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.

Around 600 companies, destinations, organisations and travel service providers from nearly 70 countries and territories will be represented in China’s new three-day business to business travel trade show on the grounds of the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Conference Centre. ITB China is the Chinese off-shoot of annual ITB Berlin, the World´s Largest Travel Trade Show ®, and its sister show, ITB Asia, in Singapore. The inaugural event has attracted around 600 exhibitors among which 28% are offering MICE products, 34% leisure, 31% Corporate and 7% travel technology solutions. More than one third of the exhibitors made their way from all over Asia and China to the first ITB China. Around 40% coming from European countries, 10% from the Middle East and some 10% from the Americas.

Emirates has renewed individual global marketing agreements with Mauritius and Seychelles in the form of Memorandum of Understandings with the respective tourism boards. The MoUs were signed by Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Africa, Kevin Ramkaloan, Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, and Sherin Francis, Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board in presence of Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine in Seychelles. Various joint activities will be developed under the agreement, such as attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops. Emirates started operations to the Mauritius in September 2002 with three weekly flights. The daily A380 service was launched in December 2013, and the double-daily service was introduced in October 2014, following a strong demand for Emirates’ flagship aircraft on this route. In 2016, more than 1,200,000 tourists visited Mauritius. In June 2015, Emirates increased its capacity to the Seychelles, when it switched from the Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300ER. The introduction of the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, which operates as flight EK 705 from Dubai and as EK 706 on the return flight, increased the overall capacity on the route by 1722 seats per week and made the route an all-Boeing 777 operation.

Etihad Airways has launched a fourth daily non-stop service between Kozhikode in Kerala and its Abu Dhabi hub offering convenient onward connections to cities worldwide. The airline is celebrating 10 years of flying to the southern Indian state with the introduction of additional flights to the destination. The extra capacity takes to 63 the total number of weekly services between Abu Dhabi and its three Kerala gateways of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. This represents over 30 per cent of Etihad Airways’ frequencies from across 11 Indian cities it serves. In addition, strategic Indian partner Jet Airways operates seven flights a week from Kochi to Abu Dhabi. The services largely cater to the huge expatriate population from all three Kerala cities and the surrounding areas, living and working in the Gulf region. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways Vice President Indian Subcontinent, said: “With our multi-frequency scheduled flights to and from Kerala, Etihad Airways has demonstrated a commitment to this vibrant state by offering convenient global access and boosting the domestic tourism industry. We have been able to bring the world closer to this beautiful state and connect the people of Kerala to destinations in the Gulf, including our Abu Dhabi home, which has also been the base for thriving ventures by Kerala business houses. Reaching a 10-year milestone is fitting tribute to the support Etihad Airways has received from the state government of Kerala in making our operations a success.” Dr Venu Vasudevan, Principal Secretary Kerala Tourism, said: “Kerala Tourism is delighted to learn of the extra flights launched by Etihad Airways, which adds more connectivity to Kerala. We congratulate Etihad Airways on a decade of flying to Kerala and look forward …

H.E. Awad Bin Saghir Al Ketbi, Undersecretary of the Supportive Services Sector at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), recently inaugurated the 8th Travel Road Exhibition at MOHAP’s office in Dubai, in cooperation with Dnata. A number of international companies from the tourism and travel industries who presented MOHAP employees with the best travel and hotel offers participated in the exhibition. The exhibition was attended by Dr. Mohamed Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention and Ministry Undersecretaries, who were interested in taking advantage of available travel options, competitive prices and tour packages to attractive tourist destinations in Eastern Asia and Europe as summer approaches, in addition to a range of hotel stays in the UAE that were also on offer. H.E. Al Ketbi commended the exhibition’s eighth consecutive year of success, noting how it has attracted the largest international companies in the fields of tourism and travel to provide the best offers and contribute to the happiness of employees, further motivating them to increase their performance and innovative abilities when providing services to clients. This, he said, will contribute to enhancing strategic partnerships with all private sectors. The Undersecretary also commended the cooperation of the participating travel and tourism companies. A raffle draw was held at the end of the exhibition that gave out various prizes to employees. Participating travel and tourism companies were honoured with certificates of participation, and were thanked for their effective contributions towards the success of the exhibition.

Dubai unveiled a new website to enhance awareness of the world-leading, premium golf destination that convenes – for the first time in one place – everything visitors and tour operators need to know about experiencing golf in the city. Launched at the Asia Golf Tourism Convention (AGTC) in Danang, Vietnam, golfindubai.com provides information on the first-class courses designed by legends including Ernie Els, Sir Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman, as well as details on leisure and practice facilities and wider hospitality offers.  A video of Masters and Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion Sergio Garcia facing India’s Anirban Lahiri in a battle of the big hitters – filmed at Skydive Dubai with the backdrop of the city’s iconic skyline – gives a sample of the compelling content on the website. Visitors to the site can also win a VIP trip that includes a playing spot in the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Pro-Am. golfindubai.com was launched by Falcon Golf, an entity announced in February of this year to optimise the benefits golf brings to Dubai working closely with key local stakeholders such as its golf clubs and tournament sponsors, as well as Dubai Sports Council, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Emirates Golf Federation. Commenting on the new website, Peter Dawson, Chairman of Falcon Golf, said: “Driving greater golf tourism is one of the key goals we set ourselves on our establishment, and I’m delighted that just a few months into our operations we have launched a website which for the first time provides one place where Dubai’s fantastic golf offering is showcased in full.

