Celebrating its 10th anniversary, ITB Asia 2017, Asia’s leading travel trade show kicked off at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Over 940 exhibitors from 951 buyers from MICE, corporate, leisure and other sectors with over 11,000 delegates will attend the event. The programme will feature its strongest line-up of exhibitors and speakers, as well as many firsts for the travel trade show. While African and Russian markets make a strong showing at this year’s show, North Asia features prominently with a strong showing by Japan and South Korea. Running parallel with the exhibition, the conference programme will look to ‘The Future of Travel’. The three-day conference presents an extensive programme of presentations and discussions. A two-day keynote line-up features IBM Asia Pacific and Google on the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence, Ctrip on its global strategy as well as a panel with leading online travel agents.

Etihad Airways is now providing its customers Apple Pay, transforming mobile payments with a fast, secure and convenient way to pay for flights and travel. Available on the Etihad Airways mobile app, Apple Pay allows customers, for the first time in the UAE, to pay securely with just a touch of a finger. Etihad Airways’ customers can now buy flights and other products such as ‘Extra Legroom Seats’, ‘Preferred Seats’ and excess baggage with their iPhone or iPad by simply touching a button. Each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code. Justin Warby, Vice President Digital Strategy and Innovation, Etihad Airways, said, “We are proud to partner with Apple Pay to bring the latest mobile payment and technology innovations to our guests in the UAE and around the world. We were able to quickly adjust the release cycle of our mobile app to ensure we coincided our launch with Apple in the UAE.” Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and benefits offered by credit and debit cards.

The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) hosted Saudi wedding planning agencies from Jeddah and Riyadh from the October 21-23. Seven agencies were selected to attend the forum held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC) on October 23, where they met 30 various companies from the Kingdom of Bahrain to discuss future opportunities in the sector. The companies included major hotels, wedding planning agencies, travel logistics companies and banquet halls. “We are delighted to host the largest Saudi Arabian wedding planning agencies to promote the wide range of wedding services and amenities available in the Kingdom. The BTEA strives to host such events that aim to showcase the Kingdom’s offerings as a wedding destination as well as the international luxury hotel chains and boutique offerings,” said Dr. Ali Hassan Follad, Advisor to the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.

Passenger traffic at Sharjah International Airport grew by 4 per cent during the third quarter of 2017, compared with the same period of 2016, handling 2.996 million passengers. Summer travel drove Q3 growth with the airport handling 1 million passengers during July and 1.1 million passengers during August. Performance during the three months also beat that of Q1 and Q2 this year, which registered 2 percent and 3 per cent growth respectively. July and August were the first months of this year that exceeded one million passengers, with growth being supported by airline promotions, additional summer flights and the Sharjah summer tourism promotion campaign. Last week, Sharjah International Airport received its first Rossiya Airlines flight from Saint Petersburg and Ekaterinburg in Russia. The airline will operate two Boeing 737-800 flights weekly from October 2017 until March 2018. Sharjah Airport Authority recently appointed US engineering consultancy Parsons Overseas Limited to oversee its US$400 million (AED 1.46b) expansion.

With its recent announcement of strengthening more flights to Russia from November 29, flydubai will further increase their network to Sheremetyevo. This will increase the airline’s frequency to the Russian capital to double daily with the existing service to Vnukovo International Airport. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said “We are excited to offer our passengers more options to access two different points of the Russian capital. The launch of our new daily flights to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport is based on the increase in demand for more affordable and reliable direct links to the UAE and beyond.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) for flydubai said “Russia continues to be a very important market for flydubai. Our commitment is demonstrated by the increase of our operations to 11 points and 47 weekly flights to the Russian market. We are also looking forward to increasing our frequency to 52 weekly flights from mid-December to provide our passengers with more convenient options for travel to and from Dubai.”

