Tag Archives: Dubai

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.”

Dubai’s celebrations for Diwali, the Indian ‘Festival of Lights’, will spark citywide festivities for residents and visitors of all nationalities to enjoy with spectacular shows, amazing gold and jewellery promotions, diverse retail offers, and much more. A major highlight on Dubai’s annual calendar of events, each Diwali, the city’s diverse neighbourhoods, shopping malls and landmarks are illuminated in a wonderful display of colour, lights and revelry. Organised by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), this year’s Diwali brings together the different communities that call Dubai home and who help make the city such an exciting place to live all year round. Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) said: “Dubai’s traditional Diwali celebrations really capture the fun, family focused and cosmopolitan charm of the city. With so many great promotions, activations and shows this year, Diwali is the perfect event to start the festive season and showcase Dubai’s well-earned and famous status as the premier family and retail destination for all residents and tourists from all over the world.” Celebrate the Festival of Lights at Global Village with the UAE’s best representation of Indian traditions, culture and food at the landmark attraction’s India Pavilion. Residents and tourists can shop for unique items and special gifts from more than 240 stalls selling the finest Indian handicrafts and artifacts, while also enjoying spectacular cultural shows at the pavilion’s main stage. Families and friends can indulge in delicious Indian flavours at a wide range of restaurants and kiosks as well as vendors selling street food favourites.

Dubai’s business events sector continues to lay the groundwork for a sustainable post-Covid recovery, with the city marking a number of major bid wins as meetings professionals around the world look to get their plans back on track. Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, has worked with stakeholders across Dubai to add a number of new events into the pipeline in recent months, including the following, all taking place in 2021: International DIP Symposium on Diabetes, Hypertension, Metabolic Syndrome and Pregnancy; World Independent Advertising Award Conference; and Omnilife Latin America Incentive. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “Despite all the challenges faced by the global Covid-19 pandemic, Dubai’s ability to maintain a pipeline of business events over the coming years is a continued testament to both the response of the city’s leadership to tackle the situation and the resilience of our stakeholders, who continued to work together to elevate the city and sustain its appeal to a truly global audience. With international meetings already taking place again in Dubai, the city is primed to lead the business event sector’s resurgence, re-cementing the vital role they play in driving economic growth and providing a platform for networking, professional development and knowledge sharing.” Steen Jakobsen, Assistant Vice President, Dubai Business Events, said: “Just as the global calendar of business events has been disrupted over the past few months, so have bidding cycles and timelines for choosing destinations for future events. Nevertheless, we continue to see increasing interest from meetings professionals around the world and clear determination to get plans back on track. In a number of cases, where unfortunately other cities have not …

Dubai is providing UAE residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy a spectacular lineup of live entertainment, lifestyle and sporting action following the restart of the city’s events sector, further reinforcing the emirate’s position as an international events hub and one of the world’s safest destinations. As one of the first few cities in the world to safely and effectively restart the events sector, Dubai has become a global case study in hosting live events, with the full reopening of its leisure events sector on 15 September paving the way for event organisers to host a packed programme of live entertainment under social distancing rules and other safety guidelines due to the pandemic. In organising the feast of entertainment, event organisers have made the health and safety of attendees and artists their top priority and are committed to ensuring there is full compliance with the wide range of precautionary measures implemented at event venues. Among the safety requirements are thorough sterilisation of venues before, during and after events, provision for contactless payments and digital tickets and mandatory thermal scanners or contactless temperature checks, in addition to wearing of face masks by venue staff, performers and attendees at all times and adherence to 30 per cent audience capacity to allow for sufficient social distancing space during the event.

Oman Air will return to scheduled service on October 1 with service to 18 cities in 12 countries including 2 flights per week connecting Muscat and Dubai. All flights will depart and arrive on Sundays and Thursdays. These schedules are valid from October 1-24, 2020. Oman Air will maintain its comprehensive safety program throughout all elements of the travel journey to ensure that guests fly confidently. Masks are required when guests are on board the aircraft and in Oman’s airports. Distancing is maintained while guests board and exit the aircraft, which are carefully cleaned after each flight and at the end of every day. Cabin crew all wear a full set of personal protective equipment, meal service has been modified to further ensure safety and a number of other steps have been taken to ensure that the airline’s guests and crew are safe at all times. Guests who are planning to travel to Muscat should visit the Civil Aviation Authority website, paca.gov.om, to ensure they are prepared to comply with requirements to enter the Sultanate.Guests travelling to Dubai or Doha should ensure they are aware of official requirements to enter or transit through those nations.Guests departing from Oman should also ensure that they are aware of all pre-departure requirements and requirements during their flights, which are provided at omanair.com.

With the reopening of the city to international tourists and the gradual return to normal life, UAE residents and visitors are once again spoilt for choice when it comes to enjoying the diversity of Dubai’s offerings, whether it is high octane thrills from skydiving, zip lining to jet skiing or a range of entertainment for families at shopping malls and theme parks. While the city is ready to cater to all tastes and age groups, a growing number of holidaymakers are taking a diversion from the city buzz by heading to the desert to enjoy a variety of unique experiences. As a modern city that provides a limitless number of action-centric and family-oriented activities, a totally different package of adventures await residents and tourists in the desert. Apart from taking in breathtaking views of the desert landscapes, Dubai’s famous desert safari allows one to take part in various sports like dune bashing, quad biking, sand boarding, and more, as well as cultural and entertainment activities including the opportunity to take a camel ride or get close to falcons while enjoying authentic Emirati hospitality at a delicious barbeque dinner under the stars. Adventure-seekers are also able go on a safari in the summer, as the desert gets cooler than the city in the late afternoons and evenings, making it an exciting experience to stay up late, eat outdoors with friends and family and enjoy various activities. The growing demand for adventure travel experiences is reflected in the Annual Visitor Report 2019 published by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), which shows an increase in desert safaris among all visitor demographics, with the activity being enjoyed by 41 percent …

