The much loved destination of the GCC and Middle East travellers, Thailand tourism will host its first virtual event on Monday August 10, 2020 from 11am to 12 noon. At a recent interaction with Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Dubai &The Middle East Office shared that The Middle East is home to a youthful population, and millennials in the region are some of the highest spenders globally. As a result, we are constantly developing our tourism offerings in order to move away from mass tourism and encourage sustainable tourism in order to attract millennials. The webinar, ‘Arab Millennials in Amazing Thailand’, sheds light on the Kingdom’s latest tourism offerings to our partners in the region to cater to the growing demographic – including dining, shopping, and off-the-beaten-path regions to visit.

Aleph Hospitality took over the management of the Ramada by Wyndham Addis, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier this year. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which followed soon after takeover, the hotel was partially closed but fully re-opened on June 22, 2020. In support of Aleph Hospitality’s brand values and the company’s ‘count on us to put safety first’ campaign – featuring best in class health and hygiene protocols in line with the guidelines and regulations of the World Health Organization and local health authorities – the hotel has re-opened with a complete set of measures to protect the safety and wellbeing of its guests. Bani Haddad, Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality said, “The sector grew by 48.6% in 2018, according to the latest data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and now represents 9.4% of Ethiopia’s total economy. Through our world-class systems and dedicated management support, as part of our third-party management model, welook forward to working with owners ADM Business PLC and to capitalising on this growth, which we are confident will deliver superior results for the owner in these challenging times.” Adugna Bekele, owner of the Ramada by Wyndham Addis said, “Addis Ababa is a truly cosmopolitan destination. Our hotel is in a superb location in the city centre and we offer warm, contemporary rooms and a choice of great restaurants. Now, with Aleph Hospitality as our trusted partner, I’m looking forward to both increasing the satisfaction of our valued guests and to boosting the profitability of our business for the long-term.” Haddad commented, “Makeda Abraham becomes the first female General Manager of Aleph Hospitality in Africa, a true milestone of which we are very proud. …

The Department of Tourism in the Philippines conducted a webinar with their trade partners to find out about two of the most important source markets for the Philippines; Middle East and India markets. Insights were shared about the Middle East by San Jeet Representative for Buzztravel and DDP Group who stated that Health is the new luxury and that Philippines should position themselves as a destination that will satisfy the clientele from Middle East to ensure their health and safety is the foremost concern and to share this information with the media, trade partners and those who are engaged in working together with the tourism sector. It was followed by Muzzammil Ahussain, Executive Vice President of Seera Group’s Consumer Travel Business Unit, spearheading the growth and development of Almosafer, Saudi Arabia’s digital-based omni-channel travel brand, and tajawal, one of the UAE’s top OTAs. He mentioned the importance of spreading the news and keeping the travellers updated with the various social media channels, influencers etc as most of the travellers from the Middle East will depend on recommendations from their friends and families who will share their experiences which will influence travellers.

WTM London and Travel Forward are working closely with partners and experts to ensure a safe and successful experience at ExCeL London from 2-4 November, 2020. Detailed plans are being made for every aspect of the shows, which is set to be one of the first major exhibitions to take place globally since the COVID-19 pandemic started.The preparations were given a boost earlier this month when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the green light for conferences and exhibitions to resume in October. WTM London’s Senior Director Simon Press announced the live shows’ highlights during a virtual press conference which combined more than 200 pre-registered journalists and digital influencers from nearly 30 countries. Simon Press also revealed the details regarding WTM Virtual event, which is taking place virtually from 10-11 November 2020 to embrace travel professionals from all over the globe, especially the ones who can’t attend the live event due to travel restrictions. UNWTO, WTTC & WTM Ministers’ Summit Expands into New Territories Tourism leaders from around the world will once again come together for the Ministers’ Summit – the largest annual meeting of tourism ministers – at WTM London to set out a roadmap for a safer, greener and smarter future for the sector. Given the unprecedented scale of the challenge facing tourism, the UNWTO and WTM will partner with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which is representing the global travel and tourism private sector at the event for the first time in its history, making it the UNWTO, WTTC & WTM Ministers’ Summit. The summit will feature a day-long think-tank on Monday 2nd November during WTM London.

