Abu Dhabi will host International Travel Week 2016 from November 21-25 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center. The world’s largest travel industry hosted buyer programme will deliver an exceptional networking and knowledge-sharing experience for global travel professionals seeking to maximise new tourism revenue opportunities within the halal, medical and shopping tourism industry biggest buyers.  ITW-Abu Dhabi will aim to deliver a comprehensive programme which will combine targeted meetings with networking opportunities, inspiring knowledge-bound seminars and innovative experiences, culminating in a glittering gala awards evening to celebrate outstanding achievements across the international Halal Tourism landscape. This year, Indonesia Ministry of Tourism will be the official Headline Sponsor for the ITW Abu Dhabi 2016, and commented that, Indonesia participates again in 2016 but this time bigger than 2015 to bring more sales. As a major sponsor of the summit, Indonesia Ministry of Tourism expects to welcome key international delegations, investors, tourism associations and market-leading specialists to the summit. ITW-Abu Dhabi is a progressive and evolutionary event which has developed from last year’s World Halal Travel Summit. The 2015 edition enjoyed unprecedented success, where the summit yielded impressive results, generating more than $18.4 million worth of business on the show floor, and a further $73.5 million stemming from opportunities directly created at the event. With more than 6,000 travel professionals expected to participate in this year’s ITW-Abu Dhabi, this transformative five-day event is hotly-anticipated to be the premium platform for the global halal travel, medical and shopping tourism industry.

UAE-based Travel Connections Arabia (TCA) is expanding its footprints with a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the company’s second office in the GCC. TCA offers a sales and marketing extension to its world-class partner hotels, generating lucrative inbound travel business from the Middle East to properties and destinations located around the world. TCA’s collection of hospitality and tourism clients include some of the most exclusive hotels and resorts around the world, such as Iniala Beach House in Phuket, Thailand; The Mark in New York City, USA; The Lanesborough in London, England; Kulm Hotel St. Moritz in Switzerland; Villa Cora in Florence, Italy; and six exceptional Constance Hotels & Resorts, spread across the Indian Ocean’s top destinations: the Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius. Regional Sales Manager Hamada Hefnawy, with more than four years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry, has recently been appointed to cover all of Saudi Arabia.

Majid Al Futtaim and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, announced they have signed an agreement to open an Aloft hotel directly connected to City Centre Deira. Scheduled to open in 2018, Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira will bring a vibrant social scene and tech-forward mindset to hospitality in Dubai. Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira will feature 304 spacious guest rooms, including 29 suites, with plush platform beds, large walk-in showers and complimentary Bliss amenities. The hotel will also feature an outdoor rooftop VOX Cinema and a cinematic themed floor of rooms and suites. Designed with the needs of the savvy next-generation traveller in mind, the hotel includes SPG Keyless, Starwood’s industry-first keyless entry system that enables guests to use their smartphone or Apple watch as a room key, as well as fast and free Wi-Fi throughout the property. Aloft made its debut in the Middle East in 2009 with Aloft Abu Dhabi. The signing of Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira reinforces the momentum behind the brand’s rapid expansion in the Middle East, where there will be 14 Aloft hotels by 2020 in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE. Simon Barlow, Chief Executive Officer of Hotels at Majid Al Futtaim Properties, said, “We look forward to welcoming Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira to our world-class hotel portfolio. The hotel will offer guests an exceptional experience not only because it will combine Majid Al Futtaim’s development expertise with the operational excellence of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, but because it will be directly linked to the iconic City Centre Deira and feature an outdoor VOX Cinema. It is this integration, which sits at the heart of our business model, that sets our hotels apart …

Abu Dhabi Airports has announced the launch of flights by the Egyptian based carrier, Nile Air (NIA), into Al Ain International Airport. The new operation introduces four weekly flights between Al Ain International Airport and Cairo International Airport. This is Nile Air’s first flight to any destination in the United Arab Emirates, and commenting on this new service, Ahmed Aly, Chief Executive Officer, Nile Air said, ”Nile Air is pleased to announce our entry to the Emirati market, our 7th country, with a new route connecting Cairo and Al-Ain city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The new service to Al-Ain will provide an easy and convenient travel option between both cities for business travelers and tourists visiting Egypt, and the estimated 100,000 Egyptian nationals residing in the city of Al-Ain and its surrounding region who wish to travel home.”Mohammed Al Katheeri, Acting Chief Operations Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “We are delighted that Nile Air has begun operations to Al Ain, as this will further strengthen tourism between the UAE and Egypt and build Al Ain’s prominence as a growing international tourist destination. The airline anticipates high demand for this route, particularly during the busy summer season, and we wish them every success.” The NIA 147/8 flights, operated on Airbus A320 aircraft, will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Between July 1 and October 1 the flight will depart from Cairo at 1005 GMT, arriving in Al Ain at 1340 GMT, and the return flight will leave the UAE at 1440 GMT and arrive back in Egypt at 1830 GMT. In October the service will become bi-weekly, with flights on Fridays and Sundays. A free shuttle …

Dubai-based flydubai has announced the addition of two new flights a week between Dubai and Bucharest and will now fly daily to the Romanian capital. “We are delighted to announce our daily flights from to Bucharest,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai. “At flydubai, we are committed to expanding connectivity to destinations that have historically been underserved from Dubai. Since the launch of our Bucharest route in 2012, we have witnessed increasing demand from GCC passengers visiting the city and Romanian expatriates using our hub in Dubai to connect and visit family and friends around the world.” flydubai’s passenger traffic between Dubai and Bucharest continue to grow year-on-year, and it remains a particularly popular route for Business Class passengers. The airline has seen great demand from passengers travelling to Dubai and further afield on the flydubai network, whether for business or leisure. “The launch of daily routes to Bucharest will provide greater convenience and connection options for flydubai passengers travelling to Dubai and beyond. Popular connecting routes from Bucharest include Colombo, Delhi, Kuwait, Male’, Mumbai and Zanzibar,” said Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) for flydubai. “Our Business Class offering, which provides passengers with spacious seats, a choice of meals, generous checked baggage allowance and fast track immigration and security, is particularly popular on this route. It demonstrates our commitment to continually innovate and offer our passengers a range of different travel options and the latest on-board entertainment.”  