Action Hotels, developer and asset manager of branded three- and four-star hotels in the Middle East and Australia, has selected Novotel as the brand partner for its new hotel, Novotel Melbourne South Wharf located at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The property marks Action Hotel’s fourth hotel in Australia and the third in Melbourne. It is pegged to open Q1 2018 with 347 rooms, 30 more rooms than originally announced, making it the second largest hotel in Action’s portfolio. Action’s total operating rooms and development pipeline now stands as 3,214 rooms. Action has built a long-term strategic relationship with AccorHotels and the Novotel Melbourne South Wharf is the 13th hotel together – nine are operating – and it is the second Novotel-branded hotel for Action. Novotel is one of AccorHotels’ midscale brands, comprising 480 hotels and resorts across 59 countries. Sheikh Mubarak A. M. Al Sabah, Founder and Chairman of Action Hotels said he is delighted to be partnering with AccorHotels once again. “The Novotel Melbourne South Wharf, which is ideally located to service the largest convention centre in the Southern hemisphere. We are very excited about this addition to our Australian portfolio and the potential of this hotel which will offer premium midscale accommodation with best-in-class customer service and quality in a highly sought-after business and leisure destination,” he said.

Sharjah International Airport handled 2.741 million passengers during the first quarter of 2017, registering 2 percent growth compared to the first three months of last year. The airport has experienced continuous growth during the past five years, handling 11 million passengers during 2016. Sharjah handled 969,633 passengers in January, 827,369 February and 944,038 in March 2017, peaking at 4 percent growth in January (compared to 2016 levels). Aircraft movements at the airport increased by 3 percent to 18,569 scheduled and non-scheduled movements in Q1 2017 compared with 18,054 in Q1 2016. Several airlines have added new Sharjah flights this year. Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia launched a new services to Baku in March, operating four weekly flights from the Azarbajiani capital. The airline also launched a schedule of seasonal flights between Iran’s Kermanshah airport and Sharjah on the occasion of ‘Nowruz’, the new Iranian year. Later in the year, Air Arabia plans to operate a new seasonal non-stop service to the historic Turkish port city of Trabzon starting on June 23. Meanwhile, IndiGo, India’s largest budget-carrier, introduced a daily non-stop service from Kozhikode (CCJ) to Sharjah on 20 March and from Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) to Sharjah during April. Another Indian budget carrier, SpiceJet, plans to launch new flights to Sharjah by the end of 2017. Sharjah International Airport’s growth has been driven by its strategic location, the success of the emirate’s in-bound tourism industry and the expansion of Sharjah-headquartered Airquarter of 2017, registering 2 percent growth compared to the first three months of last year. The airport has experienced continuous growth during the past five years, handling 11 million passengers during 2016.

As part of its strategy to proactively reach out and welcome travellers from the Middle East region, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) in collaboration with Cathy Pacific has launched “Journey to Japan” packages. These packages come just in time as part of the new visa waiver programme which allows UAE Nationals to have visa free entry to Japan. Curated exclusively to highlight country’s unique heritage, modern pop culture, luxury experiences, tax free shopping and Japan’s traditional ‘washoku’ cuisine, “Journey to Japan” packages allows travellers to enjoy the nature and culture the country has to offer. In three years since 2013, the number of international visitors to Japan has more than doubled, resulting in over 24 million visitors travelling to Japan in 2016 compared to the 10.3 million experienced in 2013. 2016 also marks first time Japan has welcomed more than 20 million visitors in one year. Having achieved this milestone result, the target of welcoming 40 million visitors before the country hosts the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 seems an ever more realisable goal for the Japanese tourism industry. Ms. Akiko Yoshida, Executive Vice President of JNTO, says, “Japan offers plethora of unique cultural experiences in a cosmopolitan setting. Unique not only to region but also by seasons, there is always something new to be discovered in Japan. The “Journey to Japan” packages are crafted in such a manner to make the best of Japan’s many offering.”

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the top destinations in the GCC preferred by business and leisure travellers from the United Kingdom, according to a recent survey. A review conducted by HotelsCombined of the top 10 countries travelling to GCC in 2016 revealed that more than 10 percent of the total visitors to UAE and KSA are from the UK, followed by Australia and the United States. Other travellers are from South Korea, India, Sweden, Norway, Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany. The UAE and Saudi Arabia’s proximity to the UK makes it a convenient destination for travellers seeking warm weather and world-class experience including an extensive range of shopping malls, finest restaurants, luxurious and comfortable accommodation and leisure attractions. The study also revealed that 43 percent of those who booked their accommodation were between the 25 to 34 years old, followed by those aged 35 to 44, which comprised 30 percent of the total numbers. Statistics from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) showed that in 2016, Western Europe is the second highest demand driver for travel to Dubai, accounting 21 percent of the total tourism volume, with more than 3.1 million tourists. The UK retained its position as Dubai’s number three market bringing in nearly 1.25 million visitors, while Germany stayed within the top 10 list with 460,000 visitors. HotelsCombined also highlighted that travellers to UAE and KSA are comprised mainly of families, couples and businesses. When searching for accommodation, these travellers look for luxury hotels, food and dining options, as well as sport and leisure attractions, spa and relaxation and other activities for family, businesses and couples.