Rove Hotels opened its sixth hotel in Dubai – Rove At The Park – in Dubai Parks and Resorts, the largest integrated theme park destination in the region. As the opening offer, guests can stay at Rove At The Park for only AED 199 per night inclusive of two tickets to Dubai Parks and Resorts. Rove At The Park has 579 comfortably sized rooms and interconnecting family rooms, making it an ideal choice for families and groups. Guests at Dubai Parks and Resorts can access more than 100 fun and adrenaline-packed rides and attractions spread across Motiongate, Bollywood Parks, Legoland and Legoland Water Park. This is in addition to free access to themed zones, street ambience and numerous shops and restaurants at Riverland. On the opening of the new hotel, Paul Bridger, Corporate Director of Operations, Rove Hotels, said, “Guests love Rove Hotels for their convenient locations, funky interiors, chilled ambience and great service, which have made the brand one of the most popular in the city. We are excited to open Rove At The Park, our sixth and largest property in Dubai. The hotel offers a launchpad to discover Dubai Parks and Resorts and the rest of the city.” “With the opening of Rove At The Park, guests will have easy access to a vibrant new hotel that is perfect for residents looking for a quick weekend getaway. Opening a second hotel is part of Dubai Parks and Resorts’ strategy to have more than 1,300 keys at the destination by the second half of 2020. We look forward to welcoming even more tourists who will now be able to enjoy rides and attractions at the park, with the option …

Etihad Airways celebrated the introduction of its newest aircraft type, the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, on daily services to Rome, with a special dinner at the Rome Cavalieri Hotel. The airline is now flying the largest variant of this technologically-advanced aircraft from Abu Dhabi to Rome every morning, complementing a second flight each evening with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The dinner, hosted by Italian anchorwoman Roberta Capua, was attended by His Excellency Ahmed Al Mulla, UAE Deputy Ambassador to Italy, and Martin Drew, Vice President, Europe & the Americas, Etihad. Guests were treated to traditional Arabic calligraphy on arrival and music inspired by traditional Arabic instruments. The event also featured a special panel discussion dedicated to Destination Abu Dhabi, in which three guests from different industries shared their common affection for the UAE’s capital city. Guillermo Mariotto, fashion stylist and TV personality, Irene Saderini, sports reporter covering Superbike and Formula E events for Sky Sport, and Clelia Patella, art influencer and writer, passionately described their experiences about working in the city. Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “We are delighted to be here in Rome, celebrating a very special aircraft, serving a very important city in our network. The introduction of Boeing 787s across our network will enable us to further enhance our inflight experience, giving our guests the opportunity to enjoy the highly customised Dreamliner cabins in the world. We are delighted that Rome is among the first cities to receive our new 787-10 aircraft, and look forward to celebrating the introduction of the 787-9 to Milan in September.”  

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has reported a steady increase in tourism volumes from Romania, welcoming 29,670 overnight visitors in the first three months of 2019. Underscoring a 24 per cent year-on-year increase when compared to the same period in 2018, the emirate and its diverse portfolio of attractions has experienced sustained interest and a steady uplift in the number of Romanian travellers choosing Dubai as their destination of choice. Underpinned by Dubai Tourism’s efforts to create targeted and customised experiences for Romanian tourists, the emirate has established itself as a ‘must-visit’ destination by offering a variety of unique and iconic attractions to its target audience. With an evolving market strategy that is well catered to the Romanian tourist profile, the department deploys a custom-market specific approach with targeted strategic activations, always-on marketing campaigns and ongoing trade and business partnerships with key industry players, keeping the city front of mind for these travellers. Building on the city’s commitment to ensuring ease of accessibility for its key source markets, Dubai is only a short travel time away from Bucharest, and benefits from two direct daily flights between Dubai and the capital with flydubai. Other direct flights between Dubai and Bucharest as well as Cluj-Napoca are available on Hungarian airline WizzAir. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai’s Corporation of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “We have seen sustained momentum from Romanian visitors as one of our key emerging source markets, with strong double digit growth in overnight stays during the first quarter of the year. This growth is testament to the market specific approach we’ve adopted and the appeal of Dubai’s variety of attractions and experiences that cater …

