Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) received a ‘safeguard’ certificate issued by Bureau Veritas (BV) making it the first tourism government department in the Middle East to have scored this certificate.Upon receiving the certificate, His Highness Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi Chairman of Ajman Tourism Development Department said, “We are honoured to have attained this certification that reflects our commitment and dedication in providing a safe environment for all across the Emirate in line with the directives of the UAE’s leadership. This milestone is a testimony to Ajman Tourism efforts for the safety of everyone residing or visiting the Emirate. It further contributes in enhancing confidence and satisfaction with our strategic partners, and also elevates our reputation for providing a safe workplace.” Marwan Al Aridi, Head of the Certification Department of Bureau Veritas said, “We are proud to grant this certificate, affirming the department’s endeavor in adopting best practices and ensuring the continuity of businesses under the circumstances caused by the pandemic.” Ajman Tourism has effectively adopted all precautionary measures in line with international best practices to ensure the continuity of its work and protect its residents & visitors.

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UAE Youth Hostel Association and the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, with the aim of enhancing the guidelines, standards and mechanisms in managing youth hostels and improving the quality of services provided to the youth tourism sector while preserving the traditional houses of the emirate. The new initiative comes in line with Sharjah’s continuing efforts to strengthen its leading position on the global tourism map. The SCTDA has been tasked to take charge in the management, supervision and development of services of youth hostels located in the emirate, while the Sharjah Archaeology Authority oversees the maintenance and preservation of the facilities. H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA stated, “This will ultimately benefit the local tourism sector and cement Sharjah’s position within the ranks of the most prestigious and distinguished tourist destinations in the world. We look forward to working closely with both entities, especially in the move to improve the quality of youth hostel services and the preservation of traditional houses. Our collaboration will help reinforce Sharjah’s reputation as a distinct destination that combines the past traditions with the present age in an urban setting. We are confident that this agreement, which will further enrich the tourism experience of Sharjah, will help strengthen our initial efforts to promote youth tourism. There is no doubt that improving youth hostels will have a positive impact on the tourism community, as they provide distinguished services that will help establish the emirate as an ideal destination for those looking to experience luxurious but cost-efficient holidays. The youth hostels offer multiple options to meet the different tastes and requirements …

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) announced its collaboration with the Frontline Heroes Office to offer curated dedicated packages and benefits for frontline professionals as a sign of recognition for the key role they play in protecting the nation.As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, RAKTDA took quick action and launched several support initiatives aimed at its hospitality, leisure and development partners to lay the strong foundations for the sectors’ recovery. The Authority has now made strong strides towards achieving its recovery goals and aims to pay it forward to the nation’s heroes, who made these achievements possible by putting themselves on the frontline in service to the country and ensuring the population’s wellbeing and safety. “We would like to take this opportunity to honour their commitment to this responsibility and show our gratitude through a series of dedicated offers and benefits that they can avail when they visit Ras Al Khaimah,” said Raki Phillips, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. He goes on to add, “It is with great pleasure that we welcome the nation’s heroes for a well-deserved break to enjoy the Emirate’s diverse entertainment and hospitality offering.” Her Excellency Professor Maha Barakat, Director General of the Frontline Heroes Office commented, “The Frontline Heroes Office strives to acknowledge the dedicated efforts of the country’s heroes, working with partners on exclusive offerings to express the nation’s gratitude. With the help of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority and its array of partners we are able to continue to reward and recognise the heroic efforts of the country’s frontline professionals and their immeasurable actions to protect the UAE and its community.”

To welcome visitors back this winter, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced a fresh redesign of their Thailand Muslim Friendly App.  With a redesigned interface the app has now expanded its offering, adding 110 new restaurants, 70 new mosques, 75 new hotels, 10 healthcare facilities, 19 education centres, 20 shopping locations, 17 travel destinations, and five additional video clips. Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for Dubai and the Middle East said, “In 2019, Thailand welcomed over 550,000 visitors from the Middle East and we are excited to introduce a modern version of the Thailand Muslim Friendly App. As we prepare to reopen our borders for tourism, we want to ensure that our Muslim visitors from the Middle East are able to enjoy a vibrant stay in Thailand in accordance with their faith as we continue to develop halal tourism in the Kingdom.”

Sharjah Hospitality Forum 2020 (SHF 2020) discussed the best and fastest recovery path for the emirate’s tourism sector with the participants proposing innovative solutions to support the stakeholders of the tourism, hospitality and travel industries and sustain their gradual return to growth and normalcy. HE Khald Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority said, “We see major tourism opportunities, but we need to adopt new mechanisms and innovative methods not only to seize available opportunities but also to efficiently address emerging challenges and sustain the industry’s attractiveness and competitiveness. “The world continues to bounce back from the pandemic’s impact. We are fully ready to implement successful solutions and creative projects to ensure tourism’s steady and fast recovery, with emphasis on several factors such as air traffic, travel regulations and visa procedures, country entry and exit traffic, and applicable safety protocols, among others. For our part, we have adopted a strategy that relies on three themes. The first one revolves around service development and safe domestic tourism promotion to encourage citizens and residents to rediscover Sharjah and the UAE. We have also introduced the Safety Stamp to ensure the compliance of the tourism and hospitality industries with the highest health practices, as well as the Safe Travel certificate for international safety, health and hygiene in travel and tourism. We have put in place other safety and protective measures and standards to provide integrated tourism experiences in a healthy and safe environment. As for the second theme, it focuses on targeting new markets after air traffic returns to normal and when the global markets fully open. The third theme includes the adoption of effective measures under the ‘new normal’ …

