Gulf Air announced that it will resume its direct operations to Moscow Domodedovo International Airport in Russia starting with 2 weekly flights, beginning from 14th August 2021. On this occasion, Captain Waleed Abdulhameed AlAlawi, Acting Chief Executive Officer, said “Month by month, we are resuming services to more destinations of our pre-pandemic network and we can see the world slowly recovering as more people are confident to travel again. We have been operating direct flights between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Russian Federation since 2014 and it is one of the airline’s main destinations. Now is the time that we connect both countries with this direct service and offer our passengers the opportunity to travel to and from Russia for leisure or business.” Gulf Air began the summer season with flights to 80% of its pre-pandemic network and it continued to resume operations and restore services to cities of its original 2019 destination network. The airline has also announced that it has successfully launched all of its seasonal destinations for the summer of 2021 with direct flights to Mykonos and Santorini in Greece, Malaga in Spain and Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt as well as recently resuming Tbilisi in Georgia. The airline currently flies to and from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, Muscat, Cairo, Amman, Casablanca, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Athens, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Larnaca, Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, Dhaka, Colombo, the Maldives and several destinations in India and Pakistan. Back in May, the airline announced that all its flights would be operated by 100% vaccinated crew including pilots and flight attendants. The airline has started its internal vaccination campaign for its operating crew and front line …

Make the most of this summer by booking an escape on the shores of the Arabian Gulf with the beach at your doorstep and nature as your backdrop.  Embrace the urban escapade of its unparalleled beachfront location mixed with a touch of tradition leaving you relaxed and rejuvenated this summer! Summers are made much cooler as the Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection has put together an incredible value-added staycation deal for the UAE Residents. Those looking for a staycation can now experience breathtaking views of the Arabian ocean from their modern chic rooms with guaranteed room upgrades while enjoying an extensive F&B credit starting at AED 150 in the resort’s delicious managed outlets. What’s more! Rejuvenate at the Elixir Spa with a 30% discount on selected treatments or take a dip into the resort’s one of the sparkling pools. The resort boasts a private beach, ideal for those who want an uninterrupted and secluded experience. Families with kids can make themselves comfortable and enjoy privacy at the spacious connecting rooms that the resort has to offer. That’s not it, the family resort has a unique kids pool section which is equipped with water slides for the kids to bounce and splash while the adults take a plunge in the main pool. The adventure is not over yet you get 2 bronze tickets to the amazing La Perle show when you book the UAE Residents Summer Staycation Offer. All this can be yours at prices starting at AED 700 per night. This bumper offer is valid till 31st August 2021. What: UAE Residents Summer Staycation Offer When: Valid till 30th September Where: Habtoor Grand Autograph Resort, Autograph Collection, Marriott Lifestyle Resort …

Located on Dubai’s iconic Sheikh Zayed Road at the heart of the city’s technology, media, and creative free zone, this iconic 46 story tower’s is surrounded by business towers and hubs which are home to top-tier regional and international Fortune 500 companies. A plethora of nearby leisure destinations await guests, including the world-famous architectural icon of Palm Jumeirah, along with many  local attractions, pristine beaches, and dining destinations. The metro station is only a few steps away, for guests to conveniently connect to the rest of the city, t the airport or to venue for the highly anticipated Expo 2020. IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has further expanded its Staybridge Suites footprint in the region with the opening of Staybridge Suites Dubai Internet City, on 1 August 2021. Renowned globally since 1997, Staybridge Suites is IHG’s upper-upscale extended stay hotel brand that offers an elevated, residential-style hotel designed for multi-night business and leisure travellers looking to break from the travel norm while on the road, be it for days or even months at a time. Guests will have a choice between studios, one- and two-bedroom suites. All 225 suites feature spacious and comfortable living, working, and dining spaces and a fully equipped kitchen with top-of-the-line home appliances including a dishwasher and washer/dryer. Every detail from the Nordic-style furniture to the elegantly designed kitchen utensils is there to make guests feel right at home. Many of the apartments feature their own balcony to enjoy some spectacular views of the cityscape and the Arabian gulf. Several interconnecting units offer greater flexibility for families or small groups traveling together. Guests can start the day with a …

