 flights to Manchester, 10 weekly services to Birmingham, daily services to Glasgow and four weekly services to Newcastle. Earlier this month, UAE moved onto the UK’s ‘amber’ list for travel, and travellers arriving in the UK from Dubai no longer need to quarantine in a government-approved hotel. Responding to a rise in customer demand, Emirates has also brought forward its plans to introduce extra flights and capacity to over 10 European cities, including Birmingham, Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Hamburg, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Munich, Rome and Zurich. Many of these …

The UAE Space Agency hosted the Philippines Ambassador to the UAE, Her Excellency Hjayceelyn M. Quintana, along with a virtual delegation from the Philippines Space Agency to explore potential collaborations in the space sector, as the two countries look at ways to further boost their 47-year bilateral relationship. Ibrahim Al Qasim, Space Science Advisor at the UAE Space Agency, welcomed the ambassador and praised the strong and important ties between both nations. The UAE and the Philippines have a deep and long-standing partnership built on decades of mutual collaboration and cooperation across a wide range of strategically important industries. Both nations have bold and ambitious national roadmaps for space exploration and see great value in sharing knowledge and expertise. Exploring the latest developments in space science and advanced technologies can create highly-skilled talent, build local industries and create a knowledge and innovation-based economy. Ibrahim Al Qasim, Space Science Advisor, UAE Space Agency said: “Space sector collaborations are essential for both the UAE and the Philippines. As our two countries accelerate the growth and increase investments into this exciting yet nascent industry, there will be many opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge and ideas as we work together to create new avenues for space-based innovation. “The long-standing strategic bilateral relationship between the UAE and the Philippines is grounded in a shared collaborative spirit and a shared commitment to empower talent and foster an entrepreneurial spirit. We look forward to expanding our horizons through potential joint space exploration programs and initiatives that accelerate economic diversification by scaling up expertise in cutting-edge new industries.” Though a young nation with a relatively nascent space program, the UAE has made history in this industry and …

In a move to support the ramp up of operations after boosting its passenger services to South Africa, Emirates has signed an interline agreement with Cemair that opens up connections to six more destinations in South Africa through the airline’s gateways of Johannesburg and Cape Town. The partnership also includes a couple of leisure points exclusively served by Cemair. This marks the first partnership between both airlines, and Emirates’ fourth airline partnership in South Africa. The arrangement between Emirates and Cemair includes the convenience of single ticket itineraries with onwards booking and baggage transfers from Johannesburg and Cape Town to Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Margate, Durban, Hoedspruit, Plettenberg Bay, George and Sishen. Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline said: “We are proud to partner with Cemair and commence our interline agreement. The new Cemair links provide our customers with even more possibilities to travel smoothly across many of South Africa’s most popular leisure points, in addition to the added benefit of connectivity to Cemair’s exclusively served points Margate and Plettenberg Bay. Connecting our networks solidifies our commitment to offering our customers even more travel opportunities, especially for those wanting to experience South Africa’s existing favourites, as well as travellers plotting new itineraries. We look forward to working together and strengthening our relationship.” Miles van der Molen, Chief Executive Officer of CemAir said: “We are delighted to partner with Emirates Airline, a name synonymous with quality and elegance. Our interline agreement provides our customers with convenience and savings as they can now seamlessly connect from our flights to the vast global network of this iconic airline.” As we continue our expansion during the post Covid recovery period we realise that now more …

Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers has become the first Abu Dhabi hotel to partner with Evolvin’ Women, a social enterprise dedicated to the advancement of women in developing countries by providing skill development opportunities in the hospitality sector. During the two-year partnership, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers will support Evolvin’ Women in driving women empowerment in the hospitality industry by facilitating two year skill development placement for the women under the Evolvin’ Women Program. As a starting point, the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers team has reviewed over 10 profiles and already hired five women in housekeeping and one in F&B who they will train and mentor throughout their work placement. In addition, working in line with both organizations’ commitment to paving gender equality in the hospitality industry, the hotel has appointed two women in the front office as door women – a historically male-dominated role. Assia Riccio, CEO, Evolvin’ Women said: “We are pleased to partner with Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers and grateful for their support to advancing our cause of gender equality, female empowerment, and diversity in the hospitality industry. I believe appointing doorwomen instead of doormen is a revolutionary step towards breaking gender stereotypes and highlighting women’s potential to excel and grow in any role when given the right opportunity and support. I look forward to working with the hotel and witnessing the positive impact of mentorship from the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers team on their professional and personal growth.” Tarek Jarrouje, Director of Human Resources, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers said: “We are proud to be the first Abu Dhabi hotel to partner with Evolvin’ Women. By placing women in traditionally male-dominated roles and …

