The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. The memorandum establishes the framework for a collaborative arrangement that will create a seamless visitor experience for Chinese tourists travelling to Saudi. The agreement is part of STA’s strategy to employ the latest technology to deliver seamless traveler experiences. Alibaba Cloud will also provide technical support to STA and help STA promote Saudi as a tourist destination to travelers in the Chinese market. “As Saudi continues to develop its leisure tourism offering for local, regional and international audiences, STA is building a digital infrastructure which can provide the destination with a competitive edge and visitors with the best possible experience,” said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of STA. “The recovery of the global tourism sector demands fresh thinking to overcome challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. By collaborating with Alibaba Cloud, we will break new ground in the regional tourism sector and position Saudi at the forefront of efforts to modernise the wider global tourism eco-system.” Through the collaboration, Alibaba Cloud will deploy advanced, secure and reliable cloud services and technologies to create an improved digital experience for Chinese tourists traveling to Saudi and allow for the automation of services in content delivery, digital storage, and digital processing. Selina Yuan, General Manager of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and Vice President of Alibaba Group said “This collaboration brings together two key actors in the tourism sector who can set a new standard for providing a travel experience like no other. With Alibaba Cloud leading the digital transformation of tourism, and Saudi’s unique destinations, this is a combination which will …

Izmir Marriott Hotel made its debut and is now welcoming guests to the newest hospitality experience in the heart of Alsancak.  The city hotel offers an urban resort experience on the coastline of Izmir. The hotel has been designed to reflect the newest global design vision for Marriott Hotels, featuring sophisticated and intuitively designed spaces for today’s modern traveller, enabling guests to relax, work and find inspiration during their stay. Izmir Marriott Hotel comprises 149 guestrooms and seven suites each with panoramic views of the shoreline or the vibrant city of İzmir. The spacious guestrooms are thoughtfully designed with contemporary décor and intuitive in-room amenities. For larger groups of families and friends, the hotel features Junior Suites that offer connecting rooms offering more space. The hotel also offers an 80-sqm Presidential Suite that offers extra comfort and privacy along with a private terrace overlooking to the Gulf of Izmir. Set to become the city’s new lifestyle destination, Izmir Marriott Hotel offers a diverse selection of restaurants including, Lima, an all-day dining restaurant with an outdoor space overlooking the Pasaport waterfront promenade; Alcedo, a lobby bar; and Pagos, a rooftop bar perfect for admiring sunset views over Izmir Bay. The hotel features The M Club, an exclusive space reserved for Elite members and Club guests that provides complimentary breakfast, evening drinks, hors d’oeuvres and premium beverages throughout the day. The M Club also offers the brand’s signature Mind Menu, a selection of delicious snacks and beverages with active ingredients to enhance mind and body. Accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the M Club provides free Wi-Fi, printing services and power supplies to ensure uninterrupted productivity for business travelers. …

UAE residents and visitors are set for a longer summer of exciting retail promotions with discounts of up to 80% off across malls in Abu Dhabi, after the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) extended the ‘Summer of Offers’ initiative until 11 September as part of Abu Dhabi Shopping and Dining Season. Complementing the range of offers across more than 3,500 stores at multiple malls, Retail Abu Dhabi, the retail arm of DCT Abu Dhabi, is continuing to entice visitors with the Shop & Win promotion. In partnership with Visa, the world’s digital payments leader, Visa cardholders who spend a minimum of AED 200 in participating stores can enter the draw to win an array of prizes, including a brand new car and a share of four million Etihad Guest Miles until 31 August.  Those participating with an Etihad Visa card will triple their chances of winning. As part of the wider seasonal campaign, malls across the emirate are offering back-to-school promotions to help families gear up ahead of the new academic year. Deerfields Mall is giving visitors the chance to win through interactive games when they spend AED 200 or more at participating outlets. Whilst shoppers at Bawabat Al Sharq Mall spending over AED 200 stand a chance of winning AED 50,000 worth of mall vouchers. In addition, The Galleria is giving away exciting prizes worth up to AED 3,500 when you spend AED 500 or more. Elsewhere, Dalma Mall’s Scratch and Win game includes more than 1,000 prizes including shopping vouchers, laptops, iPads and more. Elsewhere, food fans can stay cool with the ‘Summer of Ice Cream’ and enjoy a range of ice …

