Tag Archives: Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) unveiled four innovative projects designed to further boost the competitiveness of Sharjah’s tourism sector at the premier GITEX Technology Week 2019 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The ‘AI Tour Guide Chatbot,’ a 24/7 voice-and text-based chatbot, has been developed to provide the latest information about Sharjah to tourists. The interactive tour guide chatbot, which is accessible via WhatsApp, a mobile app, SCTDA’s website, and Facebook messenger, shares accurate details about the emirate’s top tourist destinations, must-do activities, world-class accommodations, leading restaurants, and much more. The project is the result of SCTDA’s initiative to incorporate the latest technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), into its tourism programmes to better highlight Sharjah’s renowned beauty and hospitality while enhancing visitor experience. The ‘AI Tour Guide Chatbot’ supports five languages, including Arabic, English, German, Chinese, and Russian, and can recognise various Arabic accents. The other three projects are Smart Hotel Licensing and Classification system, Smart Vehicle Permit System and Hotel Statistics System – Business Intelligence (HSS – BI) solution. H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, said, “These latest projects reflect our commitment to introducing technology-driven ideas that will promote Sharjah as a world-class tourist destination with a wide range of leisure, cultural, and entertainment activities. We are confident that these initiatives will help accelerate the fulfillment of the main goal of Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, which is to attract 10 million tourists to our shores.”

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced that it will participate at GITEX Technology Week 2019, which will take place from October 6-10 at Dubai World Trade Centre, under the umbrella of the Sharjah Government. Underscoring its commitment to harnessing the power of technology in its efforts to promote Sharjah’s tourism sector, SCTDA will launch new innovative services at the Sharjah Pavilion of the event.   Commenting on SCTDA’s GITEX participation, H. E.Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA, said, “The role of Artificial Intelligence within the business world has grown dramatically over the past decade and as a result, recent years have witnessed widespread adoption of AI applications by the travel and tourism industry as well. Thanks to the increased connectivity of devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) is also making its impact felt in the tourism and hospitality industry. ” “We consider GITEX an ideal platform to inform the public about our innovative smart services that have been designed to complement the UAE Smart Government goals to help customers save time and effort and to contribute to sustainable development process. The smart services developed by the Authority form part of the objectives of the Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, adopting an innovative approach to tourism as a key pillar of the Vision,” he shared.

As part of its efforts to achieve the Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, which aims to attract more than 10 million tourists to the emirate by the year 2021, the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced that it will organise roadshows in three Chinese cities — Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. The campaign, which is set to run from September 16-20, is aimed at stimulating the Chinese outbound travel market to Sharjah by encouraging them to take advantage of the UAE’s visa-on-arrival policy for Chinese tourists. The growing number of Chinese tourists to Sharjah who come to explore the emirate’s cultural and heritage identity has made it one of the most important markets for SCTDA. Therefore, the roadshow will add immense value to the Authority’s efforts to attract more Chinese travellers to the emirate, by creating awareness on its product offerings and other special packages. In line with this, the roadshows in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai will see SCTDA highlight the emirate’s ambitious development projects in cooperation with the public and private sectors before Chinese audiences. H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA, said, “The number of visitors from China during the second quarter of this year has reached to 13,289, which reflects the consistently increasing interest of Chinese tourists to visit Sharjah, and it is expected this figure will go even higher by the end of this year. In view of this growth, SCTDA’s upcoming roadshows in three Chinese cities will strengthen communication channels with travel, tourism and hospitality industry leaders, and will promote exchange of best practices, successful experiences, and insights on latest trends to effectively support the growth of the tourism industry.”

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development (SCTDA) has revealed at the Arabian Travel Market 2018 that Sharjah hotels recorded an occupancy growth rate of 70 per cent in 2017, indicating an exponentially rising number of regional and global travellers visiting the emirate. Commenting on the results, HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, said, “Last year’s positive developments were the results of the initiatives to transform the emirate into one of the world’s leading family destinations in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and in support of Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, which seeks to attract over 10 million visitors to Sharjah shores by 2021. Our intensive tourism campaigns hit its targets in 2017, further boosting the local tourism sector and enhancing its reputation at the local, regional, and global levels.” He added, “Our strong performance last year helped catapult Sharjah into the ranks of the most innovative and competitive cities in the world. Our continuing achievements and successes are proof of the emirate’s capability to provide an exceptional travel experience as well as high potential to attract tourists from around the world. Furthermore, Sharjah is famous among travellers who want to explore ancient monuments, with visitors from Russia, China, and different parts of the globe descending on the emirate to experience its beauty and rich traditions. All of these are helping drive our economic, social, cultural, and environmental growth.”

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is all set for its 19th participation at the Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) in a bid to promote Sharjah’s top tourist spots, attract more international visitors, and join the world’s leading tourism and hospitality events. Running from March 13 to 15, 2018, the 25th edition of MITT will provide SCTDA with a global platform to highlight the emirate’s promotional plans to enhance its position as a leading family tourist destination and attract 10 million tourists by 2021 based on the objective of Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021. SCTDA’s presence in the exhibition signifies its full commitment to collaborate with industry pioneers and investors from Europe and 80 other top-notch international touristic destinations. H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, will lead the participating delegates. Commenting on the participation, Al Midfa said, “In 2017, local hotels welcomed a total of 266,086 Russian guests compared with 112,171 visitors received in 2016. The numbers represented an impressive growth rate of 137 per cent. Our 19th participation in MITT is another opportunity to enhance the emirate’s presence in Russia, one of Sharjah’s largest source markets.”