Launched a year ago as part of COVID-19 response, more than 13,000 travel agents have registered and 7,000 have completed the online course. The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is marking the first anniversary of its Abu Dhabi Specialists E-learning Programme by introducing new modules and markets for the innovative training scheme. The programme, which was launched just over a year ago as part of DCT Abu Dhabi’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, saw all forms of physical promotional offers, workshops and training courses shifted onto virtual platforms. It was designed to educate travel industry professionals, including front-liners, product managers, tour operators, travel agencies and home-based agents, about ways to promote Abu Dhabi effectively. Launched in May 2020, the e-learning has been successfully rolled out across the markets in 17 different countries and in seven different languages. So far, 13,670 applicants have registered for the course and more than 7,000 have graduated as ‘Abu Dhabi Specialists’. “We are really heartened by the strong support from the global travel trade for this programme and, as such, we will be launching additional learning modules and expanding into new markets in Switzerland and Israel,” said HE Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Marketing and Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi. “Despite the last year being an extremely challenging period for the tourism sector, through this innovative programme we have still been able to connect with travel professionals around the world and help them understand why Abu Dhabi is such an extraordinary destination. As we open up to travellers from across the world once again, we are confident the Programme has increased awareness of Abu Dhabi’s amazing offerings, which in turn will lead to increased sales activity …

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has unveiled a transportation plan to serve visitors of Expo 2020 from around the United Arabi Emirates. The plan specifies 9 locations across UAE in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. A total of 70 dedicated buses will be deployed to run 193 daily trips during weekdays, and 213 daily trips on Thursday and Friday. His Excellency Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), reiterated RTA’s commitment to facilitating the movement of visitors from various emirates to and from Expo 2020. The plan aims to make public transport the ideal mobility choice of Expo visitors. “As part of its master operational plan for transporting Expo 2020 visitors, RTA has dedicated a full fleet of public buses compatible with the low carbon emission standards of Euro 6 buses, which will be making their debut in the MENA region. The plan illustrates RTA’s keenness to reduce the carbon footprint of these buses. Each bus has a low-floor entry to make it easily accessible to people of determination. Buses are designed to deliver premium services to mass transit riders thanks to the high-class finishing works, roomy seats, dedicated seats for children, WiFi service, USB charging ports and an array of smart systems,” said Al Tayer. Abu Dhabi and Al Ain “The plan specified 4 stations in Abu Dhabi for transporting Expo 2020 visitors. The first is at Abu Dhabi International Airport. RTA will deploy 10 buses to run 31 daily trips in both directions from Saturday to Wednesday, and 33 daily trips in both directions on Thursday and Friday,” announced Al Tayer. …

Leading independent travel company Travel Counsellors has launched a brand-new internal Community Platform, “TC World”, to further unite the global community of over 2000 Travel Counsellors and support colleagues, inspired by how its people have come together to support and learn from each other during the pandemic. This comes as the business continues to focus on building and enhancing its platform of support for its business owners, with the company seeing a continual increase in enquiries and bookings, as consumer confidence builds, and travellers look for trusted travel advice more so than ever. The business has also reported more and more people taking this as an opportunity to start their own businesses as part of the proven, customer focused business model including the 20 new Travel Counsellors who joined the business here in The UAE in the last year. Throughout the pandemic, Travel Counsellors witnessed the true power of having a strong community, as its people came together to support one another, even when they couldn’t physically be together. Each day, the company’s business owners were producing huge amounts of user-generated content, to advise, help and care for each other. There was so much collaboration happening, that Travel Counsellors recognised a huge opportunity to bring this content together in a meaningful way, which inspired the launch of TC World. A blend between social and forum technologies, the platform is a virtual space where people can come together to meet, connect, and collaborate, enabling them to reach their goals, whilst at the same time creating social bonds that will last a lifetime. Karen Morris, Operations Director at Travel Counsellors said “As a business, we have built an incredibly strong culture, focusing …

The United Arab Emirates University, the flagship institution with an independent pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, reveals the pavilion façade design built on the theme of the ‘University of the Future’ (UoF), a new model of education which is focused on preparing the next generation in solving employability challenges, by transforming the youth from ‘job seekers’ to ‘job creators’ with the Pathfinders Program and the Institute of the Future (IoF) among its central initiatives. The façade, exterior face of the building, shows a visually distinctive image on the upper panel showcasing three adventurous pathfinders walking in the Arab desert towards the unexplored opportunities, creativity and intellectual education, in a deeper sense, to ‘Discover, Become, and Co-create’ and pointing towards the stars. Together with the UAEU Expo team, TODO designed the main artwork that expresses the symbolic narratives of Pathfinders Program of re-imagining the possibilities around humanity’s yet most daring adventure of building and sustaining a human colony on Mars. The red planet here metaphorically indicates a new beginning for humanity and a source of new ideas for addressing some of Earth’s most complex challenges. The Arab desert echoes the UAE’s valued local landscape. Eventually, the Pathfinders are inclined to address the unemployment dilemma by pointing to the stars, indicating solving the 100 million stars unemployment challenge in the Arab World and beyond, the UoF’s primary mission of fostering job creators rather than job seekers. Dr. Nihel Chabrak, Executive Director of UAEU Pavilion at Expo 2020 said, “The Façade is a reflection of the UAEU philosophy and drive: being rooted in the country natural and cultural heritage while aspiring for a better future for humankind. The UAE plan to colonize Mars …