Following the success of the recently extended Business and First-class stopover offer, Oman Air is launching another attractive offer for all its passengers. Partnering with the Grand Millennium Muscat, Oman Air’s guests, travelling through Oman on to their end destination, can now enjoy a free night’s accommodation in this luxurious hotel in the centre of Muscat.  Passengers travelling from the Far East on their way to Europe, or vice-versa, can now leave the airport in Muscat to enjoy a complimentary 5-star night in the capital, as well as an opportunity to have a glimpse of the city and its highlights and return to their travels the next day. Visitors wanting to extend their stay can avail attractive rates at the hotel. Richard Bodin, Senior Vice President of Oman Air Holidays, said, “We are delighted with the success of our previous campaign, offering a free stopover option to our premium guests. We are now broadening our offer to include all our passenger base and we are excited to partner with Grand Millennium Muscat for this campaign.” He added, “Oman Air has been successfully attracting passengers from across the world to use Muscat as a connection point to other destinations across our network. Campaigns like this are appealing to them to break their journey, step out of the airport and see some parts of the Sultanate; thereby, promoting Oman and all it has to offer.” Luca Medda, Cluster General Manager at Millennium Hotels and Resorts confirmed his company’s commitment to the campaign, “We are keen to promote Oman to travellers across the globe, and what better way than to get them to actually sample our quality and the famous Omani culture and …

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has further strengthened its position in Europe with a multi-city roadshow in the UK and Germany last month that brought together more than 370 tour operators and travel agents. In a bid to attract 1.5 million visitors by 2021, increased emphasis has been put on growing further awareness in key European markets. The European roadshow covered key cities including Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Edinburgh to meet industry representatives and introduce Ras Al Khaimah’s diverse and spectacular beach, desert, mountain, and adventure offerings.  Held at iconic venues such as the Emirates Stadium in London and Edinburgh Castle, the roadshow allowed participants an opportunity to discover Ras Al Khaimah’s unique proposition and its tourism products via presentations, networking events, and interactive quizzes. Haitham Mattar, Chief Executive officer of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said, “With a unique combination of authentic Arabian hospitality, pristine beaches and outdoor adventure pursuits, Ras Al Khaimah has a great appeal to holidaymakers from all over Europe. We have seen a significant growth in the number of visitors from Europe over the last couple of years, and therefore, our ongoing roadshow programme is a great vehicle to tell the story of the accessible Arabian hospitality. As we look towards our goal of 1.5 million visitors by 2021 and 3 million by 2025, it is essential to personally connect with travel professionals from our source markets to give them a real flavour of everything Ras Al Khaimah has to offer our visitors.”  

flydubai inaugurated its new service to Naples, becoming the first UAE national carrier to offer direct flights from Dubai. The new route is codeshared with Emirates and gives passengers access to more than 200 destinations worldwide on the combined network. With up to five flights a week, Naples becomes flydubai’s second destination in Italy after it launched flights to Sicily’s Catania last year. Onboard the flight was a senior delegation led by Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai and Thierry Aucoc,  Senior Vice President, Commerical Operations, Europe, Russian Federation and Latin America at Emirates, together with representatives from the regional media. On arrival in Naples, the delegation was met by Roberto Barbieri, CEO of Naples Airport and Margherita Chiaramonte, Business Aviation Development Director, Naples Airport. Commenting on the occasion, Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai said, “We are delighted to be flying to Naples, the second destination we have launched in Italy in a year. It is another example of flydubai’s decade long commitment towards opening up underserved markets and giving those in Italy more opportunities to benefit from direct flights to Dubai and beyond on our network. We look forward to the increased opportunities for trade and tourism that this new route will bring.” “Through our codeshare partnership, Emirates’ customers from across our global network, particularly from key inbound markets such as Australia, Japan and China, will now also be able to easily access Naples, while local travellers in the Naples region can connect seamlessly from their flydubai flight to Emirates flights at our Dubai hub to popular destinations such as Thailand, Australia, Egypt and China,” said Thierry Aucoc, …

The coveted, Arabian Travel Awards, on June 13, 2019, announced its partnership with Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform, for its annual award ceremony in September this year.  Arabian Travel Awards is a platform for the Middle East to recognize those behind the success of the travel and hospitality industry and to reward their continued hard work. Travelport continues to be the technology partner for the third consecutive award ceremony, reinforcing the ties between these two leading brands in the Middle East. Kathryn Wallington, Travelport’s Country Manager for the UAE, commented, “We are delighted to partner with Arabian Travel Awards 2019 for the third consecutive year as the technology partner. In the past year, Travelport has worked closely with customers and partners to launch a series of innovative solutions in travel distribution and emerging technologies, such as mobile, AR/VR, blockchain etc. Meanwhile, we have solidified our leading position in rich content with over 270 airlines currently benefiting from Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising. We also have a solid roadmap to embrace IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC).” Arabian Travel Awards are fair and unbiased, following a systematic method of internet-based voting. These awards are supported by media partners Travel TV.News, TravTalk Middle East, tourismbreakingnews and TravTalk India. “This is the third consecutive year that Travelport is coming onboard as our technology partner at the Arabian Travel Awards and we are very excited to welcome them. Having one the world’s biggest GDS platform as a partner is not a mean feat to achieve and we are happy that our association has only grown over the years. This is also a great opportunity for our award winners who will be recognized on …