Travelport announced the launch of the Travelport Airline Health & Safety Tracker, in response to demand from travellers and travel agents for information on airline health and safety measures. The tool, which is free of charge and available to both Travelport customers and the wider industry, highlights the safety measures being undertaken by more than 80 of the world’s largest airlines – all available at a glance. It is delivered to both online and offline travel agencies through the recently launched Travelport COVID-19 Smartpoint Plugin, Travelport’s API-based merchandising solution, Branded Fares Data File, and the company’s COVID-19 Resource Hub, which is also available to the general public. Kyle Moore, Global Head of Customer Strategy and Marketing, Travelport said, “In recent months, the travel industry has introduced a wide array of robust health and safety measures to enable a safe and responsible return for travel. As we sit at the heart of the industry, both aggregating, and enabling the merchandising of, travel content from all corners of the world, we are in a natural position to bring this information into a single place and deliver it to travel agents and travellers. Using our leading technology, we believe this tool will help travellers to match their travel needs with the safety measures they expect, bringing back confidence in travel and supporting a strong industry recovery.” The Travelport Airline Health & Safety Tracker 1 monitors the use of seven sought-after safety measures: mandated use of face masks, socially distanced seating, temperature checks before boarding, improved air filtration, enhanced cleaning programs, reduced onboard food and beverage services, and mandated traveler health certification or declaration. The data is presented in a simple visual format and …

Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi reopens today and as a token of appreciation, the waterpark will exclusively welcome back annual passholders with valid online bookings on Monday August 3, 2020 while observing the stringent precautionary measures that have been put into place to ensure a safe and enjoyable water adventure for all. These measures include mandatory online booking for all guests including Annual Passholders to ensure that the limited capacity of 30% is adhered to, thermal screening cameras, safe distance markers at all rides and outlets, contactless payments, modified ride capacity as well as modified dining and shopping experiences. To ensure guest comfort, all retail and dining outlets will undergo extensive cleaning and sanitising at regular intervals throughout the day. In anticipation of the re-opening, Leander De Wit, General Manager of Yas Waterworld said, “It brings me great pleasure to announce the re-opening of Yas Waterworld – we are thrilled to welcome back our guests who have waited patiently for the return of water’s greatest playground.” De Wit added, “We would like to reassure our guests and staff that their health and safety remain our top priority and for this reason, comprehensive precautionary measures will be diligently implemented across Yas Waterworld. We’re excited to be able to deliver a safe and enjoyable waterpark experience to all returning guests this summer.” Guests are encouraged to play their part in these safety measures by wearing face masks, adhering to social distancing, sanitising hands regularly and choosing contactless payment at all outlets. Guest services attendants will be stationed throughout the park to assist guests and answer any questions.

Mindsay and Sabre Corporation announced the official launch of a customer service automation solution for airlines, OTAs, and TMCs. As the only conversational AI technology to integrate seamlessly with Sabre, Mindsay’s intelligent virtual agents are fully connected with Sabre’s APIs, giving them the ability to automatically resolve a variety of requests, from simple FAQs to complex booking modifications. This unique integration allows travel companies to automatically resolve up to 70% of customer requests, significantly reducing call and live chat volumes. With bots handling the majority of common customer requests, travel agents can focus on solving the most urgent and complex requests. “We partnered with Mindsay because of its seamless integration with Sabre and ability to quickly deliver a chatbot to assist our travellers, who now get instant answers and avoid wait times. The aim is not only to increase efficiency but even more so to improve customer satisfaction by providing quick answers to their needs ,” said Pernille Vaupel, Director, Air and Online Sales at KILROY International. “Our unique integration with Sabre’s leading GDS allows airlines, OTAs, TMCs, and hotels to deliver better service at a fraction of the cost, by providing the perfect mix of self-service and human interaction,” said Guillaume Laporte CEO at Mindsay. “Sabre is committed to providing our OTA customers with the differentiated products they need to exceed their customers’ expectations, and this begins with our APIs,” said Madhavan Kasthuri, Managing Director EMEA Online Business at Sabre. “We are excited to partner with such a committed, forward-thinking partner who clearly understands the role technology plays in delivering a seamless experience that today’s travellers are increasingly expecting, especially when dealing with the online channel.” “The new chatbot …

