Thailand and Myanmar will become the latest two destinations to be added from December 2019 on flydubai. The airline will launch flights to Krabi in Thailand and Yangon in Myanmar, expanding its network to Southeast Asia. The new daily flights are codeshared with Emirates and will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB) starting from December 10, 2019. Krabi International Airport (KBV) serves as a gateway to Krabi province in southern Thailand and neighbouring regions like Malaysia and Singapore. With the launch of the daily service, which is operated via a stop in Yangon in Myanmar, flydubai becomes the first UAE national carrier to offer flights to Krabi. The new direct flights to Yangon International Airport (RGN) will also give passengers easier access to the largest city and commercial centre of Myanmar. Commenting on the launch of the two new routes, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai said, “Over the past 10 years we have remained committed to opening up underserved markets, enabling millions of passengers to travel with more ease from as far as Helsinki in the west to Krabi in the east via Dubai’s aviation hub.” Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations (UAE, GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) at flydubai, said, “The launch of the new routes will further support the trade links between the UAE, Myanmar and Thailand. We are confident that flydubai’s daily flights will be popular for passengers not only travelling from the UAE but also from the GCC and those connecting from Europe and the USA on the Emirates network.”      

Adding to its mid-scale range, Accor is bolstering its portfolio in the United Arab Emirates to 58 hotels with the opening of the Novotel Bur Dubai in Healthcare City. With an ideal location just a short distance from Dubai Creek and within walking distance of Dubai Healthcare City Metro Station, Novotel Bur Dubai will also offer guests a shuttle service to the city’s world-renowned shopping malls, beaches and tourist destinations. Novotel Bur Dubai features 219 rooms and suites, along with a wide range of wellness facilities and leisure activities, including a fully equipped fitness centre, an outdoor temperature-controlled swimming pool and massage treatments as well as carefully curated F&B options focusing on health and wellness. It will also be the only Novotel in the United Arab Emirates with an outdoor jacuzzi, which can be found on the private balcony of the Executive Suite. Novotel Bur Dubai offers specially designed rooms for guests with physical disabilities (People of Determination) as well as interconnecting family-friendly rooms. Special opening rates, starting from AED 250 per room, per night – including complimentary breakfast and Wi-Fi – are available for stays from August 1 to 31, 2019.

Cozmo Travel, a travel management company owned by Air Arabia Group, has inaugurated its 30th branch in the UAE. The sixth branch located in Dubai Investment Park (DIP) was inaugurated by Shalini Rajan, Head of Sales and Cargo, Air Arabia. According to Jamal Abdulnazar, CEO of Cozmo Travel, “The opening of our new and 6th branch in Ramla Mall, Dubai is yet another milestone in realising our vision of becoming the leading travel agency in the Middle East. The new office will serve as a strategic location in Dubai along with other major locations that we already operate from. More outlets will be opened in Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi and we will expand our global service to Egypt, Jordan, and Oman in 2019”. Headquartered in Sharjah, Cozmo Travel offers customised travel solutions for independent and corporate travellers and has branches in easily accessible strategic locations across the seven emirates. The company presently offers services from 11 branches in Sharjah, three in Ajman, two in Fujairah, two in Ras Al Khaimah, three in Abu Dhabi, two in Al Ain, one in UAQ and six in Dubai. Since its launch in 2010, Cozmo Travel has been consistent in delivering excellent services and expanding its reach in the market. The customer-driven organisation with over 1,000+ highly experienced professionals has its global presence in nine countries namely in KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, India, China, Oman, Egypt and Jordan.

