The International Fund for Houbara Conservation Releases 51 Houbara to Celebrate UAE’s 51st National Day The symbolic gesture is in collaboration with Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School with the participation of veterinary medicine students from the United Arab Emirates University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 30 November 2022: The International Fund for Houbara Conservation released 51 Asian houbara to mark the 51st National Day of the UAE in collaboration with Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School and the participation of a group of UAE University’s veterinary medicine students. Each of the birds signifies a year of the 51 years since the union of the Emirates, the years of its development and the successes the nation has achieved. The occasion also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the hatching of the first houbara at Al Ain Zoo as part of their conservation program. Commenting on the occasion, Mohammed Saleh Al Baidani, Director General of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, said: “With the symbolic release of houbara on this joyous occasion, we celebrate the fulfillment of the vision of the late founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, of sustaining our heritage and protecting houbara as a continuation of the houbara conservation programme he established in the 1970s. His vision came into reality with the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, under the mandates of the Board of Directors of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation.” This year, a group of veterinary medicine students from the United Arab Emirates University participated in the houbara release in conjunction with the launch of the higher education programme of the …

New research from global travel site Skyscanner has revealed UAE holidaymakers are expecting another strong year of travel despite economic uncertainty, but price-led decision making will drive change in 2023. With 88% of UAE travellers planning to spend the same if not more on travel abroad next year, how they are going to spend will differ. The extent of these changes is revealed in Skyscanner’s detailed Travel Trends 2023 report.   Key trends to come out of the report show that UAE travellers don’t want the holiday to stop on a Monday morning, but to work where they could holiday too. UAE travellers are also craving experiences grounded in nature and wellbeing. A way to reset and feel normal again.  Expect friends to ditch each other in favour of solo adventures, sneaky smartphone travel searches in the workplace and holidaymakers navigating the cost-of-living crisis to ensure their time away remains a priority. For travel in 2023, there’s a lot we want to do differently and some bold expectations on what future travel will entail. Future gazing sees almost one in three people expecting holidays amongst the stars to be a mainstream reality in their lifetime, whilst closer to home, advances in supersonic technology could re-define short-haul travel. Naomi Hahn, VP of strategy comments: “It is clear that we’re hungrier than ever to discover something new – even though we might have less in our pockets next year. The aftermath of a pandemic has made travelers look for ways to make up for lost time and create new experiences and memories.  Consumers have become savvier to value post pandemic – the squeeze on personal spending has shown that consumers will still …

During the closing session of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Global Summit in Riyadh, the Rwandan capital of Kigali, was announced as the host city for 2023, marking the first time the event will visit Africa. Rwanda, the home of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, will showcase the power of sustainable tourism to protect biodiversity and create thriving communities. WTTC closed its largest ever Global Summit today with more than 3,000 delegates attending the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The global tourism body’s Global Summit saw speakers such as former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and actor, filmmaker, and Golden Globe winner, Edward Norton. The most influential Travel & Tourism event in the calendar, WTTC’s record breaking Global Summit, was attended by more than 85 countries and over 50 ministers. More than 250 media delegates from around the world attended the event, with many thousands of people around the world watching remotely. During the event, WTTC and the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom Saudi Arabia launched the Environmental & Social Research (ESR). This groundbreaking new data details the climate footprint of the global Travel & Tourism sector, and in a world-first, this the research covers 185 countries across all regions, and will be updated each year with the latest figures. WTTC also launched its Cities Economic Impact Report (EIR). Sponsored by Visa, the report shows cities remain the powerhouses of global tourism and will drive the recovery of the sector and economies around the word. Addressing delegates during her closing speech, Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “Saudi Arabia will be the next major destination for visitors as it invests $800 billion in …