Due to the recent situation occurred on 28th June 2016, at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, for passengers who have bookings on all flights departing from, arriving at, or connecting in Istanbul Ataturk Airport or Sabiha Gökçen Airport between 28 June 2016-July 5, 2016 (ticketed on/before 28 June 2016), providing that their tickets are revalidated by 31 July 2016 (inclusive) and disregarding related fare rules: 1. Rebooking and rerouting: Rebooking and rerouting will be carried out free of charge. This applies to all reservation booking classes only if at the same compartment; 2. Refund requests: Refund of unused tickets will be issued free of charge and for tickets which have been partially used (but the entire journey has not been completed), refunds will be issued after deducting the fare for the used portion, with no penalties being applied; 3. Extension of validity: Validity of a ticket can be extended until 31 July 2016 (inclusive) with no fare difference or deduction. All passengers are kindly requested to check the latest status of their flight on their official website or with their call center before traveling.

Designed to further enhance the passenger experience at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), Abu Dhabi Duty Free has launched its website, www.ADDF.ae, to enable travellers to browse and shop online from wherever they are, prior to their arrival at the airport. Products are available for guests departing, arriving, or transiting through the airport, and those who are using the exclusive VIP terminal. The online store, which initially offers around 1000 of the most popular products varying from beauty, fragrances, food and confectionery, to jewelry, sunglasses, watches, souvenirs, and toys, will allow passengers to select their desired items online and pick them up from designated collection points conveniently located inside Abu Dhabi Duty Free. Online orders can be made between two weeks and up to four hours before a flight. By using the website passengers will be able to shop efficiently and spend more time enjoying the other facilities on offer at the airport. Abu Dhabi Duty Free is offering a 5 per cent discount on all online orders for first time users. For passengers who do not yet have a confirmed date of travel they can shop and create a “Wish List”. The “Wish List” is accessible to registered users and will allow them to keep their items for later when their trip is booked. Duty free shopping at AUH rose 7 per cent in 2015 despite the global slowdown of the retail market.

Abu Dhabi Airports has announced a 5.6 per cent increase in passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) for May 2016, compared to the same month last year. A total of 1,982,010 people travelled through AUH last month, exceeding May 2015’s figure of 1,877,440. A number of destinations witnessed noteworthy growth in passenger traffic, with the UK exceeding its May 2015 figures by 18.4 per cent last month, and Egypt recording a 24.3 per cent increase over the same period last year. The number of travellers with AUH as their final destination was 355,457 up by 4.6 per cent. The top-five routes were Bombay, Doha, London Heathrow, Manila and Jeddah respectively. Arrival and departure transfers both showed an increase of 7.5 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively compared to the same month last year, while the total number of transfer passengers recorded was 1,279,599, up by 7.6 per cent, reflecting the airport’s connectivity and position as a global hub.

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), the loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., has announced the next generation of SPG Keyless with even wider access to this leading-edge technology. SPG Keyless is now extending this functionality to select Le Méridien, Westin, Sheraton, and Four Points properties worldwide, including Le Méridien Parkhotel Frankfurt, Le Méridien Hamburg, Le Méridien Columbus, The Westin Westminster, Westin Palo Alto, Westin Camino Real Guatemala, Sheraton Bloomington, Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas, and Four Points Cupertino. Many additional properties will be going live with SPG Keyless on a rolling basis in the coming months. These distinct lifestyle brands join Aloft, Element, and W properties already providing access to SPG Keyless, currently available at more than 160 properties in over 30 countries. The wider roll-out of SPG Keyless acknowledges the role mobile is playing as the remote control for travelers’ stays across a broader range of brands. Now even more guests can share in the SPG Keyless experience by unlocking their doors with their smartphone.  Starwood is also expanding SPG Keyless to enable multiple guests sharing the same room to take advantage of keyless entry. All they need is an SPG account and the SPG app. In this upcoming product update, SPG is also expanding mobile check-in capabilities on the SPG app, rolling out over the next few months.

As the connected world of travel becomes a reality, 91 per cent of airlines plan to invest in cyber security programs over the next three years. This is according to the SITA Airline IT Trends 2016 Survey published.  SITA, the travel technology provider to the air transport industry, carried out its survey among the world’s top 200 airlines, and discovered that cyber security at airlines is progressing. Three years ago less than half of airlines (47 per cent) said they were making advanced preparations to manage cyber risks — today this has doubled to 91 per cent. The level of commitment to cyber security reflects the consensus that a lot is being done in this area but there is always more to do. The focus on cyber security also reflects the move to the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) in which a vast number of physical objects will become connected to the Internet. This enables tracking, data collection, analysis and control, which necessitates more security. An overwhelming majority of airlines (68 per cent) are investing in IoT programs in the next three years, up from 57 per cent this time last year. A key area of IoT investment is in connected aircraft which 46% of airlines believe will give a better passenger experience. Today 37 per cent of airlines operate connected aircraft and this will jump to two thirds by 2019. Currently ‘Internet via passenger devices’ is the service offered by most (33 per cent). Over the next three years big increases in services are expected with more than half of airlines planning to provide destination services and duty-free shopping apps, while 70 per cent plan to provide multi-media file streaming …