Tag Archives: India

Dubai welcomed a record 8.10 million international overnight tourists during the first six months of 2018, representing a consistent increase on the same period last year. Figures released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) have confirmed the continued success of the emirate’s tourism sector. A destination of choice for a number of global markets, Dubai is on track for projected growth into the second half of 2018. Top source markets continued to witness stable year-on-year performances in the first half of 2018, with India, KSA and the UK retaining their top three positions when compared to the same period last year. India again brought in the highest number of international guests, once again crossing the 1-million-mark over a six-month period, up by 3 per cent year-on-year. KSA and the UK retained their spots as the second and third largest feeder markets respectively, with the former rallying to a slight increase and remaining as the highest traffic driver from the GCC region. His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, commented, “The first six months of 2018 have both generated and sustained a steady performance, supporting strong growth across our global feeder markets. Attracting 8.10 million visitors during the first half of 2018 stands us in good stead as we accelerate momentum towards our visionary aspiration of becoming the most visited city in the world.”

In a move to enhance destination awareness and foster market visibility, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has appointed VFS Global to promote Zimbabwe as a preferred tourism destination in both India and GCC region, through a collaborative relationship. The agreement was officially signed by Karikoga Kaseke, Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Office Boardroom, Harare in the presence of other eminent dignitaries from VFS Global, travel and trade fraternity. A world of wonders, Zimbabwe prides itself to being home of the Majestic Victoria Falls; one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and a World Heritage Site that is the biggest curtain of water in the world in the Zambezi River. As part of the agreement, VFS Global would support ZTA to build a unique identity of Zimbabwe as a potential tourist destination by educating and spreading awareness to tour operators, travel agents, MICE planners and the general traveller based in India or GCC region.

At the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Wego revealed the ‘MENA Traveller Destination Leaderboards’ that showcases the relative popularity of global destinations amongst travellers based in the MENA region. As the largest online travel marketplace across the MENA region, Wego users shop for tens of millions of trips each quarter and it’s this flight and hotel search data that has been analysed to determine the destination rankings. The leaderboard announced today is for Q1 2018 and subsequent updates will be released shortly after the close of each quarter. Egypt retains its top ranking in Q1 2018 as the most popular destination for travellers, from across the MENA region. “MENA travellers are lured by the culture, scenic attractions, and incredible food that can be experienced in Egypt”, said Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director – MENA and India, Wego. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia retains its second ranking and received a steady mix of business, expatriate and religious travel. India at the third position and Turkey at the fourth slot stepped up one rung each in the destination leaderboard for Q1 2018 vs Q1 2017, while UAE fell from the third to the fifth position. Despite the overall drop, Dubai remains a popular destination for MENA travellers. The biggest gainer in Q1 2018 was Oman which jumped a massive 9 places to #15, an improvement likely related to the opening of a new airport in Muscat and a host of new hotels and other facilities opening in the Sultanate.

Dubai International (DXB) retained its position as the world’s number one airport for international passengers for the fourth consecutive year with annual traffic for 2017 reaching 88.2 million passengers, according to the annual traffic report issued by Dubai Airports. Propelled by high traffic volumes averaging 7.35 million passengers per month throughout the year, including the record months of January, July and August when traffic breached the 8-million passenger mark, DXB’s traffic reached 88,242,099 passengers for the full year, up 5.5 per cent compared to 83,654,250 passengers recorded during 2016. The airport welcomed 7,854,657 passengers in December, up 1.9 per cent compared to 7,706,351 recorded in the same month in 2016. India continued its domination run as the single largest destination country for DXB with 12,060,435 passengers in 2017, up 5.4 per cent compared to 11,440,215 passengers recorded in 2016. The UK claimed the second spot with 6,466,404 passengers (+6.7 per cent), overtaking Saudi Arabia which recorded 6,364,598 passengers (4.6 per cent). Top regions in terms of percentage growth in 2017 were South America (36.1 per cent), Eastern Europe (25.3 per cent) and Asia (17.9 per cent)–mainly spurred by network expansion by Emirates, flydubai and other carriers.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) signed a management agreement with Kingston Holdings International Limited to develop a new Holiday Inn & Suites at Dubai Business Bay set to open in 2021. The signing complements IHG’s hotel pipeline in the area and includes a Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza and an InterContinental Residences. Holiday Inn & Suites Dubai Business Bay will be centrally located in Dubai’s commercial and lifestyle hub and in close proximity to major attractions such as Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall. With 350 rooms, the hotel will offer guests two restaurants and a ballroom as well as one floor of dedicated meeting rooms to cater to business travellers. Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG said, “We are delighted to partner with Kingston Holdings International Limited to further expand our presence in Dubai, a city that continues to offer excellent growth opportunities for our hotels. Business Bay is the fastest growing district in Dubai and this agreement is in line with our strategy to grow the popular Holiday Inn brand in emerging epicentres.

