The budget carrier SpiceJet has launched direct daily flights from Dubai to Mangalore. The airline will operate a daily direct flight SG 59 on the Mangalore-Dubai route departing at 0.20 am. Whereas SG 60 will be operational on the Dubai-Mangalore route departing at 12.55 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday and at 3.40 am on Monday and Saturday respectively. SpiceJet will deploy its Boeing 737 fleet for the newly devised schedule. Dubai is one of SpiceJet’s six international destinations and with the launch, SpiceJet now serves non-stop flights to Dubai from 10 Indian cities — Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Delhi, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Madurai, Mumbai, Pune and Mangalore and with connections from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, besides Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.

Rotana Hotel Management Corporation and Dubai International Real Estate (DIRE) have mutually agreed to the termination of their agreement for the management of Al Bustan Hotel and Al Murooj Hotel in Dubai. Dubai International Real Estate (DIRE) have decided to take over the management of both hotels under their own management company, and thus effective 1st January 2017, both hotels will no longer be under Rotana’s management. This is a mutual decision between Rotana Hotel Management Corporation and Dubai International Real Estate and both parties are now working together to ensure a seamless transition.

Amadeus Gulf launched for the first time in this region the #Fly by Digital event, which is currently taking place at Jumeirah Beach Hotel on 16th and 17th of November. The event brings together a number of digital and travel experts who will share their insights on how to take the travel business successfully online. Over the past 10 years, the travel industry in MENA has been constantly reminded of the opportunity of moving online. With research suggesting that the online travel market space is estimated to be worth over $35 billion by 2018, the objective seems pretty simple. Amadeus have seen over the past few years the significant growth that online travel has achieved and want to show travel partners how to leverage the significant opportunities that exist today. The event is addressed to the travel industry from the UAE, Oman and Bahrain and is expecting around 200 participants. The event covers four key areas across the two days, including panel discussions and presentations held by some of the most relevant speakers in the travel industry, including Muhammad Chbib, CEO & Co-Founder at Tajawal; Alexandre Migan, GM at FLYR; Farid Gharazeddine, Analytical Lead – Google; Amy Kiernan, Head of Digital Performance at iProspect; Rajnish Kumar, CTO & Co-Founder -IXIGO and Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, GM at Middle-East TravelStart among others.  

Reed Travel Exhibitions, organisers of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showcase in Dubai, from 24-27 April 2017, has announced that it will host the first ATM Global Halal Tourism Summit as part of its line-up of special focus events. The one-day summit, scheduled to take place on Wednesday April 26, 2017, on the Global Stage, will feature three interactive seminar sessions covering the big picture, halal destination strategies and how to sell halal travel, led by leading Muslim travel industry experts including Faeez Fadhlillah, Co-founder & CEO, Salam Standard & Tripfez; Nabeel Shariff, Founder and Director of Serendipity Tailormade and Luxury Halal Travel. A 2014 report by Thomson Reuters valued the global halal food and lifestyle sector at US$1.8 trillion and this is expected to reach US$2.6 trillion by 2020; That figure was supported by research commissioned by the Government of Dubai, and produced by Thomson Reuters in partnership with DinarStandard, which found that halal tourism represents 11.6% of global tourism expenditure, estimating the sector would be worth US$238 billion by 2019.

Ras Al Khaimah Finance & Investment Forum (RAKFIF), the new platform for uncovering business investment opportunities and set-up in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), is gearing up for a successful first edition. Taking place from December 13-14, 2016, at the Rixos Bab Al Bahr in Ras Al Khaimah, [UAE], RAKFIF is already attracting huge interest in line with the growing demand for events like this in the region, which focus on markets with high growth rates such as RAK. Aiming to help business leaders, financiers, and investors navigate this developing landscape, the inaugural event Ras Al Khaimah Finance & Investment Forum provides a platform for information, networking and commercial opportunities. The forum will cover Hospitality & Tourism, Real Estate, Manufacturing & Production and Infrastructure sectors. RAKFIF, hosted under the patronage and with the presence of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, is backed by strong government support and key RAK entities.

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has announced the addition of the Sri Lankan capital city, Colombo, to its network of destinations with the upcoming launch of five weekly flights to/from Bandaranaike International Airport from 19th January, 2017. This latest addition to Gulf Air’s network is in line with the airline’s business strategy which sees it strengthening its position as one of the Middle East’s largest network carriers, while serving key global destinations that provide strong business and tourism links to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the region. With this addition, Gulf Air’s network will serve 41 cities in 24 countries spanning three continents.