Etihad is celebrating Emirati Women’s Day with a series of events to highlight this year’s theme, “Women: Ambitions & Inspiration for the Next 50 Years,” in line with the UAE’s 50th anniversary year. The airline announced a new collaboration with Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination to establish a chocolate factory for people of determination. Women from ZHO will be trained by Etihad’s professional chefs from Etihad Catering to operate the factory and hand make chocolate. Etihad will help establish the facility by providing the machinery and funding the ingredients for the first year of production, in addition to promoting the chocolate. Dr Nadia Bastaki, Vice President Medical Services and Corporate Social Responsibility, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “This project will play an important role in empowering women of determination and creating opportunities in the community.  The goal of Etihad’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is to support the community through opportunity creation, training and development. In addition, and under its existing agreement with the Emirati Red Crescent, Etihad will launch a new project with Al Ghadeer UAE Crafts, to empower and support underprivileged women through the production of sustainable crafts. Etihad will provide non-stock products and recycled materials to Al Ghadeer which can be repurposed into hand crafted objects and sold. The project will help hundreds of women and families with additional income resource.  Etihad has been working in cooperation with Emirates Red Crescent for the past six years, collaborating on various initiatives, including projects to empower women and children, as well as working with Sheikha Fatima fund for refugee women, Grace Conservations and Al Ghadeer organisations.  

Sojern, a leading provider of digital travel marketing solutions published a new report titled, “How Travel Marketers Are Activating Digital Advertising in 2021.” Worldwide Business Research (WBR) Insights surveyed senior decision makers in Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, and Middle East and Africa who own the marketing budget for a hotel, attraction or tourism brand. These 300 travel marketers shared key challenges faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led them to test new solutions, innovate with new messaging, and generally do more with less. “The last 18-months have been quite the rollercoaster for travel marketers navigating the global pandemic, but one thing is clear: travel marketers are more focused than ever before on effectively and efficiently spending precious resources to drive a business return,” said Noreen Henry, Chief Revenue Officer, Sojern. “In this environment you need to be agile, data-driven and optimistic—travel is coming back and it’s a great time to take part in that recovery.” Key findings of travel marketers surveyed include: 56 percent agree that the current environment is ideal for direct response campaigns. Travellers are booking directly because of clearer cancelation or refund policies, coupled with their frustrating experiences navigating online travel agency (OTA) reimbursements for cancelled trips.  88 percent have increased or kept their digital advertising strategy budget the same since COVID-19.  87 percent tightened spending on brand campaigns and increased spending on performance campaigns in 2020.  84 percent rated machine learning and artificial intelligence as top priority for personalisation across channels. Consumers are eager to travel, and with the increasingly widespread administration of COVID-19 vaccines, the hard hit travel, media, and entertainment industries are all expected to rebound in 2021. The upward …

Adyen the global payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, today announced the launch of its integration with Shiji Payments, providing hospitality businesses the ability to utilize the Adyen platform together with Shiji, a leader in the provision of technological solutions for the hospitality, food service, retail, and entertainment industries. This new integration simplifies the payment process for hospitality businesses by removing the need for a list of platforms and suppliers which usually includes separate processes for property management systems, food and beverage point of sale, and guest experience platforms not to mention the different payments service providers for each. “Our partnership with Adyen allows us to further improve the operational efficiency of our customers by providing a platform that guarantees a truly seamless and personalized experience for their hotel guests,” said Michael Balzer, VP Shiji Payments, Shiji. With only two companies, Adyen and Shiji, hotels can consolidate all of these front-end business systems and payment needs, including having the same point of sale setups across regions and easier reconciliation across all channels. This, in the end, provides the best possible customer service. These integrated features power the seamless journey that customers expect nowadays. Commenting on the partnership, Sander Maertens, Head of Middle East at Adyen, said: “Adyen is excited to partner with Shiji Payments. This is a long term strategic collaboration for us in the region. With Shiji’s leadership in hospitality sector, covering over 91,000 hotels and 200,000 restaurants, and a strong footprint in the Middle East, we aim to leverage this partnership to implement new digital innovations in the payment space. The hospitality sector will benefit from our combined, seamless payment integrations with specialist …

The unique landscape of AlUla showcases three distinct geological periods going back up to a thousand million years. While archaeologists and geologists have the opportunity to fly over AlUla as part of their work to understand and document this history, visitors to AlUla can also now appreciate the diversity, monumentality and global significance of the landscape by taking the Kingdom’s first helicopter tours. Don Boyer, a geologist who was among the first to undertake research-based flights says visitors should expect to be ‘blown-away’ as he was the first time he took to the air. ‘While the rocks are mostly common rock types, the fact that you have these three completely different landscapes – the Precambrian Arabian shield rocks, the sandstone that was laid down over it and then the black basalt formed by volcanic eruptions – all in the one area, is what makes AlUla so special,’ said Boyer. ‘The weathering, the agencies of wind and water, have created drainages, such as the wadi that cuts through AlUla and the steep walled canyons nearby. These elements have sculpted the ridge-tops and created dramatic rough edges of basalt and interesting rock formations. Then you have the variety of colours and textures from the black basalt to the multi-layered sandstone. It’s an extraordinary geological journey that takes your breath away; it almost brings you to tears at times.’ Tens of thousands of archaeological sites have been identified in AlUla and very few of them have been closely investigated to date. The span of time that the archaeology covers is at least 7,000 years –including the Dadan period and the Nabataean period. Boyer says it is clear that there was a lot going …