Scheduled to open in 2024, Avani Bilaj Al Jazayer Bahrain Resort and Tivoli Bilaj Al Jazayer Bahrain Resort will be part of Bilaj Al Jazayer, a new waterfront leisure mixed-use masterplan owned by Edamah, the real estate arm of Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat. The new development will offer resorts, residential villas and apartments, food and beverage outlets, retail, offices and entertainment. Minor Hotels, a hotel owner, operator and investor, currently with a portfolio of 527 hotels and resorts in 54 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean, is pleased to announce its strategic entrance into Bahrain with the upcoming debut of its Avani and Tivoli brands. Bilaj Al Jazayer is located on the south-west coast of Bahrain and encompasses 1.3 million square metres of land with a three-kilometre beachfront. Manama, the capital and main city of Bahrain, is a 25-minute drive and Bahrain International F1 Circuit and Dilmun Waterpark are in close proximity. The new Avani and Tivoli hotels, each with 110 keys, will be located along the main boulevard of Bilaj Al Jazayer on the waterfront. Avani Bilaj Al Jazayer will offer a selection of guest rooms and suites, an all-day dining restaurant, an Avani Pantry and a pool bar, in addition to an outdoor swimming pool, a gym and meeting space. Tivoli Bilaj Al Jazayer’s facilities will include guest rooms and suites, two restaurants, two bars and a café, an outdoor swimming pool, a gym, plus spa and wellness facilities. In addition, the hotels will share a beach club within the Bilaj Al Jazayer development. William E. Heinecke, Chairman and Founder, Minor International, commented, “Minor Hotels’ entry into Bahrain …

Hilton announced plans to bring its DoubleTree by Hilton brand to the Kingdom of Bahrain. DoubleTree by Hilton Al Sayh Residences has been signed together with Al Sorouh Hospitality Development Real Estate and is due to open its doors in 2022. Board Member of Al Sorouh Hospitality Development Real Estate and CEO of Mabanee Kuwait, Mr. Waleed Alsharian said: “We believe this is a great partnership that will add a valuable offering to the area. We are very pleased to be working with Hilton and bringing DoubleTree by Hilton to the Kingdom of Bahrain and look forward to further partnerships with Hilton in the Kingdom and the region.” Carlos Khneisser, Vice President, Development, Middle East & Africa, Hilton, said: “Following the recent opening of our first hotel in the country, Hilton Garden Inn Bahrain Bay, this signing brings us to four properties trading or in the pipeline in the market.  It sees us continue to expand our offering in the serviced apartment segment, which is an area of the market where we see growing demand from long stay visitors.” Featuring 113 serviced apartments, 61 one-bedroom and 52 two-bedroom apartments, DoubleTree by Hilton Al Sayh Residences will be located just a short drive from Bahrain International Airport. Situated close to Bahrain Bay, a waterfront business district and mixed use community with unique offerings of dining,, and nearby several other attractions including The Avenues Bahrain mall which holds 120 stores and F&B outlets at its seafront location. Guests will be able to enjoy uninterrupted ocean views in a number of apartments, an all-day dining restaurant and a sophisticated rooftop café and outdoor pool with views across Bahrain.  The hotel will be located …

Qatar Airways enhanced its presence in Southern Africa with the launch of a new linked service between Doha and Lusaka, Zambia and Harare, Zimbabwe. To mark this milestone, the new linked service was inaugurated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900 featuring 36 seats in the award-winning Qsuite Business Class and 247 seats in Economy Class.   Qatar Airways now operates to Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN). The country’s largest city and commercial centre, Lusaka is the gateway to experiencing Zambia’s legendary tourist attractions from the Victoria Falls which it shares with Zimbabwe, to game reserves and a variety of wildlife. Meanwhile, Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, will be served via Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE) is also a destination with rich culture, World Heritage–listed archaeological sites, and diverse natural landscapes. The aircraft was greeted in Lusaka and Harare by traditional water cannon salutes upon arrival.   The airline has demonstrated its steadfast commitment to Africa throughout the pandemic having significantly grown its network by adding four routes to Accra, Abidjan, Abuja, Luanda and restarting services to Alexandria, Cairo and Khartoum bringing its footprint to 27 destinations in 21 countries. Earlier this month, Qatar Airways also signed an interline agreement with RwandAir giving customers greater access to the combined networks of both airlines.   Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We have ambitious plans for Africa which is one of the fastest-growing economic regions of the world, with rising consumer demand and an abundance of natural resources. We see enormous potential in not just outbound travel from Zimbabwe and Zambia, but also inbound traffic from India, UK, and Americas. We look forward to …

As demand for travel picks up, greater digital integration between airline and package holidays ecosystem aims to streamline booking process to increase inbound tourism to the Sultanate, consistent with economic objectives set out in Oman’s Vision 2040 strategy. Oman Air Holidays unveiled its revamped brand, complete with a new wordmark logo and refreshed visual identity. Developed in-house, the new look and feel supports a shift in the company’s strategy towards facilitating in-bound tourism in the Sultanate through integrated ‘Fly & Stay’ package holidays available on its website. Aligned closely with Oman’s Vision 2040 strategy, which aims to develop a diversified and sustainable economy through opportunities that strengthen the country’s global competitiveness, Oman Air Holidays is redoubling efforts to broaden its integrated offering of flights, hotels, excursions and travel experiences which caters to growing local and international demand. Also unveiled were Oman Air Holidays’ refocused vision and mission statements, which champion ambitions to become one of the top tourism operators in the Middle East by leveraging Oman Air’s flight frequencies into the Sultanate from international source markets, and position Oman as a uniquely different holiday experience to travel trade globally. “The timing is right for Oman Air Holidays to foster closer ties with local and international travel trade,” said Mundher Al Shaikhani​, Senior Manager Oman Air Holidays. “As vaccine roll-out ramps up, we’re seeing renewed interest for package holidays and custom stays from locals inquiring about quick getaway options, as well as international guests in the early stages of planning their next overseas holiday. Our refreshed brand, vision and mission statements, and booking platform encapsulate our strategy to develop and offer exclusive ‘Fly & Stay’ packages here in Oman and everywhere …

