Category Archives: Agents

Qatar Tourism has announced the update of the instructions governing the maritime tourism transport activity, including the licensing of marine tourism transport offices and marine tourism transport in all its categories (A, B and C). In line with international best practices, Qatar Tourism has issued a new classification guide for owners and operators of marine tourism transport, specifying the technical requirements and specifications that must be met by these means that comply with the Tourism Regulation Law No. (20) of 2018. According to these updates, Qatar Tourism confirms that any Class A boat that does not meet the classification requirements and criteria referred to in the Classification Guide No. 1.1 of 2024 will not be allowed to operate, be present or dock in the Doha Corniche area. Categories of tourist transportation include: 1. Class A – includes boats used for short trips only, operating within the Corniche area. 2. Class B – includes boats used for long journeys, operating outside the Corniche area. 3. Class C – includes boats used for long trips that provide accommodation and meals (premium and luxury boats such as yachts). Individuals can operate Category A only while Categories B and C are operated only by licensed tourist offices. Managers of maritime tourism transport offices, boat owners and operators are required to ensure compliance with the new instructions within the allocated time frame as of 25/8/2024, and the means of transport have been given 3 months from the date of issuance of these instructions to abide by them. Qatar Tourism regulates and develops the tourism industry, promotes private sector investment and sets the strategic direction of the sector. Mr. Fahad Hassan Al-Abdulmalik, Director of Tourism Licensing …

Sabre Corporation announced a new collaboration with Philippine Airlines to launch the “Fly with Sabre’s Pal” campaign in Saudi Arabia. The campaign, running from October 20 to December 10, 2024, will reward travel agents using the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS) with exciting prizes for the highest number of bookings on Philippine Airlines. This initiative aims to foster stronger ties between Sabre and its valued travel agency community in Saudi Arabia, while supporting the growth of Philippine Airlines in the region. The campaign reflects Sabre’s commitment to offering dynamic and rewarding opportunities to travel agents in the Kingdom, particularly in supporting popular destinations. “The ‘Fly with Sabre’s Pal’ campaign is designed to recognize and reward the hard work of our travel agency partners in Saudi Arabia,” said Hasan Qannati, Head of Business Development for Saudi Arabia, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. “At Sabre, we believe in creating opportunities that benefit both our airline partners and our agents, and this campaign is a testament to that.” Sabre and Philippine Airline teams with agents from Almatar in Riyadh during the campaign launch Throughout the campaign, the top performers will be recognized and awarded with four key prizes, marking the end of the campaign with a celebration of their achievements.

Speaking with TravTalk Middle East, Suhaib Albakheet – Marketing Specialist – Jordan Tourism Board shared that GCC and Asia are some of the key markets they focus on currently. He further reiterated that Africa is another source market which they are looking at present and they have a diverse portfolio of visitors from these markets. Presenting their unique experiences at ITB Asia, some of the areas they focus on is faith tourism, which brings in a lot of devotees to the destination. Jordan has been in the forefront of promoting itself with all its rich culture and heritage. They have been able to keep their tourist numbers high mainly due to the many efforts to promote the destination to new markets.

Speaking with TravTalk Middle East, Maher Azizia, Managing Director STM Tours shared that their main focus was the expat market in the UAE. STM Tours is a leading travel company specialising in fixed departure tours for groups and individuals travelling from the GCC and the USA to Central Europe and now branching out to the Southeast Asian market too. Azizia explained that the main idea to attend ITB Asia was to find out destinations which will offer different and unique experiences for his clients based out of the UAE especially. “We can cater to a minimum of two persons as we ensure that we provide high-quality, hassle-free journeys that combine the best of culture, history, and leisure. We focus on the expats of the UAE as they prefer to spend on their holidays which will bring them personalised and unique experiences and we provide this every step of the way.”