In partnership with Architectural Heritage Society and IQPC the Cultural Tourism Middle East 2016 was held at Al Murooj Rotana. This brought together high level officials from the Tourism, Cultural Development & Antiquities, Heritage & Arts, Cultural Activities, and Architectural Heritage community to showcase their latest developments and discuss ideas and strategies to boost tourism through culture, heritage, arts and festivals. In the opening remarks by Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Dubai Tourism Development and Investments, stated that many initiatives are underway to establish Dubai as a cultural hub with the opening of the Dubai Opera and other culturally important and interesting programmes. In order to build towards making Dubai a cultural hub currently steps are being taken by Dubai Tourism to focus on sustainable tourism. Some of the key areas covered at the event included how the region is setting a foundation to support the expected doubling of tourist arrivals over the next few years in light of the economic downturn, The role cultural tourism play in economic  transformation in a mission to diversify economy, the needs to boost cultural and societal awareness, how the region could make use of their cultural assets to improve their tourism performance, and how  cultural tourism strengthens cultural understanding and perception of the Arab world.

Sharjah’s tourism industry attended the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, in full force this year under a pavilion organised by Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). Exhibitors presented Sharjah’s tourism destinations, hotels, resorts and amenities at the 2016 exhibition from November 7-9, including Sharjah Investment & Development Authority’s (Shurooq’s) award-winning Mleiha Archaeological and Ecotourism Project. Recently awarded the prestigious Cityscape Global – Best Community, Culture & Tourism Project Award in the Middle East in September, this is the first time that the Mleiha Archaeological and Ecotourism Project has been showcased at WTM. Shurooq has earmarked an estimated AED 250 million (US$ 69m) of investment to develop the tourism and heritage destination over the next few years, which is located in an area of natural beauty 50 kilometres to the east of Sharjah city. Other government authorities participating in WTM include Sharjah Museums Department, which manages 10 museums and a variety of other cultural attractions, and Sharjah’s Environment & Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), which has worked closely with Shurooq in the development of Mleiha. The EPAA has also recently opened two tourist-ready wildlife conservation centres. The Wasit Wetland Centre, in Sharjah’s 4.5 square kilometre Wasit Natural Reserve, was opened to the public in November 2015: a protected area that regularly attracts 150 species of birds, both migratory and resident. Meanwhile, earlier this year, the EPAA opened the new 12 square kilometre Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre located in the Hajjar mountains, near the emirate’s east coast. The wildlife centre includes a visitor centre, tourist amenities and has trained guides are on hand to show visitors the reserve. Other Sharjah exhibitors at WTM 2016 include Al Shaab Village, Copthorne Hotel, …

Air Arabia’s net profit for the third quarter of 2016 was AED297 million, up 26 per cent compared to AED 235 million reported in the corresponding period of 2015. For the three months ending September 30, 2016, the airline posted a turnover of AED1.12 billion, in line with the revenue generated in the same period of 2015. Air Arabia served over 2.27 million passengers in the third quarter of 2016, a 14 per cent increase compared to 2 million passengers in the same period of last year. The average seat load factor — or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats — for the same quarter stood at an impressive 81 per cent. Air Arabia’s net profit for the first nine months of 2016 stood at AED 542 million, up 15 per cent compared to AED 472 million reported in the corresponding period of 2015. For the nine months ending September 30, 2016, the airline posted a turnover of AED 2.96 billion, an increase of 3 per cent compared to AED 2.86 billion in the same period of 2015. The low-cost aviation pioneer served over 6.3 million passengers in the first nine month of 2016, a 14 per cent year-on-year increase. The average seat load factor — or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats — for the same period stood at an impressive 80 per cent.

Qatar Airways is in negotiations to purchase a 49 per cent stake in Italy’s Meridiana Fly, revealed Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Akbar Al Baker during a press briefing in Tuscany. H.E. Al Baker said that Italy is an incredibly important destination in their network and they will keep investing in new routes and increase services in this market. Once the runway extension at Florence Airport is complete, they intend to start a service to this historic city. They also committed to upgrade the aircraft type currently flying to Pisa from an A320 to a wide body model as soon as they receive more aircraft in their fleet. Celebrating the launch of the airline’s flights to Pisa in August 2016, the press briefing was also attended by His Excellency Abdulaziz Bin Ahmed Al Malki Al Jehani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Italy.