The Dubai Free Zones Council and the Federal Tax Authority organised a workshop on Value-Added Tax (VAT), to be implemented in the UAE from 2018. More than 70 representatives of companies operating across Dubai’s various free zones participated in the event. With the aim of helping free zone entities fulfil their tax obligations, the workshop provided an overview of VAT and related mechanisms, the implementation timeline, products and services it will cover, as well as tax-exempt sectors. The session clarified the impact of the new tax law on activities such as bookkeeping as well as on the preparation of invoices and other financial documents. Dr Mohammed Alzarooni, Secretary General of the Dubai Free Zones Council, stressed on the importance of the workshop for enabling entities operating in the free zones to prepare for full compliance with the new tax legislation. He said, “Companies must take effective measures to adapt their operations, financial management and information systems to the new tax environment. The necessary changes are also set to impact professional capacities – accountants will need additional training and the job market may see a surge in tax adviser vacancies.”

Four Seasons Hotel, Makkah will be the company’s second location in Saudi Arabia, joining Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh at Kingdom Centre in offering the most luxurious accommodations and personalised service in the region. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) announced plans for a new Four Seasons hotel in the Makkah as part of the Jabal Omar integrated real estate development. Ideally located adjacent to the Grand Mosque, Four Seasons Hotel, Makkah will offer the most gracious accommodations in the city. Award-winning architectural firm Foster + Partners was chosen following an international design competition for this project. The multi-towered building atop a retail podium cascades down toward the Grand Mosque, seamlessly integrating its public spaces into the Haram. An innovative design allows clear views of the Kaaba from every guest room and suite, each of which will feature one or more private prayer rooms. Additional features of the hotel include three restaurants and lounges, a ballroom and meeting rooms, and a spa and fitness centre.

The latest partnership of Etihad Airways and Alibaba’s Tmall and Alitrip for the Global Shopping Festival 2017 includes five specially-branded exteriors of aircrafts which will depart from Abu Dhabi to four destinations in China – Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong. In the coming month, the aircrafts will carry this unique branding to over 40 cities across Etihad Airways’ global network. Tmall’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival has quickly become the largest and most influential online shopping festival in China. The partnership executes China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, facilitating economic ties and cultural exchange between China and UAE. At the same time, it takes Chinese culture to Europe, the US and Africa via the Abu Dhabi hub. Etihad Airways continues to build its long-term relationship with Alibaba Group. With access to nearly 200 million registered Alitrip users, the online store has significantly enhanced Etihad Airways’ digital reach in the Chinese market. By seizing the opportunities presented by the Tmall 11.11 Global Shopping Festival 2017, the two parties will expand their innovative partnership across the ecommerce arena.

The European Challenge Tour at Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah promises to be memorable on and off the course with the launch of the Al Hamra Fan Village. The Tour tees off this Wednesday and finishes on Saturday (October 28). This year’s Golf Challenge will be a truly family affair, with free admission to a giant Fan Village, including bouncy castles, arts and crafts, face painting and sand art, as well as food trucks and live music entertainment. There will also be an Oktoberfest Garden where chefs from Al Hamra’s Bay Sports Bar will be grilling German sausages and other delicacies, while three separate beverage stands will keep everyone lubricated. The Fan Village will open from 4 pm-10 pm from Thursday to Saturday.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts inked an agreement with Oman’s Golden Group of Companies to manage the 370-key Mövenpick Hotel Muscat Airport, part of a new upscale project under development near Muscat International Airport, set to open in 2021. The project will also feature retail and commercial space. It expands Mövenpick’s inventory pipeline to almost 1,000 keys countrywide after deals to operate Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments Al Azaiba Muscat and Mövenpick Hotel Bausher Muscat were recently signed. The three properties will capitalise on Oman’s growing importance as a regional hub for business and leisure tourism, spurred by the development of new infrastructure which ranges from conference centres to cruise terminals. At the same time, Muscat International Airport is undergoing extensive renovations and expansion that will boost its annual capacity from 12 million to 48 million passengers.