HBX Group launched its Marketing Suite, a combination of marketing services designed to inspire, convert, and drive growth in the travel space. With this launch, HBX Group aspires to become the primary retail media network within the travel industry, serving as a point of reference for hotels, DMOs, airlines, mobility providers and any business seeking to engage with travellers and travel distributors. HBX Group Marketing Suite is composed of two key solutions: Travel Media Solutions and a Digital Marketing Agency. HBX Group’s Travel Media Solutions offers a suite of complete advertising products in an extensive network of hard-to-reach digital spaces, with the potential to reach over 50.000 travel agencies and 3.500 tour operators across 65 countries, as well as travellers from over 100 booking websites and strategic partners. These advertising solutions include digital banners on B2B and B2C websites, social media marketing, bespoke newsletters, email sponsorships, and landing pages. On the other hand, the Digital Marketing Agency is focused on tailor-made strategies developed by expert travel marketers to accelerate business growth within the B2C audience. Services include B2C digital campaign management, marketing advisory, insights, creative services, brand management, and more. HBX Group brings years of experience in the travel sector, giving the company a deep understanding of its unique needs and challenges. This knowledge allows HBX Group to design its services specifically to the demands of travel businesses, ensuring more effective and relevant marketing strategies. Its team of digital marketing experts, specialised in the travel industry, ensure that clients receive thorough, personalised support and guidance, from strategy development to execution and optimisation. The company also has access to the latest technologies to implement and refine marketing strategies. This includes advanced analytics, innovative advertising platforms, …

AVIAREPS Middle East announced the launch of its exclusive private jet holiday packages, a groundbreaking initiative that offers tourism boards and their partners a pioneering platform to promote private jet holiday packages to luxury lifestyle concierge desks and leading travel agencies throughout the Gulf States (GCC) region. AVIAREPS’ private jet holiday packages combine the ultimate in luxury travel with insider access to hidden gems, private tours, and VIP events that the general public normally don’t have access to. These exceptional experiences are brought to life through strategic partnerships with national, regional, and city tourism boards, as well as specialized tour operators, hotels, resorts, airports, and JetClass, AVIAREPS’ strategic private jet consolidator partner. “We are thrilled to launch this new initiative that has been three years in the making, ensuring we have the right partners to provide the ultimate experiences for a particular international jet setting segment of travellers from the Middle East. Our private jet holiday packages are designed for those who already travel in style but seek experiences that go beyond the ordinary,” said Glenn Johnston, Vice President Middle East & Global Public Affairs at AVIAREPS. “Through our extensive global network and close collaborations, we’re able to offer our travel industry partners and their clientele insider access to some of the world’s most exclusive destinations, events, venues and experiences, creating once-in-a-lifetime adventures.” Commenting on the partnership, Dennis Peters, CBO & Partner in JetClass said: “Partnering with AVIAREPS is a seamless alignment of strengths—our advanced expertise in private aviation and technology complements AVIAREPS’ expansive reach in global destinations and tourism. This partnership allows us to go beyond offering private flights; we are curating meticulously personalized journeys where every detail is taken …

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) announced a groundbreaking partnership with the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), expanding the business events sector at the 2025 edition of the exhibition. As the official Business Events Partner for ATM 2025, ICCA will lead sessions on the evolving landscape of global business events, including seminars focusing on the sector’s future and addressing key trends such as sustainability, digital transformation, and the integration of AI to enhance event experiences. Furthermore, ICCA will be responsible for facilitating the attendance of key international association buyers, showcasing the region’s diverse offer for event planners, and its capacity to attract large-scale congresses with the long-term outlook of contributing to the region’s economy and development. In addition, the Association will launch an exclusive government meeting ranking report at the show, providing critical data on the Middle East’s growing influence in the business events arena. The organisation has previously highlighted Dubai as the top city in the Middle East for association meetings in 2023 and Abu Dhabi in 2022. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Our partnership with ICCA reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering exceptional value to the business events sector, which has always been a cornerstone of ATM. We look forward to leveraging ICCA’s global network and insights to deliver unparalleled value to our exhibitors and attendees as we explore the future of business events, particularly in the rapidly expanding international market.” The latest insights from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) show a strong recovery in the business events sector. Business travel spending is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024, reaching a record US$1.5 trillion. Dubai has already secured 175 international business events in …