The Gulf Travel Show to be held on November 23-24, 2020 will be a key initiative which will provide the industry leaders, stakeholders and partners an opportunity to network and re-connect over two days and re-think, re-strategise their plans for 2021. Tourism Malaysia will be presenting their destination with some of the key partners over the two days and invite all partners to visit their corner to re-learn, re-discover, re-strengthen the ties to ensure a smooth transition when it will be time for international travellers to resume their journeys. Keeping the trade and partners updated Shahrin Mokhtar – Director Tourism Malaysia-Dubai said, “Tourism Malaysia is always keen to present in international travel shows and business platforms to showcase what Malaysia offer for tourists, and also to give opportunity for Malaysian industry players to meet potential travel trade partners. Gulf Travel Show is considered one of the important business platforms especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where quality buyers can meet Malaysia hotels & tour operators for future business cooperation and partnerships.” Leisure holidays and M!CE offerings Fatmawati Mohamed Nor – Managing Director – JF Holidays SDN BHD – Malaysia said, “We believe Gulf Travel Show is an excellent platform to market Malaysia as Holiday & M!CE destination. With huge demand for leisure, business and meetings, Gulf Travel Show would be able to bring Malaysia further into the Gulf market. International trade show event would open up the opportunity and connecting the tourism players.” Efficient networking session Zulkifli Rahman – Director of Sales &Marketing – The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi said, “As a platform to reach out and meet virtually new travel partners as well as maintaining existing fruitful relationship with our existing travel …

With the resumption of economic activities in Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is preparing for the calibrated and safe resumption of B2B events in the coming months. To do so, STB has developed a risk management framework for business events of up to 50 attendees, based on strict safe management measures. STB will trial this framework with two pilot events before gradually scaling up to other events and event organisers (EOs) thereafter. Professor Shen Zhongxiang, General Co-Chair of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Computational Electromagnetics, said, “We chose to continue with our conference in Singapore because of the country’s strong track record in delivering quality business events. We have complete trust that the Singapore authorities and our venue partner have stringent measures to help us deliver a safe event for our participants.” Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said, “Singapore’s business events sector has shown much resilience during this difficult period, and we are grateful for their innovativeness and adaptability. While COVID-19 has severely disrupted the industry, I am confident that Singapore will lead the way in reimagining what a safe and high-quality business event could look like. Together with our industry, we want to set Singapore apart as the world’s leading destination for safe, trusted and innovative business events.” Aloysius Arlando, President, SACEOS, said, “Right now, our industry is at a strategic crossroads, and I am heartened that many of our members and industry players have leveraged this crisis as an opportunity to innovate and upskill. We are taking a whole-of-industry approach to establishing safe operating standards and resilient businesses. Together with STB and industry, we have marshalled our collective wisdom and strength to formulate the IRR …

Yamina Sofo – Director, Sales & Marketing – German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries. “It is important to communicate with each other, to share opinions and share ideas and to see how we altogether pull on one string to get us all out of this crisis. It affected the tourism industry as one of the first and hardest hit, every destination has an impact of the crisis. Germany has done a tremendous job in handling the crisis, from our research, feedback and surveys we are on a high ranking of our standards. Our partners in the industry continuously over the last weeks have implemented the necessary hygiene, distance rules, they have updated and upgraded their products according to the new standards so the destination itself is very well prepared now to welcome back tourists from all over the world.”

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) now belongs to the Champions in the TOP 100 Innovation Competition. In the 27th round of the scientific selection process, the GNTB convinced the jurors in the ‘class B’ of corporations (size: 51 to 200 employees) with its innovative achievements. Specific projects that contributed to the jury’s decision were the use of new technologies, such as the ‘Mixed Reality’ application ‘Palaces, Parks and Gardens,’ in which internet users virtually visit Neuschwanstein Castle, or Sanssouci Palace. A speaker describes the details of each castle in the selected national language. In the #CelebratingBauhaus campaign, experts honored the digital presentation and cultural marketing of the 100th anniversary of the famous Bauhaus art school. Another project included in the evaluation was the GNTB’s pioneering role in the application of face filters for tourist campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. These filters allow users to combine their profile pictures with predefined motifs to create individual image compositions. “In the course of the digital transformation, large parts of the tourist value chain are changing. We are very proud that the GNTB’s commitment to provide clear impulses for the tourism industry is recognised in the TOP 100 innovation competition,” explains Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB Board.

Wego partners with the German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries (GNTO) to invite travellers to discover the destination of Germany and virtually explore its amazing attractions and hidden gems. Until it is safe to travel again, Wego brings the world to you in the comfort of your home. With the message ‘dream now – visit later’, this joint partnership with ‘Wego’ introduces the global campaign ‘#DiscoverGermanyFromHome’ to tomorrow’s travellers in the GCC by providing them with inspiring and informative content, virtual experiences in its 16 federal states, Spotify playlists, an interactive map, quizzes, recipes and much more to keep their interest in the destination alive until travel is resumed. Speaking of the partnership, Yamina Sofo, Director Sales & Marketing, German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries (GNTO) commented, “The Gulf region is among the Top 20 of the most important source markets to Germany and the third largest source market outside Europe. Our partnership with Wego is a great opportunity to highlight that Germany ticks all boxes of the GCC travellers aiming for wellness and recreation, nature and sightseeing or simply for entertainment and shopping, while enjoying high quality services, great value for money, luxury accommodation and facilities.” Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said, “We are bringing the world to our users until it is safe to travel again and we’re thrilled to partner with GNTO to promote one of the most beautiful European countries. Germany entices tourists with its rich and vibrant nature and culture; it’s a must-see destination for everyone.”