Tag Archives: innovation

SAUDIA unveils cutting edge AI powered innovations in “LEAP”

SAUDIA announced its participation in the third edition of the world-renowned technical conference “LEAP”, taking place from March 4th to 7th, 2024, at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center. At this prestigious event, SAUDIA will unveil its latest digital initiatives, marking a new era in service excellence driven by cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and integrated connectivity solutions tailored to enhance the travel experience for all guests. Preparations have been finalized to welcome visitors at SAUDIA stand No. A02, offering an interactive experience where attendees can explore a range of digital projects aligned with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. Key highlights include the debut of “Travel Companion”, an AI-powered virtual assistant designed to streamline booking processes, flight planning, and destination exploration, revolutionizing the travel experience. SAUDIA takes pride in being the first airline in the MENA region to pioneer this technology, offering attendees an exclusive opportunity to experience its beta version firsthand. Additionally, SAUDIA will showcase “GovClick”, an e-wallet service facilitating seamless government ticket issuance and after-sales services through a unified digital platform, with plans to expand to benefit corporations and individuals as well. The revamped digital experience of the “AlFursan” loyalty program underscores SAUDIA’s commitment to simplifying procedures, allowing guests to effortlessly manage rewards, track mileage activity, and upgrade membership levels with a single click. Moreover, SAUDIA will present its “Guest Care”, delivering swift and efficient solutions tailored to diverse operational scenarios, ensuring guests are promptly updated on flight details and disruptions. Manal Alshehri, Vice President of Digital Transformation at SAUDIA Group, emphasized the significance of SAUDIA’s participation in this international conference, held in the Kingdom, a hub for leading events across various sectors. She highlighted the pivotal …

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Innovative new digital pathway maps out route to net positive hospitality

The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance has launched a ground-breaking new digital version of the Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality at COP28 in Dubai. This cutting-edge tool provides hospitality companies with a clear roadmap to accelerate their ESG progress, enabling them to navigate the stages of the pathway with ease. The latest edition of the Pathway includes over 80 pages of comprehensive guidance, as well as brand-new resources and case studies showcasing best practice. Developed by and for the industry over a period of two years, the Pathway underwent rigorous consultation with the Alliance’s hospitality and affiliate donor members, expert partners, and sustainability professionals from academia and consulting firms. Today’s update introduces a Progress Tracker, developed in collaboration with EY, which allows companies to understand and record their progress along the Pathway, providing valuable insights to measure their impact. The digital pathway offers comprehensive guidance, including checklists, tools, and resources, addressing 10 crucial topics within an ESG framework. In the hospitality industry, with its complex ownership and management structures, it can be challenging to identify responsibilities in sustainability. This Pathway aims to support the entire sector, from sustainability leaders to those just beginning their journey, in embracing sustainability. Speaking at the UNWTO Side event at COP28, Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, highlighted how this first-of-its-kind resource sets out a clear and ambitious journey for the entire sector to embark on together. Mandziuk affirms, “At the Alliance, we believe that every hotel can and must go beyond minimizing negative impact and work to truly give back to the community, the destination, and the planet, regardless of their starting point. This digitised version of the Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality provides …

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The Emirates Group and Dubai Future Foundation to launch centre of excellence for aviation robotics

The Emirates Group and Dubai Future Foundation have today signed a significant partnership to launch the Emirates Centre of Excellence for Aviation Robotics (ECEAR). The agreement was signed at ForsaTEK, the Group’s innovation forum. Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said: “This is a key milestone in the Emirates Group’s innovation journey and a remarkable step for the aviation industry. Our partnership with Dubai Future Foundation helps realise our own vision for aviation and supports Dubai’s vision to be one of the world’s leading futuristic cities. This will give us a true opportunity to take advantage of evolving technology, allowing us to continually expand the use of robotics and technological applications in our customer journey and improve operational efficiency. Investing in focused R&D will allow us to transform our business in the digital era, make more use of AI, give tangible benefits to our customers and stakeholders, and will keep us ahead.” His Excellency Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, said the launch of the Emirates Centre of Excellence for Aviation Robotics embodies the importance of incubating top national and international talents in Dubai to develop robotic solutions that support the growth of the aviation sector. Belhoul said the agreement will provide fresh and diverse economic opportunities centred on developing technologies of futures. He added: “The outputs of this initiative will contribute to advancing “Dubai Robotics and Automation Program”, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Future Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which aims to make Dubai one of the leading cities in the world within this field, …

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Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia passes new tourism law to enable business, innovation and investment

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s tourism ecosystem is undergoing a major overhaul with the announcement of a New Tourism Law approved this week by a Council of Ministers Resolution. The law will accelerate the development of an internationally competitive tourism sector in the Kingdom which will drive business, innovation, and investment. The New Tourism Law will establish new regulatory environments in the Kingdom to attract tourism innovators and improve ease of doing business. This allows new or experimental tourism businesses to receive special licenses and support from the Ministry, allowing them to flourish. It will also streamline licensing processes and procedures by creating a one-stop-shop platform for all tourism stakeholders. Both initiatives were announced in February 2022 as part of the Ministry’s Digital Tourism Strategy. With the new legal framework, the Ministry of Tourism will have greater control of the quality of tourism services offered within the Kingdom, ensuring the highest standards possible for both tourists and businesses while also strengthening destination development. The law also extends the Ministry’s remit for swift collaboration with government entities to mitigate risks and manage crises. The Council of Ministers further approved a resolution that empowers the Ministry of Tourism to enable sector growth. The resolution gives the Ministry permission to facilitate tax and custom exceptions or reductions with related government entities, creating powerful incentives for businesses to invest into the Kingdom’s growing tourism sector. It also enables the Ministry to work collaboratively with other private sector entities to establish work plans and training programs, enabling job creation and training for Saudis and boosting human capital development in the Kingdom. This new framework for collaboration with the private sector and relevant government entities will …

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Technology and innovation to take centre stage at ATM 2019

Cutting-edge technology and innovation will be adopted as the theme for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2019, to be held at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 28 to May 1, 2019. According to a latest research conducted by Colliers International, personalisation Artificial Intelligence (AI) could increase hotel revenues by over 10 per cent and reduce costs by more than 15 per cent – with hotel operators expecting technology such as voice and facial recognition, virtual reality and biometrics to be mainstream by 2025. The research also estimates that 73 per cent of manual activities in the hospitality industry have the technical potential for automation, with many global hotel operators including Marriott, Hilton, and Accor already investing in automating elements of their human resources. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said, “It is important to highlight that the GCC is one of the fastest-growing regional hospitality markets on a global scale and an innovative technology-reliant industry. Its impact on hotels and travel and tourism is multi-dimensional, ranging from voice and facial recognition, chatbots and beacon technology to virtual reality, blockchain and robot concierge. Throughout ATM 2019, the spotlight theme will be launched as a platform to create awareness and inspire the travel and hospitality industry about the next generation of technology, while bringing together senior travel executives to meet and conduct business with innovative tech providers. With technologies like AI and automation quickly maturing, the hospitality and travel and tourism industry must prepare for a wave of disruption in order to reap the overall benefits of these technologies.”

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