IBM announced their collaboration with Riyadh Air, the digital-native airline currently scheduled to commence operations in early 2025, to revolutionize the airline’s travel experiences. The airline plans to introduce next-generation, channel-fluid guest and traveler interactions, tapping into IBM Consulting’s open ecosystem of business partners and deep industry expertise spanning strategy, experience design, technology and operations. Today, IBM hosted a signing ceremony, announcing the collaboration at the 3rd edition of LEAP 2024, the international technology conference held annually in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; in the presence of Tony Douglas (Chief Executive Officer, Riyadh Air) and Arvind Krishna (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, IBM) and executive management from both entities. “We’re on a mission to shape the future of air travel at Riyadh Air,” said Tony Douglas, CEO at Riyadh Air. “By teaming up with IBM, we’re pushing the boundaries of innovation to create a transformed passenger experience that is more seamless, personalized and sustainable. From AI-powered check-in systems to immersive in-flight entertainment, we’re leveraging the latest technologies to make air travel more enjoyable and accessible for everyone.” Committed to delivering unique, intelligent and hyper-personalized guest journeys, Riyadh Air will harness IBM Consulting’s expertise across generative AI, experience orchestration, marketing and customer engagement platforms, mobile, web and in-flight applications. All of these capabilities will be accelerated through the proven, collaborative engagement model of IBM Garage, to help craft guest experiences that are culturally enriching across the travel journey, on ground or in the air. “We’re excited to extend our collaboration with Riyadh Air, working together to revolutionize the way people experience travel,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO at IBM. “We will combine user-friendly design, cutting-edge technology, and a shared commitment …

The UAE Cabinet approved an amendment to the executive regulations of the federal law governing citizenship and passports. Among the key revisions, the Emirati passport’s validity period has been extended from 5 to 10 years for individuals aged 21 and above. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, made the announcement on social media platform X after the Cabinet meeting.

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) welcomed 2.47 million participants in 2023, marking a remarkable 25% increase in visitation compared to the previous year. The results were driven by 301 Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), business and consumer events, a notable 23% rise year-on-year. The impressive increase in visitors reflects the strength of DWTC’s diversified content-rich calendar, led by 107 Exhibitions and International Association Conventions and Industry Conferences. These events collectively attracted 1.56 million attendees, marking a substantial 33% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, over 722,000 were international attendees, representing an unprecedented 60% growth year-on-year. These industry-leading events and exhibitions saw a participation of 53,789 exhibiting companies, representing a remarkable 45% increase over last year. An unprecedented 78% of these exhibiting companies were international (41,864), further reinforcing DWTC’s ability in consistently drawing both new and repeat international participants. The surge in foreign business attendees furthers the aspirations of the D33 Agenda, to propel Dubai to be a top three global economic city by 2033. The diversity of DWTC’s robust events calendar was further reinforced with its consumer and leisure events portfolio growing last year to host a total of 35 entertainment, live, and leisure events collectively attracting over 850,000 visitors. Commenting on the outstanding results, H.E. Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, said: “DWTC’s increasingly diverse exhibitions and events portfolio, along with its allied businesses, continue to go from strength to strength. Our results underscore the robust dynamics of the emirate’s thriving economy and strategic focus on key industry sectors, reinforcing Dubai’s leading status as a global hub for knowledge, innovation and business. The past year has been shaped by extraordinary momentum …

DidaTravel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enter into a strategic partnership with Visit Oman – the National Travel Operator – to promote the country to DidaTravel’s network of 25,000+ travel trade partners in China. The MOU outlines potential areas of collaboration between DidaTravel and Visit Oman, which include DidaTravel offering Visit Oman’s varied portfolio of contracted properties, transfers, and experiences to their extensive B2B network through API integration. As a result of this agreement Visit Oman will also be able to access DidaTravel’s consolidated portfolio of high value, yet hard to reach, Chinese travel trade customers. The two companies will embark on joint marketing initiatives to increase brand awareness and drive travel demand from China to Oman. Jinyan Li, VP Global Account Management at DidaTravel commented “We are thrilled to partner with Visit Oman and leverage our B2B distribution network to introduce the beauty and cultural richness of Oman to our extensive network of travel partners in China. This collaboration holds immense potential to foster cultural exchange and strengthen ties between our nations”.

According to flight tickets issued as of 13th February, total international travel from China in Q1 2024 is predicted to experience a 31% decline compared to 2019 levels, although showing a 7-percentage point increase from Q3 2023. The picture varies by region: travel to Africa and the Middle East sees only a 5% decrease compared to 2019, while travel to Europe remains 26% below 2019 levels. The APAC region shows a 31% decline, while recovery in the Americas remains slow, with a 50% decline. During the Chinese New Year period, Chinese outbound travel lags behind 2019 levels by 32%. Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia represent the largest shares at 28% and 40% respectively. However, the Middle East emerges as the standout performer, having already recovered to 2019 levels. This recovery is particularly notable in Cairo, which shows a 7% increase, establishing itself as a burgeoning destination for Chinese travellers.

