Emirates customers can travel with confidence, as the airline will cover medical expenses of up to EUR 150,000 and quarantine costs of EUR 100 per day for 14 days, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel, while they are away from home. This cover is provided by the airline, free of cost to its customers. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Group Chairman and Chief Executive said, “Under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Emirates is proud to lead the way in boosting confidence for international travel. We know people are yearning to fly as borders around the world gradually re-open, but they are seeking flexibility and assurances should something unforeseen happen during their travel.” He added, “Emirates has worked hard to put in place measures at every step of the customer journey to mitigate risk of infection, and we have also revamped our booking policies to offer flexibility. We are now taking it to the next level, by being the first in the industry to offer our customers free global cover for COVID-19 medical expenses and quarantine costs should they incur these costs during their travel. It is an investment on our part, but we are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative.” This cover for COVID-19 related medical expenses and quarantine costs is offered by Emirates free of cost to its customers regardless of class of travel or destination. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 October 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before 31 October 2020). It is valid for …

Jabal Al Akhdar has begun welcoming visitors across Oman who are searching for a haven to escape the summer heat. The area is ideally positioned as a must visit destination for a special summer experience, and is made more secure with the implementation of precautionary measures to ensure the highest levels of safety for visitors, locals, and workers in the hospitality and tourism sector. Asma Al Hajry, Deputy Director General of Tourism Promotions, Oman Ministry of Tourism pointed out that Jabal Al Akhdar is important to the local tourism scene as it serves as a prominent haven for those looking to enjoy a summer spent in the bounty of nature. Al Hajry further explained that the moderate climate in summer is one of the most attractive features for visitors from all over the Sultanate who come to enjoy the calm and pleasant atmosphere and explore the natural treasures. “Amid the extraordinary circumstances that the world is currently facing, we have a responsibility to ensure the full adherence to all precautionary measures that have been implemented to guarantee the safety of visitors, residents and workers within the tourism and hospitality sector,” she added. “As the summer season begins, we invite everyone to experience and enjoy the splendour of Jabal Al Akhdar, which fully complies with the precautionary guidelines that prioritise everyone’s health and security. We are confident that our people are working closely with us in the move to ensure that these measures are properly observed. This enhances our optimism about the future of the tourism sector and the entry of the summer season proves to be a timely opportunity to enhance domestic tourism and encourage all members of Omani society …

Radisson Hotel Group continues to expand its new brand architecture and further strengthen its presence across EMEA. The new signings re-affirm the Group’s commitment to its ambitious 5-year development plan. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said, “Our business is based on long term relationships built on trust and responsibility. Despite the unprecedented challenges we face, we continue to work closely with our stakeholders to support the business. We consequently expanded our footprint in Italy, France, Austria, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, the UAE and across Africa. This is thanks to the relevance of our brands and the dedication of our team. We are grateful to our hotel owners for trusting our brands and people” The fifteen new signings mark key milestones: Addition of six new hotels in Africa bringing the total to almost 100 hotels across 32 African markets; Cementing the groups’ position in Ukraine as the largest international operator with 7 hotels and 1,355 rooms in operation and under development; Further cementing the group’s leading position in Russia with two additional hotels; Third signing of the Radisson RED brand in Austria; Two new signings in the most renowned ski destination in Italy boosting the group’s portfolio to 10 hotels in operation and under development; and One new Radisson Blu property on the picturesque island of Santorini, one of the world´s most popular resort destinations.

Etihad Airways will resume passenger flights from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to Shanghai, China. The service will operate with an initial weekly flight using a Boeing 777-300ER, featuring Business and Economy cabins. Robin Kamark, Etihad Aviation Group Chief Commercial Officer, said, “We are delighted to announce the resumption of scheduled services to China, as we gradually return to more destinations on our global network, supporting the recovery of economic and social activities worldwide. Our priority now is to build the network back up on markets that have opened up and to provide a secure and hygienic flying environment across the entire guest journey.” “The restarting of passenger services between Abu Dhabi and Shanghai will cater to the large demand from business travellers in the UAE, China, and other economies in the Middle East and Africa. We are tremendously grateful to our customers and partners for their continued loyalty and we stand ready fly more frequencies to China when possible,” Kamark said. The return to a larger network of international flights is being greatly supported by the Etihad Wellness sanitisation and safety programme, which ensures the highest standards of hygiene are maintained at every stage of the customer journey. This includes specially trained Wellness Ambassadors, a first in the industry, who have been introduced by the airline to provide essential travel health information and care on the ground and on every flight, so guests can fly with greater ease and peace of mind.