Gulf Air restored its flagship double daily direct passenger flights to London Heathrow in line with the latest decision by the British authorities to add the Kingdom of Bahrain to their Amber List as of 8th of August. Being on the amber list will mean that citizens and residents of Bahrain will be able to quarantine at their choice of residence for 10 days as opposed to institutional quarantine for arrivals from red list countries. Commenting on restoring double daily direct passenger flights to London, Gulf Air’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Captain Waleed AlAlawi commented: “London is one of our main destinations in Western Europe and we’ve been connecting both Kingdoms since 1970. It has also been a destination that we maintained scheduled operations to throughout 2020. Thanks to the great efforts by The National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Kingdom of Bahrain is now moved from the red list to the amber list in the UK colour coding entry system.” He added: “Gulf Air is known for its morning and night flights to and from London and we’re happy to bring these back to offer more flexibility and convenience to our passengers”. Gulf Air began the summer season with flights to 80% of its pre-pandemic network and it continued to resume operations and restore services to cities of its original 2019 destination network. The airline has also announced that it has successfully launched all of its seasonal destinations for the summer of 2021 with direct flights to Mykonos and Santorini in Greece, Malaga in Spain and Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt as well as recently resuming Tbilisi in Georgia. The airline currently flies to and …

Al Rostamani Travels recently announced their digital transformation with the launch of their new E-Commerce portal (alrostamanitravel.ae) Bimal Jain, General Manager stated, “Al Rostamani Travels has predominantly been known as a Corporate TMC, even though we have a strong presence in Retail, Leisure and UAE Inbound verticals. We identified areas we could grow and diversify in and one segment that we realised needed a lot of focus, was our technology offering. Therefore, we decided to invest heavily in developing an end-to-end web-based booking system in a fully integrated single-platform ecosystem, not only for our B2C customers but also for our B2B market segment. We have also revamped our Social Media channels to ensure our customers can get the latest promotions and most relevant information directly from us” One of the leading travel companies in the UAE since 1979, Al Rostamani Travels provides services including Corporate & MICE Travel, Outbound Leisure packages and UAE Inbound packages. They are the appointed “Preferred Sales Agents” for globally renowned leisure brands such as Globus, Cosmos, Monograms & Avalon River Cruises, Rail Europe, Interhome, Norwegian Cruise Line, Thomas Cook India and are also the Authorized Ticket Reseller of Dubai EXPO. Jain concluded, “Our extensive experience under the Al Rostamani corporate brand is an established reputation that has been developed through the knowledge and expertise of our people.  In a competitive environment, our leading edge remains to be our customized approach in rendering travel counseling, enabled with seamless personalized service that is supported by a committed work force. Our decision to embark on an exciting journey to restructure and transform our business through heavy investment in digitalization was a strategic one. Even when markets around the …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has launched its latest global campaign, featuring superstars Jessica Alba and Zac Efron, as it continues to drive global travel recovery and growth. Dubai Presents – filmed by Director’s Guild award-winning director Craig Gillespie of recent Cruella movie fame – takes a unique perspective to global destination advertising, using a highly stylised movie trailer approach to create engaging content, backdropped by some of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks and unique hidden locations. Kicking off with the high adrenaline Spy Action genre, the campaign will see a series of exciting new content launching in sequence to keep audiences guessing and anticipating. Building on the hugely successful campaign film, ‘A Story Takes Flight’ released by Dubai Tourism in 2019 and featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Zoe Saldana; this new campaign will see more than 2,000 assets released in 27 countries across 16 languages via cinema, print, broadcast, out of home, digital and social media channels. Dubai recently marked a year since it reopened its doors to international travellers. Data from Dubai Tourism shows that the city welcomed 4.1 million overnight visitors in a 12-month period from July 2020 to June 2021. This figure underscores the leading role that Dubai continues to play in global tourism recovery offering a safe, appealing, and memorable experience for travellers. Dubai’s approach since the start of the global pandemic has been one of preparedness, agility and consistency. It was one of the first cities globally to reopen its markets and businesses, and continues to stay open. This was achieved through a prudent and staggered approach to the reopening of sectors while ensuring strict compliance with globally benchmarked health …