As a milestone step on its journey to becoming a fully-fledged omni-channel car rental brand, Lumi, Seera Group’s car rental business announced the launch of a new App and mobile web platform, further accelerating the development of sophisticated travel booking solutions in Saudi Arabia. In the evolving new world of travel, changing customer circumstances and requirements is important and having the ability to advise and service customers efficiency via all communication channels is a must for all travel providers. Seera Group’s travel brands offer travellers consistent information, in real-time, at their fingertips regardless of the channel they use during their booking journey. Further driving the brand’s promise of delivering an omni-channel travel solution across all touchpoints for the customer, the new Lumi platforms are aimed at ensuring a seamless car rental experience, whilst significantly shortening the amount of time needed to rent a vehicle. Customers can now benefit from seamless rental with dedicated counters at select Lumi airport or inner-city branches to enjoy an overall faster, easier, and personalised experience when booking via App or mobile web. Easing the entire customer journey, the new digital platforms also showcase Lumi’s wide car option variety with guaranteed availability. Customers can view competitive pricing for their rental on the digital platforms themselves which serve as a single point through which information such as details of the vehicle, convenient and secure payment methods, and booking confirmation can be accessed. Backed by superior service, Lumi also offers 24/7 roadside assistance and an option to add insurance and extras such as GCC permits with ease. Azfar Shakeel, Vice President of Lumi, said: “Recognising the variety of customer communication needs, and the emerging significance of offering several …

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has backed ambitious plans to make the UAE capital the global centre of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). At a ceremony this week, DCT Abu Dhabi announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UAE Mixed Martial Arts Federation (UAEMMAF) and Palms Sports, the UAE-based sports management and training company. The MoU outlines a formal collaboration between the three entities to develop MMA in the country as a step towards cementing Abu Dhabi’s reputation as the global capital for the sport. At the signing ceremony, it was also announced that DCT Abu Dhabi had signed a five-year sponsorship agreement with UAE Warriors, the popular MMA fight events organised by Palms Sports. The event was attended by HE Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Tourism and Marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi; Mohammed bin Dalmouk Al Dhahiri, Chairman of UAEMMAF; and Fouad Darwish, CEO of Palms Sports and UAE Warriors. “Today marks another milestone for DCT Abu Dhabi. Working closely with our partners at UAEMMAF and Palms Sports, we are excited to announce our collaboration to promote and develop the MMA ecosystem in the UAE,” said HE Al Shaiba. “This strategic agreement will play a key role in enabling the emirate’s development as an MMA world capital, as well as boosting Abu Dhabi’s position as the preferred destination for sports tourism.” Al Dhahiri expressed his appreciation for the critical role DCT Abu Dhabi performs in promoting the emirate as a tourist destination of distinction. He said that Abu Dhabi had successfully asserted this status by hosting major international sports events, which were made possible by Abu Dhabi’s …

Emirates is offering UAE nationals and residents a chance to plan the perfect escape to the Seychelles. They could book now and unwind at some of the world’s most beautiful resorts with spectacular white beaches or enjoy its diverse marine life and everything in between. The Seychelles has been open for tourism since August 2020, and Emirates was the first international airline to return to the island. Emirates currently operates more than 7 weekly flights to the Seychelles from Dubai. Economy Class passengers can enjoy fares starting from AED 2,995, and Business Class passengers can enjoy fares starting from AED 7,995, The offer is valid for bookings made starting today until 31 August 2021, for travel until 15 June 2022.* UAE Travellers can also plan their Seychelles getaway with Emirates Holidays, with a range of packages available, starting from AED 4,699 per person for three night stays, with curated experiences and peace of mind for a picture-perfect experience on the islands. To visit the popular Indian Ocean holiday destination, UAE travelers must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test, conducted within 72 hours of the date of travel. For more information on travel entry requirements to Seychelles, click here. Emirates customers can rest assured this summer while travelling that their health and safety continued to be a top priority with the latest health and safety measures in place. Emirates leads the industry with customer centric solutions that make travel planning stress free with even more generous and flexible booking policies, an extension of its multi-risk insurance cover, and helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status. For more information on Emirates, including how to book flights and a complete …