At the recently concluded TTME International Women’s Day Celebrations it was shared that the new travellers of today require a different type of experiences. Sapna Aidasani Director Pluto Travel shared, “there are three kinds of tourism trends for younger generation. They prefer experiential holidays as what really excites them is something out of the box or the regular itinerary, such as a bread baking experience in France etc. The next trend we see is purpose tourism where the client will take a trip to receive an award of achievement and this could be a three or four day break where they can network with likeminded individuals as well as experience the localities. Lastly, the main trend is “detox holidays” where travellers just want to kick back and relax and stay away from all things digital or technological including their mobiles which has become part and parcel of life.”

At a recent exclusive interview with TravelTV Middle East, Alan William Chief Strategy Officer Satguru Travel shared that upskilling the staff is important with new technologies such as AI and NDC. He reiterated, “Travel is a very personal business irrespective of what AI pops out today if you do a ChatGPT and what it pops out today, do you really believe it? I think there is a lot more for AI to go and if you read all the management books they always say to take AI with a pinch of salt and that’s what we are also doing. We are very much aware that technology will be there but when packages are formed they still need human intervention. I come from a generation when computers were introduced they didn’t kill jobs but the skills of the people need to change to adapt to the new requirements it’s a service industry people are needed but it’s a different breed of people that are needed. Upskilling is very important take for example a travel consultant five years ago his job was to issue a ticket and ensure those tickets were issued but today with NDC coming in and the amount of ancillaries the staff has to know.”

At an exclusive interview with TravelTV Mohamad Mandii – Chief People Officer of Amsa Hospitality revealed their plans to build an academy dedicated to training Saudi youth in hospitality in order for them to get first hand training and experience in the industry. “We are working on many programmes but two important ones are ‘Future Generation of Saudi Hoteliers’ and ‘Saudi General Managers of Tomorrow’ which will help and support the initiatives from the ministry of tourism.” He reiterated that they are focusing on the great place to work concept to attract more youth to the industry as they target tier II cities to employ youth who know Saudi Arabia well and could provide authentic experiences to the guests. Their main focus is to provide that authentic experience to guests who will fly from across the globe to understand the beauty of Saudi Arabia.

musafir.com announced its recent partnership with Fly Egypt, appointing musafir.com as the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Fly Egypt in the UAE. This strategic collaboration aims to enhance Fly Egypt’s market presence and sales across the UAE travel network while offering the lowest fare for Sharjah to Cairo return flights in the country. Under the agreement, musafir.com has established a dedicated reservation and ticketing sales office for Fly Egypt in Sharjah, located at their Rolla branch. This office will cater exclusively to Fly Egypt customers, offering seamless booking experiences and personalized services. “This appointment aligns perfectly with our strategic goals and vision,” said Raheesh Babu, COO,musafir.com. “We are committed to increasing sales and distribution for Fly Egypt in the UAE, thereby expanding its market reach and enhancing customer satisfaction.” “We at FlyEgypt are delighted to partner with musafir.com, a leading travel agency in the UAE. This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission of making travel to Egypt more accessible and convenient for everyone, this appointment will significantly strengthen our presence in the region and allow us to offer even more value to travelers flying between Sharjah and Cairo.” said Ashraf Osman, Chief Commercial Officer, FlyEgypt. “Through musafir.com’s extensive network and expertise, we look forward to providing a seamless booking experience and unmatched affordability on this popular route. We are confident that this partnership will be a win-win for both FlyEgypt and musafir.com, ultimately creating a more convenient and enjoyable travel experience for our customers.” Osman added. Initially, musafir.com responsibilities as Fly Egypt’s GSA will focus on the Sharjah-Cairo-Sharjah route, offering direct flights at the most competitive rates in the UAE market. With flights operating three times a week on Fridays, Saturdays, …

At the recently concluded International Women’s Day celebrations by TravTalkME, panellist Aga Khatib, General Manager Panworld Travel spoke on the importance of attracting next generation to join the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. She reiterated, “I can see shifting values. I think its also important to recognise that the values are changing and how we can close the gap between the generations and how we can attract the young generation to join our industry by increasing the net revenue which industries generate. Next, we need to create for them the surroundings or conditions that speak to their values by offering flexible timings, attracting them by pointing how the tourism and hospitality industry has a great positive impact in terms of the income, revenue, connections, learning about different culture and travelling the world and also focus on personal benefits like building confidence there are many points that we need to link the benefits by source of inspiration like social media or internet.”