The beat is back in Dubai’s events sector with an array of regional and international artists heralding the restart of an industry that is a key pillar of the city’s tourism destination proposition and a growing contributor to its economy.The restart of Dubai’s events sector has been made possible by the decisive citywide management of the global pandemic leading to a phased resumption of events and entertainment activities, starting with a line-up of events hosted under the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) programme. Ahmed Al Khaja, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) commented, “The successful management of the pandemic has allowed us to come out of this unprecedented situation to once again leverage the events and entertainment sectors, as part of efforts to accelerate growth in the tourism industry.” “Dubai has a long history of hosting leisure events featuring A-list musicians and performers, who have made the city a part of their world tours over the years. We are now excited to see the events environment regaining its vibrancy with the return of live events, paving the way for international and regional stars to take centre stage, showcasing Dubai as a safe destination and further enhancing its position as a leading global events hub. Dubai Tourism will continue working with its stakeholders and partners to keep up the momentum in the events sector, as we prepare to cater to the diverse and evolving needs of visitors ahead of the full reopening of the tourism industry,”said Khaja. Commenting on the overwhelming response he received in the UAE, an elated Jimmy Carr said, “My three sold-out shows with Dubai Summer Surprises were fantastic. Dubai is well and truly open and …

Dubai has maintained its top position as the leading Arab destination for medical travellers for the second year in a row, based on the Global Medical Tourism Index, which was recently released by the International Healthcare Research Center (IHRC). Worldwide, the emirate, one of the globe’s most preferred tourist hubs, ranked sixth on the list of 46 unique destinations, reflecting anew its competitiveness in providing advanced healthcare services to foreign health travellers and success in building advanced medical infrastructures and facilities. Commenting on this, Dr. Marwan Al Mulla, CEO – Health Regulation Sector, Dubai Health Authority, said, “This achievement is the result of our response to the directives of our wise leadership to enhance the regulatory framework within our medical system and build a world-class healthcare infrastructure and capabilities that meet the needs of healthier and happier communities in the country. Dubai positions itself as a destination where medical and wellness tourists from all over the world can avail of safe, reliable, and innovative services that will help improve their health and, consequently, the quality of their life. We have placed all the necessary precautionary measures recommended by local and global health authorities to ensure the safety of our local and international patients.” Mohamed Al Mehri, Director, Health Tourism Department, said, “Many of our DXH Group member healthcare facilities are providing second medical opinions and tele consultations. We encourage health tourists to start planning their treatments that have been put on hold because of the current situation. Amid the COVID-19, Dubai continues to offer its remarkable healthcare services. Thanks to its efforts to safeguard the health of all patients, medical personnel and the members of the wider local community, Dubai …

Dubai is seen as the safest location to host international exhibitions and conferences in the coming months, while trade fairs will play a critical role in a post-COVID ‘restart’, according to new research. GRS Research conducted a recent market survey of more than 4,000 professionals from 130 countries explored the impact of COVID-19 on the global exhibitions industry, delving into key areas such as travel, budgets, and the importance of trade fairs in a post-pandemic world. “As with many business sectors, the trade fair industry felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in Dubai, which has a thriving exhibition sector at the Dubai World Trade Centre,” said Simon Mellor, Messe Frankfurt Middle East’s CEO. “The purpose of the ‘Exhibitions post COVID-19’ study was to investigate how this global virus affected businesses of MFME stakeholders, and how we can address their concerns collaboratively with our peers. We will continue to run the survey over the course of the year and look to engage more parties as it evolves over time.” Mellor added, “The good news for the exhibitions industry is it’s still a critical component for business success, as this research has indicated. Clearly there is an appetite for the events sector to pick up in Dubai, with this evident during the AI Everything conference at DWTC, which marked the return of physical events in Dubai. “Globally, Messe Frankfurt has ‘restarted’ exhibitions with the opening of Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics on 15 July 2020 in China, and we’re on track to deliver two of our most important shows in Dubai. These will take place with stringent health and safety measures to help keep our attendees safe,” Mellor concluded.

According to the latest Sojern report; there will undoubtedly be a continued increase in demand for inbound travel over the coming weeks as more restrictions have been lifted in UAE, Saudi Arabia, & Egypt. The reopening of recreational activities, summer camps, spas and massage centres, indoor theme parks, and sports facilities; and with a wealth of activities available to locals, residents, and tourists, and the country now being branded as ‘open’ will facilitate more tourists in the coming months. Saudi Arabia has recently announced Hajj health measures for pilgrims (domestic only), and travel to Abu Dhabi is still restricted, with proof of a negative COVID-19 test required to enter the Emirate. That said, global flight bookings to key MEA markets remain down year-over-year. However, we are beginning to see steady growth for Saudi bookings, and improvement in travel confidence to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. Commercial flights are set to resume from Kuwait International Airport from 1st August. Over the coming weeks and months, this will likely have a considerable impact on intent and confidence to travel to the country, as well as on outbound travel. It is important to note that although searches are increasing for trips in August, they are still down 39% on searches made at the same time last year. Locals are taking advantage of hotel facilities, and turning their 2020 trips into staycations. Domestic searches have risen by 32 points when indexed to 12th April – a low point in search and booking levels to the region. Domestic bookings have also grown considerably since this period. Unsurprisingly, international searches for UAE hotels continue to decline, but bookings have risen above the levels experienced …