Visitors coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Jeddah Season 2019 can obtain a tourist visa in three minutes or less through the Sharek e-Visa website. Implemented by the Organising Committee for Jeddah Season 2019, the online application method is linked to ticket purchases for Jeddah Season 2019 events. Once visitors buy a ticket, they can get an instant e-Visa simply by logging on to www.sharek.sa and following the step-by-step instructions. “Making it quick and easy to obtain an entry visa will encourage more tourists to discover the beauty of Jeddah, known affectionately as the Bride of the Red Sea, attracting regional and international visitors to the 2019 edition of Jeddah Season, said Eng. Raed Abuzinada, General Supervisor of the Jeddah Season. “The introduction of the e-Visa system will have a positive impact on the travel and tourism sector, which is a key driver of the nation’s economy and remains a vital component of the economic diversification that is a fundamental aim of Vision 2030.” Jeddah Season 2019 offers visitors a dazzling choice of more than 150 events and activities celebrating music, arts, culture and sports. Taking place from June 8 till   July 18, 2019, the inaugural edition of the festival aims to position Jeddah as the capital of tourism and entertainment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), in partnership with Emirates Airlines, has embarked on a three-city roadshow, which is taking place from June 11, 2019 in Budapest and will run until June 14, 2019 covering other key stops; Warsaw and Prague. The series is aimed towards focusing the spotlight on Sharjah’s main tourist attractions across three key markets in Central Europe for the first time. “The three-city roadshow forms part of SCTDA’s ongoing efforts to accelerate Sharjah’s tourism industry. It also serves as one of our key contributions to the government’s economic diversification policy. Additionally, by organizing strategic B2B events, we are demonstrating our commitment to tapping new source markets worldwide to boost our international tourist arrivals as per the objectives of Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021. We look forward to highlighting why Sharjah is a destination of choice among global visitors,” H.E Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, said. “These B2B events in Budapest, Warsaw, and Prague are being held to help raise awareness about Sharjah’s diverse tourist offerings and advanced amenities along with increased ease with which people can travel to the emirate,” H.E. Al Midfa added. The roadshow will also be featuring workshop and networking sessions. Apart from SCTDA officials, Sharjah delegates will include Sharjah Investment & Development Authority (Shurooq); Emirates Airlines, Air Arabia, Sharjah National Hotels along with Sharjah-based DMC – Orient Tours; The Sharjah Collection, Managed by Mysk; Coral Beach Resort & Spa; Golden Tulip Hotel Apartments; Sheraton Sharjah Beach Resort &Spa; and Four Points by Sheraton, Occidental Sharjah Grand.

Dubai welcomed India’s first premium cruise liner, ‘Karnika’ by Jalesh Cruises, to Mina Rashid as it homeport in Dubai for the season. Christened in an official naming ceremony in Mumbai, India last month, Karnika’ is Jalesh Cruises first liner to homeport in the region, marking a significant milestone for both the Indian domestic and international cruise industry. In celebration of this significant occasion, a traditional ‘Plaques and Keys Exchange’ ceremony was hosted on board in the presence of the ship’s captain and key industry stakeholders from the Dubai Cruise Committee. The vessel will commence the operation of regular Arabian Gulf itineraries from June to mid-September 2019, entertaining both residents and visitors of Dubai. Cruise aficionados can choose from two itineraries a week with Dubai as the home port; the Friday itinerary is set to cover Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, while the Monday itinerary will include Muscat and Khasab. Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Mannai, CEO of P&O Marinas and Mina Rashid, said, “Proving its position as the Middle East’s leading cruise destination, Karnika’s arrival highlights the value proposition Mina Rashid offers to luxury cruise lines globally. Our world-class quality services have exhibited Mina Rashid to be the preferred tourist destination, observing a 172 per cent increase in visitors between 2014 and 2018.” Jamal Alfalasi, Director of Dubai Cruise Tourism, said, “Our support for Jalesh Cruises further cements the enduring bond that exists between India and the emirate, underpinning our continued commitment to Dubai’s top performing source market which brought in more than 564,836 visitors during Q1 of 2019.” Jurgen Bailom, President & CEO, Jalesh Cruises, said, “It is an honour and a privilege for us at Jalesh Cruises to bring India’s …