After 17 years in operation in the UAE and India, FLORA HOSPITALITY in partnership with a world renowned branding agency, is updating its image, as well as redefining its brand quality tiers in preparation for the next chapter of its evolution and expansion. In addition to its existing 11 properties in operation across Dubai, Sharjah and India, FLORA HOSPITALITY’s new pipeline includes four new properties in prestigious locations around Dubai and with a total investment of more than AED 970 million, this will double Flora Hospitality’s inventory from a 1,415 bedroom inventory to 3,000 bedrooms by the year 2020.

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) and Hamriyah Free Zone both launched new marketing roadshows targeting India during the past few days, building on a busy year of promotion activities by Sharjah authorities. The SCTDA kicked off a four-city roadshow in Mumbai this week, which also visits New Delhi, Chandigarh and Bengaluru (Bangalore). The roadshow introduces seven Sharjah hotels, two destination management companies, plus leading budget carrier Air Arabia, to key Indian outbound tour operators and other industry contacts. Trade, investment and tourism from India have become a top priority for Sharjah, as its trade promotion organisations campaign widely to capitalise on growing interest in the emirate. Meanwhile, a delegation from Hamriyah Free Zone, headed by Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director of Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) and Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone), met with business leaders in Delhi a few days ago. Hamriyah Free Zone and SAIF Zone have both organised an extensive calendar of trade and investment promotion campaigns in India this year, visiting all major commercial centres in the country. Benefits such as 100 percent ownership, tax exemptions and allowing companies to repatriate 100 percent capital and profits have made the free zones very popular with Indian businesses. According to official estimates, about 7,000 of the 15,000 companies operating out of the two free zones are owned and controlled by Indian investors.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, announced signing of Holiday Inn® Dubai Science Park.The newly built hotel will operate under a management agreement with an affiliate of the Rolaco Group, who also own InterContinental® Dallas, InterContinental® Semiramis, InterContinental®Geneva, Crowne Plaza® Geneva, and Crowne Plaza® Zurich. Holiday Inn Dubai Science Park will comprise of 402 rooms and suites, including five meeting rooms and a conference hall seating 600 guests. Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our global partnership with the Rolaco Group through the signing of their first Holiday Inn property in Dubai. The signing reinforces our current footprint in the UAE, which includes 19 hotels open and another 11 hotels in our pipeline. The UAE is home to our second largest portfolio of hotels in the Middle East and we continue to expand our portfolio in the region.”

After resuming departure operations at 18.30 hours UAE local time on August 3, Dubai Airports commenced arrival operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB) under restricted capacity following an operational incident involving an Emirates flight EK521 from Trivandrum (India). According to a Dubai Aiports spokesperson, DXB is operating with one runway, with arriving flights being given priority over departures. While all 282 passengers and 18 crew on board were brought to safety, one member of Dubai Airports’ firefighting team succumbed to injuries sustained whilst responding to the incident. Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports, said, “I am deeply saddened to confirm that a member of Dubai Airports’ firefighting team succumbed to injuries sustained whilst responding to the accident of flight EK 521 earlier this afternoon [August 3]. We are doing all we can to support the family of this member of our team and others affected by the incident.” The Emirates Airline confirmed a network wide delay and cancellation of 21 flights from Dubai on August 3 to various destinations such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Medina, Doha, Geneva, Tehran, Muscat, Multan, Bahrain, Dammam, Basra, Karachi, Kuwait, Amman, Riyadh, and Hong Kong. Emirates flight EK521 travelling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram, India to Dubai on August 3 was involved in an operational incident upon landing at DXB. The Boeing 777 aircraft, departed at 10.19 AM from Trivandrum International Airport and was scheduled to land at 12.50 PM at DXB. A Dubai Airports spokesperson said, “Operational teams across the terminals at DXB and DWC are doing their best to assist arriving and departing passengers. To ensure the comfort of passengers waiting for their flights, all food outlets across DXB and DWC are providing free …

United States is the top source market for inbound travel in the UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia, Germany, India and France, according to a recent Q2 Report by Sojern. As per the report, except for India all other destinations which topped last year dropped due to various reasons. Outbound travel ranking of popular destinations for MEA travellers had changed in Q2 as well. This time Bahrain shows the highest growth percentage of 188 per cent in travel between June 30 and July 1, followed by Qatar with 164 per cent, Iraq 148 per cent, Kuwait 132 per cent and the UAE with 131 per cent in comparison to the week before. There has been a regional travel increase from 15 per cent to 25 per cent post Ramadan.