As a consequence of the growing interest in Sochi as a travel destination, the Dubai-based airline flydubai has inaugurated its new flight from Dubai to Sochi on June 7, 2019. Earlier this year, authorities from the UAE and the Russian Federation announced a visa-free regime between the two countries for the respective passport holders over the first 90-day period upon arrival. This ensures the utmost convenience for Middle East travellers. The recently launched non-stop flight from Dubai to Sochi operates twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. The WOW Sochi office in Dubai provides tantalising packages that are tailor-made to suit every category of sightseers with options to explore Sochi depending on your personal needs and desires. Packages with WOW Sochi start from 2,499 AED including airfares, accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers and selected tours. Rashid Al Noori, the representative of Sochi city in the UAE remarked that, “Now that we have an air bridge link between Dubai and Sochi city many UAE nationals and residents will be encouraged to explore this beautiful city where travellers will enjoy cool climate during summer months and savour a beautiful landscape with many activities to fulfill their desire during their holidays. One great advantage which the visitors to Sochi will notice is that the pricing in comparison with any other city is extremely reasonable.”

Global carrier Turkish Airlines added its 56th destination in Africa, Nigeria’s Port Harcourt with four weekly flights between Istanbul and Port Harcourt. Already flying to Lagos, Kano and Abuja in Nigeria, Turkish Airlines added Port Harcourt to the list, increasing its flight network to 311 destinations. With this launch, the global carrier continues to be the leader as the airline that flies to more destinations than any other airline in Africa. During the press conference in International Port Harcourt Airport held for the inaugural flight, Kerem Sarp, Turkish Airlines Senior Vice President of Sales (2nd Region), said, “By starting our Port Harcourt flights, we added a new milestone to Turkish Airlines’ mission of growth in Africa. With Port Harcourt as our fourth destination in Nigeria, Turkish Airlines continues to be the bridge between cultures. We are happy to add Port Harcourt to our flight network, and enable our passengers  to experience a seamless flight journey with Turkish Airlines privilege.”

Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS), the B2B brand within Expedia Group, is bringing its competitive rates and availability for more than 500,000 accommodations to technology specialist dcs plus and its travel partners. The new venture enabled through EPS’s newest hotel API, Rapid, will broaden and deepen dcs plus’s inventory offering, particularly in emerging markets in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. With the implementation of EPS Rapid, dcs plus will be able to offer its partners access to 35 different accommodation types including hotels, resorts, treehouses and houseboats, across more than 25,000 global destinations. The API’s modular architecture also allows for versatility to meet partners’ varying needs. Fritz Oberhummer, Director of Account Management Platforms, EPS, EMEA says, “dcs plus’s reliable solutions have allowed us to expand our reach and provide travel agents and travel management companies across the world with access to EPS’s extensive accommodation portfolio, through EPS Rapid. dcs plus combines its accommodation offering from EPS with travel products, such as flights and car hire, to build dynamic packaging solutions for travel agents.” Andrei Savin, Alliances and Partners Senior Manager, dcs plus, says, “A key factor in our decision to work with EPS was the ability to further extend our existing partner base and give added value to the travel partners we share. We recognise the value of EPS’s cutting edge travel technology products and are excited to work with these to power our partners’ travel businesses.”    

Etihad Airways is preparing to launch seasonal summer flights from Abu Dhabi to the historic Egyptian city of Alexandria, one of oldest continuously-inhabited locations in the world and home to the Great Library of Alexandria and one of the ancient world wonders, the Pharos Lighthouse. This famous coastal city is also a convenient gateway for many of the Egyptian expatriates living in the UAE and planning to return home during the summer holidays. Between July 2 and August 31, the Airbus A320 flights will depart Abu Dhabi at 2.15 pm every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, arriving in Alexandria at 4:00 pm. Return flights will depart Alexandria at 4:50 pm, arriving back in Abu Dhabi at 10:40 pm. With the addition of these seasonal services, Etihad will operate a total of 32 flights per week to Egypt – 28 flights to Cairo and four to Alexandria. Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Alexandria is one of the most popular holiday destinations for UAE residents, and our new seasonal flights are timed to provide access for tourists during the peak summer period. These flights will also be a convenient option for many of the Egyptian nationals living in the UAE and planning to return home during the holiday season.”  

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, Dubai will be hosting the first Accessible Tourism International Summit from November 5 to 6 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). Supported by the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing as Destination Partner, the first edition of the summit will be held under the theme of “making all cities friendly for tourists with disabilities” and aims at highlighting the challenges faced by about one billion People with Disabilities during their travel as visitors or tourists to cities around the world. The summit will also discuss the necessity to strengthen the legislations, laws, infrastructure and services catering to the needs of tourists with disabilities and their aspirations to explore the world with ease. “The UAE has done a great deal on its course to achieve its vision of becoming a friendly country for People with Disabilities. This summit falls within this framework and aims to share insights, experiences and best practices and translate these into a concrete practice bound to enable over one billion people to reach their destination with ease,” said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Patron of the summit. Dubai is working hard to achieve its vision of becoming a friendly city for people with disabilities by 2020, with all concerned entities in the Emirate working to achieve this goal by implementing the relevant laws and regulations in place and adapting smart solutions to provide the best services for this segment, especially with Dubai targeting 25 million tourists in 2025. …

Air Arabia announced the launch of direct flights between Sharjah and Vienna, capital of Austria, starting September 15, 2019. The non-stop six-hour flight to Vienna, popularly known as the ‘City of Music’, will initially operate four times a week, on Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and will increase to daily flights starting mid-December from Sunday to Saturday. Flights on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays will depart Sharjah International Airport at 17:35 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 21:50 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 22:40 hours arriving in Sharjah the next day at 06:20 hours local time. Flights operating on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays will depart Sharjah International Airport at 07:25 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 11:40 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 12:30 hours arriving in Sharjah at 20:10 hours local time. On Wednesdays, flights are scheduled to depart from Sharjah International Airport early in the morning at 07:15 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 11:30 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 12:20 hours arriving in Sharjah at 20:00 hours local time. Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, said, “We are pleased to announce the new route from Sharjah to Vienna, one of Europe’s leading cultural and economic centres. This daily service linking the two cities will further strengthen the trade and tourism ties between both nations, while providing our leisure and business travellers with a new choice for value-for-money air travel.”

Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has provided a positive outlook of the industry to leading stakeholders and partners at its first biannual city briefing event, highlighting the sector’s performance across key markets, and sharing first-hand insights into major developments, marketing initiatives and future growth strategies. Led by His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of Dubai Tourism, the city briefing held at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City last week comes within the framework of regular industry engagements initiated by the Department to further enhance collaboration with its stakeholders. The event was attended by nearly 1,000 managers and key executives representing all industry segments, from hospitality to tour operators, tourism attractions to destination management companies, as well as top officials from Dubai Police and Expo 2020 Dubai. Addressing the gathering of industry professionals and senior government officials, HE Helal Saeed Almarri, said, “Maintaining a robust industry is at the core of our cross-sector efforts, and as we look ahead, we are confident that our continued cooperation with both public and private sector partners will ensure that Dubai remains a must-visit destination.” Major General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansour, Assistant to the Commander-in-chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs at Dubai Police, said, “Dubai Police is pleased to be a part of this event as it gives us an opportunity to exchange ideas and views with leading players in Dubai’s tourism industry, and secure their support towards further enhancing the safety and security of visitors.” Sanjive Khosla, Deputy Chief – Sales and Marketing at Expo 2020 Dubai, said, “With fewer than 500 days until Expo 2020 opens, our preparations are well on track.  We will be welcoming millions of tourists from around the …

GFH Financial Group signed the Operation Agreement with H Hotels & Resorts Management (H Hotels) for the operation of an exclusive, new 5-star hotel and residences currently under development at the landmark Harbour Row waterfront project located in the heart of Manama. The move will mark H Hospitality Collection’s entrance into the Bahrain market adding to the UAE based company’s growing collection of luxury hotels and resorts internationally including: The H Dubai, The H Resort Seychelles, CentreVille Hotel & Experiences Montenegro and Villa Diyafa in Morocco. Other properties in the company’s portfolio also include Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove in the Seychelles and two hotels under construction in Mecca and Abu Dhabi. The hotel and residences will boast a host of world-class facilities including stylish restaurants, meeting rooms, pool, gym and other lifestyle amenities set to attract and satisfy the most discerning visitors and buyers.  Hisham Al Rayes, CEO of GFH, said, “We are delighted to announce this agreement with H Hotels, who have built a world-class portfolio of well-known properties and brands. We are especially pleased that Harbour Row will mark their first property in the Kingdom of Bahrain, both benefiting from and supporting Bahrain’s vision to further elevate its position as a leading regional tourism and leisure hub.” Claudio Capaccioli, CEO of H Hospitality Collection, added, “We look forward to working with GFH in order to maximise the many unique aspects of Harbour Row including its exclusive and much sought-after waterfront location, easy access to all major commercial and business centres and close proximity to key tourist attractions across the Kingdom.”

Two of the leading airlines Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines announced the enhancement of their current codeshare agreement with additional destinations both from Turkish Airlines’ and LOT’s flight network. Through this enhanced partnership, Turkish Airlines and LOT will reciprocally add their flight codes on the following  flights in addition to Istanbul-Warsaw, from Warsaw to Krakow, Gdansk, Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Rzeszow. From Istanbul to Ankara, Bahrain, Izmir, Beirut, Adana, Baghdad, Antalya, Dubai, Dalaman, Kuwait, Amman, Budapest, Cairo and Johannesburg. “With the introduction of joint flights on several destinations in Poland, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, passengers would enjoy more travel alternatives through the combined flights. Without a doubt, this agreement will help increase the commercial and tourism ties of our countries,” said Bilal Ekşi, Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman & CEO. Joint flights will offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Istanbul, the biggest Turkish city and also an important flight hub in the world, to Warsaw and beyond. “The enhanced partnership with Turkish Airlines will help us not only expand LOT route network and offer many new attractive destinations to our passengers but also improve connectivity and travel experience on existing codeshare routes beyond Istanbul, such as Ankara, Cairo or Amman,” said Rafal Milczarski, CEO & President of the Management Board of LOT Polish Airlines.  

The inaugural Global DMC Network Roadshow by JTB Group was conducted at Conrad Dubai. JTB owns the companies worldwide with over 100 years of experience in the global networking arena with 502 offices in 143 cities in 39 countries with 29,000 employees. It is a leader in global destination management capable of providing unparalleled services all over the world in the fields of leisure, FIT or global MiCE. This roadshow was organised in conjunction with Venture Planet, the local vendor which invited over 100 travel agents in Dubai. The event started out with an introduction to the programme by the Global Marketing Team of the Global DMC Network by JTB Group. Thereafter the agents were divided into groups with four different break-out sessions where they learned an in-depth study about the destinations and the offerings for this specific market. Some of the companies under the umbrella who attended were Europamundo, Tumlare Destination Management, Tour East/CSO Tour East and Global DMC in Japan. The special discussions held by Europamundo Vacaciones in Arabic saw a very keen audience.