Tag Archives: UAE

Connected visitor technology will drive the UAE’s hospitality market to top $10 billion by 2020, meeting the needs of millions of Expo 2020 Dubai visitors, experts announced on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market. With 25 million visitors set to attend Expo 2020 Dubai, the UAE’s hospitality sector is on a building boom. Dubai aims to double the number of hotel and serviced apartments leading to revenue of $10 billion, according to a recent report by Alpen Capital. As hoteliers jostle for position, they are aiming to stand out from their competitors through disruptive technologies to save time and money, and meet the preferences of Millennials. “Smart technology could revolutionise the visitor experience, for the millions of visitors set to attend Expo 2020 Dubai, offering a hassle-free end-to-end experience from the plane, to easy hotel check-in, to autonomous vehicles taking them to the exhibition pavilion,” said Savitha Bhaskar, COO at smart hospitality consultancy Condo Protego. The UAE’s hospitality sector is also rapidly adopting digital solutions to streamline hospitality administrative processes and enrich the guest experience, saving time and money. Increasingly, hotels are offering remote check-in, card-free room access, and Big Data analytics to monitor customer preferences both in-room and from partners. “For UAE hoteliers to manage guest data in real-time, they need high-availability, secure, and scalable data storage and management solutions. Condo Protego has seen strong success in enabling the UAE’s leading hospitality and leisure organizations to undergo digital transformation,” added Bhaskar. In the UAE, Condo Protego is seeing strong demand for solutions such as Dell EMC converged infrastructure, Isilon network-attached storage, XtremIO all-flash storage, and VERITAS information management and data protection solutions.

UAE residents and nationals travelling to Turkey in 2016 reached around 300,000 tourists, according to new figures released by the Turkish Consulate General Cultural and Information Office in Dubai. The figures show a 27 per cent increase in tourists travelling to Turkey from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the 2014-2016 time period. “This growth shows the Turkey is culturally and economically interesting for GCC travellers,” said Salih Ozer, Attaché of Culture and Information, Turkey to the UAE. “Over the past year, we have conducted many workshops and seminars for our GCC travel agents to get them better acquainted with what Turkey has to offer the GCC traveller.” Turkey has strengthened its position as a top holiday destination for GCC nationals and residents. From January to December 2016, a total of 822,849 holiday makers from the GCC visited Turkey’s many destinations. “We attach a great level of importance to these deepening relations between Turkey and the Gulf countries,” continued Ozer. “The UAE, in particular, continues to contribute heavily to Turkey’s tourist numbers, and we have taken many steps to simplify GCC tourist access to Turkey by facilitating visas for them in a quicker fashion.” Turkey is one of the top tourism destinations in the world based on the number of tourists and revenues. Whether its nature and the outdoors, history and archeology or beaches and relaxation, travelers from everywhere in the GCC can find their unique experience in Turkey. From Istanbul to Pamukkale, Cappadocia and Bursa in the west, Trabzon and Ayder on the shores of the Black Sea, to Antalya, Bodrum and Maramis to the south the country, Turkey’s unique offerings are unparalleled in the region. The Turkish …

The UAE is participating in this year’s Outbound Travel Market (OTM) that will take place from February 21 to 23, 2017 in Mumbai. The Ministry of Economy will organise a national pavilion under the theme ‘Visit UAE’ which will feature exhibitors from more than 18 government entities and private sector representatives from the hospitality, tourism and aviation sectors. Abdullah Saleh Al Hammadi, Director of the Ministry’s Tourism Department will be part of the delegation that will comprise senior representatives from local departments and authorities, most notably the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority; Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM); Sharjah Tourism and Commerce Development Authority; Ajman Tourism Development Department; Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority; and Fujairah Tourism and Antiquities Authority. Emirates airline, an elite group of hotels and hospitality and tourism companies, in addition to Miral Asset Management’s Yas Island, Dubai Parks, and Cleveland Clinics, which will promote medical tourism in the UAE, will be represented as well. H.E Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, said that the UAE’s participation in OTM 2017 is of great significance given the improvement of Indian tourism at the global level. He referred to India as one of the UAE’s most important tourist markets due to their countries’ deep historical ties at all levels – politically, economically and culturally. The Minister added that the exhibition is a unique international platform for promoting joint cooperation in tourism. He pointed out that Indian tourists accounted for about 8.5 per cent of the total number of inbound tourism to the UAE in 2016 which saw the number of tourists grow by around 9 per cent from the previous year to …

The global wellness industry grew 10.6 per cent to become a $3.72 trillion market in 2015, with the spa market a key driver according to new research from the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). The research mirrored the growth in the MENA region of the tourism-related industry with the UAE at the forefront of growth. The burgeoning sector will be showcased once again at this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) as the dedicated Wellness & Spa Lounge returns for 2017. Over 35 exhibitors representing some of the world’s most recognised health and wellness hospitality destinations will attend with an increase of 40 per cent on last year’s numbers. According to research from Colliers Experiential Travel Series: Wellness, Spa and Medical Travel 2017, the UAE spa industry is estimated to be valued at AED1.7 billion, accounting for 14 per cent of the MENA spa market, and expected to surpass AED1.85 billion by 2020. Dubai currently has more than 200 spas in operation, with 25 new hotel spas expected to open this year. Furthermore, the Dubai hotel spa market continues to experience increasing demand according to the Colliers report with a 9 per cent increase in the average number of treatments sold per day in H1 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. “The global wellness industry has witnessed incredible growth in recent years as more and more people incorporate healthy habits into holidays and corporate travel, with an increasing trend of travelers willing to commit their time and money to wellness proving to be a major driving force when making vacation decisions. The surge of interest in this specialist tourism industry vertical has resulted in a 40% increase of exhibitors and dedicated wellness and spa …

Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs in Dubai, revealed that Dubai International airports received 105, 326 passengers in one day for the first time. Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri expressed his happiness about this achievement consisting of receiving this huge number of passengers to UAE, which reflects UAE’s vision to make of Dubai a place where the world’s cultures meet and interact. Major General Al Marri made this statement as he presented statistics about the numbers of passengers coming and traveling from Dubai on New Year’s Eve. He stated that the total number of passengers during the period from December 28th to December 31st 2016 reached 669,093 passengers, noting that the numbers of travelers coming to Dubai reached 389,290 while the travelers from Dubai reached 288,803. He said that Dubai seeks to accomplish the entry and departure procedures for travelers according to the best standards to guarantee their satisfaction. He also noted that a special team was assigned to facilitate these procedures during holiday’s period to guarantee speeding the process.

Hotels.com has recently refurbished and improved the functionality of its Middle Eastern websites, in both English and Arabic, to improve both usability and performance. Hotels.com already serves millions of customers globally through 89 localised websites in 39 languages, and is continuously building its portfolio of properties with the latest hotel deals for popular destinations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Hotels.com offers an unsurpassed hotel booking experience and unbeatable Secret Prices to Hotels.com™ Rewards members, making it ideally positioned to cater to the hotel booking needs of the regional market. “We know that speed is important to our customers and we want to provide fastest booking experience possible in all languages on desktop and mobile. In fact, one in every three bookings on Hotels.com globally is now made on mobile. Speed and convenience are crucial to delivering unsurpassed experiences for our customers,” commented Michael Korkia, Senior Marketing Manager EMEA for the Hotels.com brand.

Dubai’s first National Day Super Sale kicks off December 1, with the new retail initiative promising to offer a memorable and rewarding shopping experience to residents and visitors during the UAE’s 45th National Day celebrations. The National Day Super Sale is organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), with the aim of boosting Dubai’s vibrant retail sector and further spreading the festive cheer on this joyous occasion. Many local, regional and international brands are participating in the citywide sale, which runs until Saturday, 3 December, and will surprise shoppers with amazing discounts from 30- 90 % on a diverse range of merchandise including apparel & fashion, footwear and leather accessories, cosmetics, jewellery, and much more. Saeed Mohammad Mesam Al Falasi, Executive Director, Retail and Strategic Alliances, DFRE, said: “The National Day Super Sale initiative falls within the framework of our strategy to develop plans aimed at further boosting the emirate’s retail sector. Running promotions that offer retailers numerous options to boost sales during this time of the year will further enhance the emirate’s appeal as a year-round shopping hub. No other destination in the region offers such a superb collection of fashion and lifestyle brands, all under one roof. As Dubai has set the highest standards in terms of brand mix and quality in the retail sector in the region, it is significant to note that we have the participation of leading retail groups in the UAE. This unique National Day initiative provides several opportunities to buy sought-after items at incredible prices – giving shoppers even more reasons to celebrate the UAE National Day.” The three-day …

The UAE Ministry of Economy (MoE) has launched the first phase of its ‘Be Happy – Visit UAE’ application as part of its featured initiatives for UAE Innovation Week 2016 at the Tourism Innovation and Transformation Forum 2016 organised by the Ministry and held on November 23, 2016, at the Westin Hotel in Dubai. The application is the first of its kind in the UAE and was developed to measure the satisfaction of visitors and tourists during their stay. Its interactive features enable users to indicate their satisfaction and happiness depending on their location. The tool was developed using the latest Internet Bot technology. It provides visitors with an overview of touristic sights and updates on the features, services and purposes of the touristic sector. Additional interesting information on the UAE are provided as well. The application facilitates live chats and interactive discussions for visitors to express their needs and introduces touristic services and products that can meet users’ requirements. The application’s user-friendly interactive platform features an avatar of an Emirati character, designed to represent the Bot character which assists the tourist. Through the app, users can explore the country’s various touristic destinations and locate important sights, accommodations, hotels and restaurants aside from accessing information on the weather and touristic events across the UAE. H.E. Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy, explained that the launch of the app forms part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to integrate innovation into the country’s various vital sectors, particularly tourism which he said promotes sustainable growth and competitiveness. He added that such initiatives advance the Ministry’s vision of building a diversified and knowledge-based economy empowered by innovation and new technology. …

Musafir.com has launched the online visa application service. Tourist visas to the UAE and 14 other destinations can now be directly applied on musafir.com and have their travel documentation processed and completed with no hassle. They are the first travel provider in the GCC region to introduce this service online. Under the simplified procedure, applicants submit their application documentation and payment directly on to the website post which the visa will be processed and emailed back to the customer, ready to be shown at the immigration section of the airport. This new product is expected to increase in inbound as well as outbound travel. This new product launch aligns with the UAE’s ambitious Vision 2021 that encompasses all elements that lay the foundation of a smart city, inclusive of the smarter travel industry. With the recent change in the UAE visa norms for GCC expats, travellers into the UAE from the GCC countries will now have to apply for their visa prior to their travel. With this product flexibility, there will be a noticeable shift of visa applications online.

The first edition of the Tourism Innovation and Transformation Forum is organised by the UAE Ministry of Economy (MOE) in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is all set to be held in Dubai, UAE on November 23, 2016. The Forum organised by Ministry of Economy during UAE Innovation Week to discuss how tourism stakeholders can prepare for and attract next generation of visitors to the region.