World Trade Center (WTC) Abu Dhabi, the mixed-use urban centre of the capital’s downtown area, has unveiled an updated visual brand identity and enhanced shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences. The iconic landmark destination has expanded its retail mix by introducing 25 new stores to Abu Dhabi’s downtown shopping hub, with a broadened range of fashion, lifestyle, and dining options. The refreshed offering at WTC Abu Dhabi is part of a comprehensive enhancement project based on direct feedback from consumers and extensive research into their preferences. The project enables WTC Abu Dhabi to continue serving centrally located business clientele and residents alike with a premium offering that reflects contemporary downtown living, with a fully integrated mixed-use space comprising offices, residences, retail, and a 4-star hotel. The transformation includes adding new anchor stores across four floors, creating new food and beverage outlets on the Liwa Street side of the mall, and inaugurating the new distinctive LuLu department store and hypermarket on two levels of the Souk – set to offer the best deals on groceries, electronics, fashion and much more in the UAE capital. The all-new hypermarket concept and revamped store design is spread across 18,170 sq m and offers the brand’s first in-store sushi station, along with dedicated self-service and automated checkout counters for efficient transactions. Speaking at the launch was Yasser Al Marzouqi, General Manager of WTC Abu Dhabi who stated that over the years the destination was a favourite amongst cruise passengers as it’s close to the terminal. He reiterated that this transformation will attract the GCC visitors with leading brands being housed in the premises.  

Millennium Hotels and Resorts Middle East and Africa unveiled its partnership with Holidays by flydubai, the holidays division of the Dubai-based airline, with an aim to boost the MEA tourism sector. Through this agreement, Millennium Hotels and Resorts and flydubai customers can have access to exclusive benefits and packages offered by Holidays by flydubai. Alexander Suski, Associate Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, commented, “Our partnership with Holidays by flydubai comes as part of our efforts to build strategic partnerships and drive more footfalls to the region. We look forward to providing special packages and preferred rates for flydubai passengers to enjoy a unique hospitality experience and have a memorable stay at our hotels and resorts.” Nelson D’Souza, Vice President, Holidays by flydubai, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with Millennium Hotels and Resorts and we look forward to the increased opportunities that our passengers will have when booking their tailor-made packages with Holidays by flydubai.” flydubai’s Holidays division was launched in 2018 and has been consistently growing its product offering across the flydubai network. The online portal is designed to be a one-stop shop for passengers to browse for and book their holiday packages consisting of flights and hotels, with the option to add ancillary services.  

Hilton and Alshaya Group announced a significant development of their ongoing relationship with the exclusive signing of a master development agreement to rapidly launch and develop 70 Hampton by Hilton hotels in nine countries, with the majority of these in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Russia. With the first hotel expected to open in Kuwait in 2021, Alshaya Group will deliver 50 hotels in the next eight years, with another 20 in the development pipeline, significantly expanding Hampton by Hilton’s presence in the region. Hampton by Hilton is the leading global hospitality brand in the focused service hotel category, with nearly 2,500 hotels operating in 27 countries and territories around the world, making it the largest brand in Hilton’s portfolio. “We are delighted to reach this exclusive agreement with Alshaya Group, strengthening our partnership and further expanding our global Hampton by Hilton portfolio,” said Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton. “Alshaya has been an important partner, particularly as we celebrate 100 years of pioneering the hospitality industry this year, and we look forward to working together to introduce travellers to Hampton by Hilton in these high-growth destinations.” “There is growing demand for high quality accommodation in the region and we are excited by the potential of the Hampton by Hilton brand”, said Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of Alshaya Group. “This is an important new partnership for Alshaya, further diversifying our offer to consumers, and allowing us to replicate the global success of Hampton by Hilton in our operating markets.”

Dubai Retail, the retail management arm of Dubai Holding, has announced that JRG Dubai, its home-grown restaurant management company, has rebranded as Sarood Hospitality, marking a new era for the UAE-born company. Part of Dubai Retail’s strategic efforts to propel the emirate’s food and beverage industry and establish Dubai as an innovative force in the global hospitality sector, the creation of Sarood Hospitality comes as Dubai Retail aims to reinvent a number of its unique F&B outlets to continue to be ahead of market trends, while meeting the needs of increasingly sophisticated consumers. As a full-service hospitality brand, Sarood Hospitality’s portfolio includes Al Nafoorah, The Noodle House, Pierchic, Flow, The Duck Hook, Hillhouse Brasserie, Khaymat Al Bahar, Pai Thai, Perry & Blackwelder’s, Segreto, and Trattoria Toscana. “Sarood Hospitality is much more than a name, it is a vision and philosophy that sets a clear direction for the future of Dubai Retail as an independent leader in restaurant management and unique concepts born in Dubai,” said Nabil Ramadhan, CEO of Dubai Retail. “Sarood refers to the traditional woven mats decorated elaborately and used in the presentation of food during meals. We chose Sarood Hospitality because the name symbolises how the company’s iconic restaurant brands are already interwoven in the fabric of Dubai and serve as true symbols of hospitality and multi-faceted sustainability,” added Ramadhan.