On the occasion of the United Arab Emirates national day, Etihad Airways has collaborated with creative Emiratis to highlight the country’s legacy, culture, and promising future vision. The project emphasises the principles and values of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding Father of the UAE, which have been the basis of the union since its inception on 2 December 1971. The UAE’s national airline launched a digital booklet created by three Emiratis, Nadia Alnajjar, writer; Noura Khoury, co-author and translator; and Alya Alhammadi, illustrator. The booklet depicts the beauty of the UAE’s seven emirates narrated by a traveller landing in the country on an Etihad Airways flight. The booklet takes its scenes from Abu Dhabi’s beautiful beaches, Dubai’s architectural Museum of the Future, and Sharjah’s “Dar Alhikmah”. Continuing through the Northern Emirates the booklet depicts the traditional sailing dhows in Ajman, Falaj Al Mualla fort in Umm Al Quwain and rides on the world’s longest zipline at Jebel Jais mountain in Ras Al Khaimah. The tour of the Emirates ends with an encounter with a rare fish at Wadi Al Wuray’ah in Fujairah. The digital booklet is available on Etihad’s inflight entertainment system, E-BOX. Limited edition hard copy booklets, produced by the National Library and Archive, will also be distributed to guests on board. In addition, a video inspired by the booklet has been produced by the Emirati filmmaker Aiysha Alzaabi and will be featured across Etihad’s social media channels. During the UAE National Day celebrations, Etihad Airways will be serving guests a special menu with an Emirati touch, created by Emirati Chef Khalid. The airline has decorated the aircraft seats and its Business and First class lounges at …

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) launched its Cities Economic Impact Report (EIR) at the 22nd Global Summit in Riyadh sponsored by Visa, the report shows cities remain the powerhouses of global tourism and will drive the recovery of the sector and economies around the world. The Cities EIR analyses 82 international city destinations and shows that prior to the pandemic major cities were popular travel destinations, accounting for almost half of all international visits, both as standalone destinations and as gateways to other tourism hotspots within countries. COVID-19 had a devastating impact on Travel & Tourism and in particular major cities around the world as countries closed their borders in response to the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, and as borders began to reopen, leisure travellers swapped major metropolises for less-populated destinations such as coastal and rural hotspots, leaving economies of international cities to battle through an incredibly tough three years. Thousands of hotels, restaurants, and attractions in cities around the world were forced to close, with hard working people losing their jobs as businesses struggled to stay open during these challenging times. The Cities EIR shows how both leisure and business travellers are flocking back to cities, as their draw as iconic destinations are once again becoming the beating hearts of international tourism destinations, and business centres for overseas visitors. According to the report ten of the 82 cities analysed are projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels in terms of direct Travel & Tourism GDP contribution to the city economies this year. Qatar’s capital Doha is forecast to see the largest increase from 2019 to 2022, in terms of international traveller spend as well as in direct Travel & …

‘Better Travel & Tourism, Better World’ a new report developed through a partnership between the Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Centre (STGC) with Systemiq, the world’s leading independent system change advisory firm, finds that The Travel & Tourism industry could reduce its emissions by more than 40% by 2030 by taking radical action to contribute to the race to net-zero. The new report was launched at the 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council being held in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia under the theme “Travel For A Better Future.” It is based on extensive consultation with leading stakeholders around the world representing hospitality, transport, OTAs, governments, investors, NGOs and academia. The global Travel & Tourism industry creates opportunities for societies around the world, the economy and nature. However, the analysis of the report showed that the industry today is generating significant environmental and social costs and is responsible for 9-12% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that without significant change these emissions will rise 20% by 2030, representing one-third of the total (net zero) global carbon budget of that year. This puts the viability of the industry itself at risk. The Travel & Tourism industry has a vital role to play in slowing down climate change, restoring nature and strengthening communities. This landmark report is the first to estimate a fully costed strategy for shifting the Travel & Tourism industry to a net-positive model by 2050. It calls on industry leaders and policymakers to move urgently to implement a reform agenda centred around five priorities: reduce emissions, protect and restore nature, strengthen communities, shift traveller behaviours and increase resilience to climate change and other shocks. …

Saudi Arabia has made a call to action for worldwide collaboration among likeminded National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in creating a new Tourism Innovation Index (TII) to enable sustainable, competent and innovative tourism landscape across the globe. The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) is collaborating with the largest industry intelligence and news platform Skift to establish a framework for the potential index. STA brings its public sector experience and perspective and Skift its private sector tourism expertise. The call to action came during the 22nd World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit in Saudi Arabia, where delegates heard how the proposed TII has the potential to contribute to resilient tourism ecosystems, destinations, and experiences. In the future the TII could provide thousands of national and international organizations with data that will drive elevated sector services, inform policy reforms to boost and enable country-level innovation.  The Index will continue to grow with inputs from countries around the world sharing insights, expertise and best practices. The planned index has been structured to incorporate international best practices as well as global tourism and innovation indices. The proposed new index builds on the work that the World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Tourism Organization are doing among others. It would be based on surveys and hard data collection, and provide a holistic smart tourism score that measures performance across three pillars – the ecosystem, the destination, and the experience. At the Summit, STA and Skift made a joint call to action for other tourism organizations around the world to help them in refining the methodology and framework required to publish the first index findings and set a powerful …

