GuestReady Dubai has unveiled the top events for homeowners and property investors to look out for during the year 2020. With Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) and the Dubai Jazz Festival expected to spur a significant increase in international visitation, landlords stand a chance to earn up to 39 per cent more than they would during a typical week. Leveraging insights from data provided by AirDNA, which analyses the performance of over 10 million vacation rentals across 80,000 cities worldwide, GuestReady Dubai has identified Arab Health, the Dubai International Boat Show, the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships, the Dubai Design Week, and Expo 2020 Dubai as other major events where hosts can maximise their earning potential by ensuring that the booking calendar is open for guests to make reservations. With the three-day Dubai Jazz Festival underway, landlords can earn an average revenue of AED 2,921 with RevPAR going up 35.55 per cent at AED 584.2 from AED 430.97 from 26-28 February. Average nights per booking is set to be seven as opposed to 6.21 nights without the event, and booking lead time is expected to be 44 days. As for Expo 2020 Dubai, RevPAR is projected at AED 560-802 with eight nights per reservation, and a booking lead time of 34-62 days. Reem Al Khatib, Managing Director, GuestReady Dubai, commented, “With 2020 being a milestone year for the emirate as it is set to host highly anticipated events such as Expo 2020 Dubai, holiday homes are projected to experience a substantial increase across three key KPIs of occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. We have reaffirmed our commitment to delivering superior value to our customers by providing the actionable insights that will help them …

Some of Ireland’s top travel, tourism and hospitality organisations visited the UAE this week for Ireland’s 10th annual Trade Mission. The island of Ireland has witnessed a 34 per cent increase in visitor numbers from the GCC over the past five years, and the UAE specifically remains one of the fastest growing emerging markets for the country. The visit was organised to further promote tourism, travel and bilateral connections between the two countries. The event took place in Abu Dhabi on January 27 and Dubai on January 28, more than 200 UAE companies met with the Irish business partners directly, to further strengthen relations and business opportunities by means of a series of 1-2-1 appointments, workshops and networking sessions. The two-day event focused on two core themes: ‘Taste the Island’ – a three-year long festival that promotes the island of Ireland’s extensive catalogue of food and drink experiences to domestic and international visitors; and ‘Embrace a giant spirit’ – a theme launched by Tourism Northern Ireland to communicate a high quality experience to visitors that is recognisable as distinctively Northern Irish. Siobhan McManamy, Director of Markets for Tourism Ireland, presented this year’s workshops, highlighting the Middle East’s impact on Ireland’s global vision 2025, “Experiencing year on year growth for the past five years is testament to draw of the island of Ireland as a holiday destination for UAE residents and locals. Visa-free travel for UAE nationals, coupled with strong relationships with the travel industry and media as well as co-operative partnerships with airlines will continue to make Ireland a must-visit destination for this region.”

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced the debut of La Quinta by Wyndham in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa) market with the opening of the 404-room La Quinta by Wyndham Istanbul Gunesli, bringing the brand to travellers outside of the Americas for the first time.  La Quinta by Wyndham is a leading upper-midscale brand at over 900 hotels across North and Latin America, offering contemporary design, thoughtful amenities and friendly service. Wyndham acquired La Quinta’s hotel franchise and hotel management businesses in 2018, further building upon the company’s diverse family of hotel brands and offerings around the world. La Quinta by Wyndham Istanbul Gunesli is one of the latest additions to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ presence in Turkey, where the company is the largest international hotel group with over 80 hotels all across the country. Dimitris Manikis, President & Managing Director for EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are thrilled to welcome La Quinta and its long-standing reputation for delivering quality, reliability and a great guest experience to the EMEA region, further expanding our offering of brands in such an important market like Turkey. With a record of over 13 million international visitors in 2018 alone and an incredible variety of historical, cultural and business sites, Istanbul is one of the world’s most attractive cities for travel, making it the perfect fit for La Quinta’s European debut.”