The deadline for technology start-ups to enter this year’s international AED 100,000 Futurism Programme, a zero-equity accelerator initiative of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, closes on July 31, 2019. The annual Futurism Programme aims to boost technology innovation within the tourism industry ecosystem and further position Dubai as a leading international technology hub for start-ups. Since it was launched earlier this month, the 3rd edition of the Futurism Programme, run in collaboration with leading professional services company, Accenture, has generated strong interest among start-ups around the world, resulting in high quality submissions to date. The 2019 Futurism Programme has the support of key industry partners and investors representing a broad spectrum of sectors, from travel to hospitality, and aviation to artificial intelligence, finance to technology and transportation. They include strategic partner, Seera Group, and industry partners Atlantis The Palm, Emaar Hospitality Group, the Emirates Group and Accor Hotels. Commenting on the latest edition of the Futurism Programme, His Excellency, Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, said, “Our Futurism Programme is inspired by the Dubai 10X initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to develop disruptive strategies and solutions that will propel Dubai 10 years in front of other world cities.” Abdullah Bin Nasser Aldawood, Chief Executive Officer, Seera Group, said, “We are honoured to partner with the international Futurism Programme by Dubai Tourism, which underlines the concerted efforts to drive technology innovation in the travel and tourism sector. Our region’s young, tech-savvy youth will be at the heart of this transformational initiative that will encourage start-ups to present innovative ideas to …

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi celebrated its first anniversary on July 25, 2019. Since its opening, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi has garnered a total of eight prestigious industry awards. Voted for by residents of Abu Dhabi, the park won the Best Day Out, Gold Award at the Pride of Abu Dhabi Awards 2018. In addition, the park was named amongst TIME Magazine’s 100 World’s Greatest Places to experience in 2018. Warner Bros. World was also awarded Best Theme Park by the Theme Park Insider Awards 2019 and took home the award for the Middle East’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards Middle East 2019. Additionally, not only was the park named this year’s Best Theme Park by the MENALAC Awards, it was also awarded Best New Leisure and Entertainment Concept and Best Sales and Marketing Campaign. During the last 365 days, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi hosted seasonal events including the Chinese New Year, Spring Hop as well as this year’s edition of the World Travel Awards Middle East Gala. With a day full of celebrations, guests revelled in the festivities alongside their favourite DC Super Heroes including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman as well as animated characters from Looney Tunes and Hannah-Barbera such as Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, and Scooby-Doo. Carrying on in the celebratory spirit, adventure seekers went on to enjoy the park’s 29 state-of-the-art exhilarating rides, interactive family-friendly attractions and unique live entertainment shows.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) will be hosting the inaugural World Travel & Tourism Council Middle East & North Africa Leaders Forum on October 2, 2019 bringing together key industry leaders to discuss the core issues facing the region’s travel & tourism sector. The forum will be organised for the first time in the region and held at Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Center, Ras Al Khaimah. Bringing together government agencies, industry associations, CEOs and senior leaders of the top travel and tourism companies, experts, and media from across the region, the WTTC Middle East & North Africa Leaders Forum will delve into contemporary issues facing the sector and discuss growth opportunities to advance the regional agenda. The one-day forum will engage 150-200 leaders in keynotes and panel discussions focusing on key themes, including; challenges and investment opportunities; job creation and skill development; climate and environment action; and digital disruption. Raki Phillips, CEO of RAKTDA said, “Tourism is one of Ras Al Khaimah’s most important economic sectors and is considered a key engine for continued GDP growth and job creation in the UAE. The opportunity to host this prestigious industry forum comes at a pivotal time as we aim to fuel a sustainable tourism-driven economic growth in Ras Al Khaimah, as guided by our current Destination Strategy 2019-2021.” Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said, “Through the Middle East & North Africa Leaders Forum, we will bring together the region’s top travel leaders to discuss the pressing issues of the day, including investment trends, visa facilitation and climate action.”