The Higher Organizing Committee of the Sheikh Zayed Festival revealed the schedule of events and activities for the Festival’s 51st National Day of the UAE celebrations, which include drone shows, a huge fireworks display, the Union Parade (on December 3rd), the Global Civilization Parade, the Emirates Fountain Shows and many other cultural and heritage festivities. As part of the country’s 51st National Day celebrations, the Festival has prepared a line-up of events beginning at 2 pm (instead of the usual 4 pm) until 1:00 am over the course of three days, starting December 1st until the 3rd. The program combines several cultural and heritage entertainment attractions held in a joyful family-friendly environment that is meant to bring the celebratory spirit into the hearts of the Festival’s visitors coming from different parts of the country, including tourists from around the world who will take part in the 51st National Day of the UAE program. On December 2nd and 3rd, under the theme “Together for the Future”, the Festival skies will light up with state-of-the-art drones that will showcase spectacular art formations, fireworks displays, in addition to the impressive Emirates Fountain and Laser Shows that will illuminate the Al Wathba skies with the colors of the Emirati flag to tunes of Emirati traditional songs. Visitors of the Festival will have an opportunity to watch the live broadcast of the official UAE 51st National Day celebration on various screens set up around the Festival premises. On December 4, the Ministry of Interior will hold a military show to celebrate the joyous occasion at the Festival with the mounted team, the motorcycle team, bicycles, sand bikes, police dogs and the GTR patrol. The Festival …

ForwardKeys announced at WTTC´s Global Summit Riyadh that despite the current global challenges such as the war in Ukraine and impending inflation, the travel market is seeing an uplift in international arrivals. Apart from the travel recovery in the Americas, particularly Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East is proving to be capturing the attention of international travellers in Q4 and early 2023. The Middle East is shifting to growth mode in Q4 with international arrivals at +4%, long ahead of the global average of -30%. “The FIFA World Cup is certainly the key driver for its travel recovery”, says Juan Gomez, Head of Market Intelligence at ForwardKeys. The latest air ticketing data by ForwardKeys also shows that international arrival levels may be back to normal in 2023, with travel to the Middle East up by 15% on pre-pandemic levels in Q1. “The Middle East is the only region to show growth into 2023, but Africa and America are not too far behind. Overall, the outlook for 2023 looks promising, despite high inflation in key source markets and the looming recession. Tickets are still being booked and economy class travel continues closing the gap with premium cabins,” adds Gomez. The Middle East is indeed attracting more premium travellers than in 2019. Saudi Arabia shows the greatest growth, but Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon are also showing growth, with a regional average of 11% above 2019. ForwardKeys has recently launched the 2022 Most Visited Destinations Report, featuring a top 100 destinations by region list whilst also examining key destinations which showed uncanny resilience and travel data mastery: Albania, Tanzania, Fiji, and the Maldives. The country list is headed by the …

The highly anticipated Emirates Dubai 7s, part of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, is set to take place over the 51st UAE National Day weekend from Thursday 1st to Saturday 3rd December. The first day of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will take place on Friday, and will be celebrated by a breath-taking Emirates Airline A380 flypast at 4pm. Tickets for Friday’s event are available at https://dubairugby7s.com The 2022 edition of the rugby festival will deliver an amplified experience for all in attendance with additional entertainment stands and activations for children and young adults, including a new Hops & Food Market, the invitational team party tent, as well as a new stage called ‘The House’. With over 100,000 fans expected to attend this year’s festival, fans and visitors can look forward to an exciting weekend of music alongside the rugby action on Pitch 1 and 2. Children of all ages are in for a treat with a series of fun activities across three Kids Zones that will be available throughout the festival from 9am – 7pm, including arts and crafts, meet and greets with cartoon characters, bumper cars, face-painting, go-karting car racing, inflatable parks, and more. Kids under 12 even get complimentary access to the Emirates Dubai 7’s. From entertainment crews roaming around the venue to interactive setups and different genres of music playing from popular DJs across all zones at the festival, the entertainment options are endless for each member of the family. Fans and ticketholders visiting on Friday can enjoy thrilling rugby matches across two pitches kicking off at 9am with Ireland competing against Spain in women’s Pool C as well as an exclusive concert by …