TravelAI.com confirmed that its applied use of AI is already delivering returns as it comes close to closing net revenues of USD 16 million for 2024 backed by a gross merchandise value (GMV) of USD 230 million. As the ‘proof of concept’ phase closes for the company, the medium-term aspiration is to become the primary AI-powered agent for travelers, managing the full journey from discovery to booking with precision and efficiency. To fulfill this plan TravelAI has appointed Ennea Capital Partners as its strategic advisor to help provide critical guidance with a focus on product development, go-to-market strategies, monetization, and the formulation of a Buy-&-Build strategy to help TravelAI scale its platform and achieve its medium-term vision of becoming the leading AI-powered travel agent. Founded in 2021, TravelAI.com operates a vast ecosystem of over 400 brands, all designed to serve high-intent travelers with personalized travel discovery solutions. By leveraging applied AI, TravelAI connects travelers with highly-relevant, tailored content, helping them find the perfect travel experiences. TravelAI’s platform already processes millions of visitors each month and facilitates thousands of bookings, optimizing demand for major travel seller partners such as Expedia, Vrbo, and Booking.com. The platform’s AI capabilities enable it to handle and scale billions of unique content segments, providing personalized experiences to travelers globally. “There’s a lot of industry talk and doubt about how and when we can actually turn AI into profits but we’ve discovered a model that actually works – and even more pleased to confirm that we’re on target for $16m USD in net revenue for this year with a gross merchandise value (GMV) of €230m USD. With the applied use of AI, we can offer travelers personalized …

According to the latest report UAE travelers in 2025 would be maximizing their trips with all inclusive offers. All-inclusive resorts are far more than families looking for fun in the sun by the pool. Today’s all-inclusives are attracting Gen-Zers from across the world and similarly, UAE residents, who are looking for stress-free stays and a good deal. In the UAE, over 90% of travelers are likely to stay in an all-inclusive resort in 2025. 47% say their perception of all-inclusive hotels has changed for the better, and over half agree that an all-inclusive resort would be their preferred hotel choice. The top three reasons Gen Z globally is embracing their All-Inclusive Era are minimal stress (41%), ease of booking (39%), and because staying at all-inclusive hotels feels luxurious (38%).

Wego revealed data on the most popular destinations favored by Kuwait travelers this year and they include Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Wego observes that Kuwaiti travelers continue to favor these same countries throughout the year for homecoming and holiday trips. Wego’s experts further forecast that this lineup will likely remain unchanged for the remainder of 2024. This steady preference is driven by several factors, including strong family ties, affordable travel options, and a familiarity with the destinations. Traveler dynamics Wego data reveals that a substantial 75% of bookings were made by solo travelers.  This trend could be driven by factors such as solo business trips, personal leisure travel, or flexible schedules that allow individuals to explore destinations on their own terms. Meanwhile, couples and families accounted for 20% of the travel bookings, highlighting varied travel dynamics within the Kuwaiti population. The remaining percentage is made up of group travel bookings. These varied travel dynamics reflect the diverse preferences within the Kuwaiti population, from independent adventurers to those seeking experiences with loved ones. Cultural familiarity boosts popularity of some destinations Further analysis by Wego indicates that cultural familiarity plays a pivotal role in destination choice. Destinations such as Georgia and Azerbaijan in Europe, along with Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia, feature prominently on the list of most-searched destinations this year. These places are noted to offer visa-free entry or easy online visa applications for Kuwaiti citizens, enhancing their appeal as hassle-free travel options. Healthy growth Mamoun Hmidan, Chief Business Officer of Wego, said: “We observe that the Kuwaiti travel market has seen a robust 14.69% year-over-year increase …