VFS Global, an official ticket reseller for Expo 2020 Dubai, to be held in the UAE between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021, has revealed the packages it will be offering visitors from March 2020, in an official ceremony held in Riyadh. Customers travelling to the UAE during Expo 2020 will be able to either visit vfsglobal.com, or head to a VFS Global Visa Application Centre in Riyadh or Jeddah, and reserve their Expo 2020 tickets from the Dubai Travel Shop on site. VFS Global will be offering the following single- and three-day passes to the expo, as well as a range of packages: Inclusions Rates (in AED) ½ Day Dubai city tour + 1 day Expo ticket 193+ 5% VAT 1 Day Abu Dhabi city tour + 1 day Expo ticket 258+ 5% VAT Desert Safari + 1 day Expo ticket 298+ 5% VAT Desert Safari (Overnight camping with Igloo tent & sleeping bag) + 1 Day Expo ticket 408 +5% VAT Dubai Canal Dhow Dinner cruise + 1 Day Expo ticket 328 +5% VAT Dubai visa + 1 day Expo ticket 462+ 5% VAT Customers who opt to submit their visa application through the Premium Lounge can also enjoy discounts on the packages they purchase. Open seven days a week for a period of 173 days and featuring over 190 country pavilions, Expo 2020 Dubai is set to be the biggest show in the UAE.

Following the declaration of intent signed between Turkish Airlines and BVMW last year, the global carrier continues its commitment to this strategic partnership. BVMW and its vast network of members can enjoy the exclusive advantages when flying with Turkish Airlines for their travels around the globe with the extensive flight network of the global carrier that includes 318 international destinations in 126 countries, more than any other airline. Held at the capital of Germany recently, BVMW (German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses) General Assembly was the meeting point for many entrepreneurs, political leaders, CEOs and prominent names of their respective fields. Turkish Airlines was also in attendance as the company’s ties with the German organisation was highlighted by the speech of M. İlker Aycı., Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines. During his speech at the 2020 BVMW General Assembly, Aycı stated, “Turkish Airlines, has been flying to Germany since 1960. Since then, Germany has become our one of the most important markets outside Turkey as we carried millions of passengers between our countries. We at Turkish Airlines are pleased to be a substantial partner of Germany’s Mittelstand businesses. I am happy to state that Turkish Airlines and BVMW have formed a relationship on a strategic level and member companies can now enjoy exclusive advantages when flying with Turkish Airlines for their trips all over the world. We believe that this special relationship will further improve in the years to come as Turkish Airlines and BVMW have both the will and means to work even closer.” Turkish Airlines also plans to open a dedicated communications line for the members of BVMW in order to allow them …

Amadeus and Seera Group have strengthened their partnership to drive technology innovation in the region’s tourism sector. This follows a year of successful partnership between the two leading entities that led to significant digital transformation of travel and tourism services offered by Seera Group and helped enhance its all-round business efficiency. With the renewed partnership, Seera Group works closely with Amadeus to strengthen its online business further, integrating digital touch-points across all its operations, including its flagship corporate and government travel business, elaa. As the travel tech provider across Seera’s diverse portfolio of services, Amadeus brings cutting-edge innovation and state-of-the-art tech tools that enhance customer service standards and bring higher operational efficiency across the Group. In other highlights of the successful partnership, Amadeus is supporting Seera Group in expanding its omni-channel consumer travel business, Almosafer, across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and beyond, in addition to the ongoing digitisation of booking services for corporate and government travel via elaa. Amadeus has been an ongoing strategic partner of Seera Group and has provided a host of technical support that helped consolidate the Group’s online business through tools such as Touchless that scaled up its efficiency of operations. Seera will implement the latest Amadeus solutions relating to hotel content, virtual credit card payment capabilities, fare optimisation solutions and content via NDC (New Distribution Capability) connectivity. The Group will also implement new products by Amadeus to enhance operational efficiency.