H.E Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, UAE reviewed a detailed report on the progress of efforts undertaken by the Interim Committee to Deal with the Impact of COVID-19 on the National Economy, during the Committee’s fifth virtual meeting, which was chaired by His Excellency. HE was briefed on the economic and financial implications of all the measures adopted by the federal and local governments over the past months since the onset of the pandemic, and the extent of their effectiveness in supporting the country’s business continuity during these times. HE Eng. Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Economic Affairs said that the Committee is continuously measuring their success in developing sustainable and practical policies and solutions that suit the needs of the business sector and contribute to its speedy recovery. He affirmed that the Ministry and its partners in the Committee will directly and periodically assess the implementation of packages and initiatives and will stand by all efforts to support business activities and develop the economy. H.E. Saif Hadef Al Shamsi, Deputy Governor of the UAE Central Bank, explained the measures introduced by the Bank in detail, which helped many of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) continue their operations during the crisis, provided facilities for real estate buyers and improved liquidity of banks to meet the requests for lending and deferred payments. In this context, HE Saif Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation for Human Resources Affairs, stated that the Ministry repaid about AED 8.3 billion of bank guarantees to employers, which represents about 50 per cent of the total bank guarantees until the …

IATA has called on governments in the Middle East to harmonise biosafety measures for passengers across the region as aviation restarts. A global framework for restarting aviation while protecting public health has been agreed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and published in the Take-Off guidance. However, inconsistent application of these biosafety measures along with unnecessary border constraints are deterring passengers and suppressing the resumption of air travel in the Middle East. “We are starting to see some governments in the Middle East open their borders to regional and international air travel. This is good news but those flying for the first time since the lifting of restrictions face an array of different types of biosafety measures and procedures – which is causing confusion among passengers and delaying the recovery,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East. “An effective COVID-19 test has the potential to be a useful risk mitigation measure. However, tests that neither meet the criteria of speed, scalability and reliability nor are offered at reasonable cost, as we are seeing in some countries in the region, have unintended consequences, causing more problems than they solve and will most likely limit the recovery in air travel demand,” said Albakri. “Imposing quarantine measures on arriving passengers keeps countries in isolation and the travel and tourism sector in lockdown. Fortunately, there are policy alternatives that can reduce the risk of importing COVID-19 infections while still allowing for the resumption of travel and tourism that are vital to jump starting national economies. We are proposing a framework with layers of protection to keep sick people from travelling and to mitigate the risk of transmission …

H.E Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, held a virtual meeting with H.E Ranil Jayawardena, British Minister for International Trade, to discuss the frameworks of bilateral trade and economic partnerships. The meeting also discussed new opportunities to expand the scope of the existing partnerships in accordance with the priorities of the coming stage, in order to serve the strategic and development aspirations and visions of the two friendly countries. The meeting was attended by H.E Mansoor Abulhoul, the UAE’s ambassador to the United Kingdom; H.E. Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs; H.E. Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs; and Mohammed Nasser Hamdan Al Zaabi, Director of the Trade Promotion Department at the Ministry of Economy. Simon Benny, British Trade Commissioner for the Middle East, and number of officials participated in the meeting from the UK’s side. The meeting followed up on some files related to bilateral cooperation efforts, which included coordination with regard to the convening of the sixth UAE-UK Joint Economic Committee. These include a review of investment opportunities and incentives in priority sectors, renewable energy, health care, food security and advanced technology services, as well as a number among the requirements for the restoration of tourism activity between the markets of the two countries. Additionally, the meeting discussed the ongoing efforts to initiate discussion on a free trade agreement between the GCC and the UK. During the meeting, H.E Dr. Al Zeyoudi underscored the UAE’s strong commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation with the UK in all fields of interest, especially in the area of …