KLM will expand its network with the opening of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is an entirely new destination for Schiphol. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will adjust the flight schedule for flights between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the Gulf States in the Middle East. KLM is slowly and carefully expanding its European and intercontinental network. In doing so, KLM aims to offer its customers as much choice of destinations as possible. Adding Riyadh as a new destination will strengthen KLM’s network in the Middle East and help keep it robust. The opening of Riyadh means an increase in the number of destinations, but not in the number of flights to the Middle East, because Riyadh will be combined with an existing destination. The total number of flights KLM operates from Schiphol is far from the pre-corona crisis level. “Our passengers’ safety, comfort, well-being and health remain our highest priority. All of our flights are operated with additional sanitary measures to ensure our passengers safety. We are humbled to be among the first European airlines resuming flights to the Middle East, offering travel solutions to Paris, Amsterdam and beyond. We profoundly thank our customers for their patience and the authorities involved for their continuous support,” said Yeshwant Pawar, General Manager, Air France KLM, Gulf, Iran and Pakistan.

Daniel Rosado Bayon – Director of the Spanish Tourism Office in Abu Dhabi reiterated, “What we can see today is that the industry is experiencing constant changes, as situation and circumstances are evolving constantly and that makes us to be more flexible and change the approach to the reality we are living. As the customer priority shifts we must change with them. We must adapt to the demands like trust and confidence at this point of time. These are the ingredients for recovery. We must make our destination secure and safe and we must communicate it to our customers. So when the customers see that the destination is safe again they will regain the trust and confidence we will start to see the recovery. So what Spain has done in these last few weeks, we are open to some countries since July 1 some European countries but GCC will not be able to travel we will see them soon. We keep communicating that we are a safe destination to travel.”

Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Dubai & The Middle East Office shared, “As part of our efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and accelerate recovery in the travel and tourism sector, we have introduced the ‘Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration: SHA’ certification which aims to elevate the country’s hospitality industry standards and develop confidence among tourists, including visitors from the Middle East as well as to prepare Thai tourism operators for the return of tourism while travel restrictions continue to ease. 3,808 tourism establishments and entities in Thailand have been evaluated or were participating in the Amazing Thailand SHA certification so far.”

Yamina Sofo – Director, Sales & Marketing – German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries. “It is important to communicate with each other, to share opinions and share ideas and to see how we altogether pull on one string to get us all out of this crisis. It affected the tourism industry as one of the first and hardest hit, every destination has an impact of the crisis. Germany has done a tremendous job in handling the crisis, from our research, feedback and surveys we are on a high ranking of our standards. Our partners in the industry continuously over the last weeks have implemented the necessary hygiene, distance rules, they have updated and upgraded their products according to the new standards so the destination itself is very well prepared now to welcome back tourists from all over the world.”

Second session of the TravTalk Middle East Digital Conclave concluded with a record number of viewers from the Middle East. Three key leaders from three of the most important outbound destinations for the UAE and GCC Daniel Rosado Bayon – Director of the Spanish Tourism Office in Abu Dhabi, Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Dubai & The Middle East Office and Yamina Sofo – Director, Sales & Marketing – German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries attended the sessions and shared their insight about the current situation.

Raki Phillips, CEO, Ras al Khaimah tourism development authority stated, “We have gone through unprecedented times but I’m very optimistic about tourism in UAE. Currently 12 per cent of GDP come from tourism and 750,000 employees in UAE depend on hospitality.” Obtaining the safety certification for Ras Al Khaimah was a great achievement both from Veritas and WTTC. He further stated that all hotel employees were tested before opening the properties funded by the tourism development authority. They enjoy 60% occupancy at present at first with domestic tourists and now as the airports open with international tourists as well. He further stressed that the importance of health and safety has been the utmost priority for all emirates thanks to the leadership, hence today it is one of the leading safe destinations for travel.