H.E Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), opened the second edition of the Global Investment in Aviation Summit (GIAS 2020) on January 27, 2020. Organised by GCAA under the theme ‘Enabling global aviation growth through fundraising and key partnerships’, the three-day event got off to a flying start, with the largest ever gathering of aviation ministers and heads of civil aviation authorities from around the world. The event witnessed a remarkable presence of aviation ministers and heads of civil aviation authorities from across the globe, in addition to a stellar galaxy of leading aviation companies, airlines, aircraft operators and investors, as well as a large number of visitors from more than 57 countries. The GIAS 2020 aims to offer a platform for stakeholders to share insights, experiences and expertise, as well as discuss latest aviation trends, with an ultimate goal of laying out strategies and mechanisms that help channel more investment into the aviation sector and consequently boost the growth and sustainability of global economy. In his opening speech, H.E Al Mansouri welcomed participating guests. He said, “The GIAS 2020 aims to highlight promising investment opportunities in the aviation sector, especially in light of the giant infrastructure projects being implemented in the UAE and worldwide as part of international efforts to advance the aviation industry, as a locomotive of global economy and one of its main drivers. This edition of GIAS is held in 2020, the ‘Year of preparing for the next 50’, as announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed …

Dubai Business Events (DBE) hosted the third edition of Dubai Global Wedding Excellence Retreat from 9-12 January, 2020. The retreat was held as part of the city’s wider efforts to attract destination weddings and further diversify Dubai’s visitor base. Over the course of four days, the retreat welcomed over 75 destination wedding planners, industry experts and influencers from around the globe with participants coming from India, Turkey, Lebanon, Nigeria, UK, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, US, China, Australia and GCC. The itinerary consisted of inspection visits and events at key hotels, venues and attractions around the city in partnership with stakeholders in the hospitality, events and entertainment sectors. Highlights of the retreat included- an opening party at The Ritz-Carlton Dubai; a themed lunch at Kinara by Vikas Khanna at the new JA Lake View Hotel; a gala dinner at Sofitel Dubai The Palm; and a closing party at Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai. In addition, the retreat included a Leadership Forum at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai, with experts discussing current trends and challenges in the destination wedding sector as well as a workshop of business meetings between the participants and Dubai based wedding industry suppliers.   Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “During their stay, the wedding planners were able to see and experience the city’s diverse offerings and services available to them, and all of this was made possible by the strong support we saw from stakeholders across Dubai, in addition to broadening the overall tourism horizon. As we continue to leverage opportunities to further expand Dubai’s visitor base, destination weddings hold strong potential, with the city’s combination of world class and …

SpiceJet and Amadeus recently organised a series of empowerment sessions for the region’s travel community held in Dubai, UAE. More than 100 travel consultants participated in the sessions, which focused on how the Gulf’s travel industry can collaborate to better define and deliver offers to travel agents, corporates, and individual travellers. A number of success cases were also presented during the sessions, including SpiceJet’s MoU with Gulf Air and codeshare agreement with Emirates. Ernesto Sanchez Beaumont, Managing Director of Amadeus Gulf, briefed audiences on how the travel tech company is working with ecosystem partners to create fully-open systems, to better harness the intelligent use of data, and to integrate new interfaces and architectures that connect travellers to the journeys they want. The agreement marks the first time that SpiceJet is working with a distribution partner. “To realise the full value of their inventory in 2020 and beyond, it is essential for the Gulf’s travel community to differentiate their offers beyond just price, while ensuring that more agencies and travellers can connect with their growing networks,” said keynote speaker Ernesto Sanchez Beaumont.

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) will be organising the 10th edition of Sharjah Light Festival from February 5-15, 2020 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The cultural and artistic event celebrating the emirate’s achievements in the fields of education, knowledge, and innovation. The latest edition of this unique spectacle will mark a decade of creativity and excellence in harnessing technological capabilities in the field of lighting to produce stunning imageries that tell the story of Sharjah. The Sharjah Light Festival 2020 is set to present fascinating shows that will light up the emirate, attracting those looking to explore the authentic history and heritage of this region. During his speech at the conference, His Excellency Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, said, “The Sharjah Light Festival today has garnered local and international reputation and continues to attract an increasing number of visitors from within the UAE and globally. This year, we celebrate 10 years of the rich legacy of this cultural and artistic spectacle, which would not have been possible without the continuous support of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.” “The 10th edition represents an important milestone in the success of this unique event, which continues to garner wide international attention by presenting impressive lighting displays that embody the spirit and culture of Sharjah and live up to the expectations of visitors and residents. It also contributes to the promotion of Sharjah’s tourism, cultural and heritage attractions in an innovative way,” HE Al Midfa, …