Nakheel Mall on Palm Jumeirah will open on November 28, with a huge range of live events and promotions in store for the UAE National Day weekend and beyond. The new centrepiece has five retail levels with more than 300 shops, restaurants, entertainment outlets, and services, including MODO department store, Depachika Food Hall, a 14- screen Vox Cinemas complex, Waitrose supermarket, H&M, Trampo Extreme, Fabyland, Dubai London Clinic and Fitness First. Nakheel Mall is easily accessible by rail, road or on foot. Its Palm Monorail station will be operational on opening day, and there are direct road links to 4000 parking spaces as well as pedestrian access via Al Ittihad Park and Marina Residences. The mall is also the access point for The View at The Palm, a public observatory perched on the top of The Palm Tower, 230 metres above the island and the view will open in 2020. A host of live entertainment, promotions, and activities will take place at Nakheel Mall over the National Day weekend and beyond, with AED 1 million worth of prizes, including a brand new Maserati up for grabs for every AED 250 spent between November 28 to December 7. Visitors can also catch My Little Pony and Baby Shark live, with roaming entertainment, live bands and children’s workshops. Omar Khoory, Managing Director, Nakheel Malls, said, “The mall combines first-class retail facilities with unique attractions at one of the world’s most famous landmarks, Palm Jumeirah.  It is the ultimate destination for new concepts in shopping, dining, entertainment, and leisure, providing on-the-doorstep convenience for The Palm’s 78,000 residents, and a stunning new attraction for the millions of tourists who visit the UAE each year.”

The Helicopter Company (THC) is participating as a platinum sponsor at Dubai Airshow which was launched at Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai World Central (DWC). The show will be held from November 17-21, 2019 with the prominent presence of major dignitaries from regional and international companies in the field of aviation, tourism, and travel.  On this occasion, Yahya Al Ghoraibi, CEO of THC, said, “We are very pleased with our first distinctive participation at the exhibition as the first local commercial helicopter operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are confident that the establishment of this company is a massive step forward in support of our capacities and efforts to ensure the success of the Kingdom’s initiatives in line with Saudi Vision 2030, through operating commercial helicopter transportation services all over Saudi Arabia, including private air transport services for VIPs, touristic sightseeing tours to explore the Kingdom’s attractions, pilgrimage trips in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, and air ambulance services.” Al Ghoraibi additionally asserted that the exhibition provides a successful platform and a unique opportunity to strengthen relations with international companies and decision-makers. THC stands out at the exhibition as a major Saudi company within the commercial helicopter aviation sector. The company’s CEO and a number of its executives hosted aviation sector investors and businessmen interested in developing the industry in Saudi Arabia, where they discussed potential future partnership opportunities, especially in regards to acquiring world-class helicopter models.

REHLATY, a new travel brand ‘designed by Emiratis for the Emirati traveller’, has been launched in the UAE. An initiative being spearheaded by the New Ventures department of dnata Travel, the brand seeks to provide Emirati travellers who seek new adventures, with a chance to discover the most unique ends of the world and create unforgettable memories. It fosters a more personalised travel understanding for Emirati voyagers by creating unique, perfectly-tailored experiences and bespoke itineraries curated around the needs, and desires of an Emirati traveller. The brand focuses on developing an engagement model that builds strong relationships with its customers and targeting a premium niche in the realm of travel-customer experience. Rehab Mansoor, General Manager at REHLATY by dnata travel, says, “REHLATY, which means ‘my journey’ in Arabic brings a whole new meaning to exceptional customer services. We aspire to become our customer’s trusted travel advisors, offering personalised end-to-end travel services and we are also focused on developing strong relationships with our customers, leveraging the potential of social media to target and connect with the community. Our aim is to position REHLATY in the next year as the preferred travel partner for Emirati travellers by building digital hype through means of captivating content and communicating everything that sets us apart.”

Dubai Airshow 2019 which was officially opened on November 17 is set to welcome 1,288 exhibitors and more than 87,000 trade visitors over the next five days. The event was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces. It was also attended by Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who joined his father for the start of an inaugural tour of the site. Highlighting the importance of the facility’s work, Robert Harward, Middle East Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin, said, “Our biggest investment in the UAE is in its human capital.” Presenting His Highness with a special patch commemorating the launch of the Endeavour Scholarship programme, Thomas J Kallman, President & CEO, Kallman worldwide Inc, said, “Our pavilion is not just about hardware and military equipment. We presented Sheikh Hamdan with a patch to mark our Endeavour Scholarship, whereby four Emirati students and two teachers are being flown to the United States to attend space camp in Huntsville, Alabama. In partnership with the UAE space agency, the students were selected and the patch was created to commemorate that.” Commenting on the official opening, Michele van Akelijen, Managing Director, Aerospace Division, Tarsus Group PLC, said, “It is an honour to welcome Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to officially open this year’s event. We will be having 100 new exhibitors and innovative product launches this year.”

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) hosted the sixth edition of the Sharjah Hospitality Forum under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Sharjah Executive Council. The forum was held at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Center in Sharjah, under the theme ‘Sustainable Tourism creates Business Opportunities’, in the presence of local and global experts to explore new horizons, in order to shape the future of the tourism sector from a sustainability perspective. The agenda of the sixth Sharjah Hospitality Forum featured extensive discussions on ways to enhance the role of sustainable tourism in advancing the development of tourism services and offerings. This year’s edition of the forum opened with a speech by H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA, highlighting the importance of further developing the tourism, hospitality and travel sector through the adoption of innovative approaches and strategies with a focus on sustainability, and how this will enhance the emirates’ position on the world tourism map. He further added that the idea behind choosing ‘Sustainable Tourism creates Business Opportunities’ as the theme of the sixth edition of the Hospitality Forum stems from the necessity to consolidate the concept and practices of sustainability in the tourism sector, which is at the forefront of global trends. The Chairman was followed by HE Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, who noted that sustainable tourism is one of the pillars adopted by the UAE to serve the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, as it is also a vital sector that …

H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, & Vice Chairman of the Supreme National Committee of the Year of Tolerance, unveiled a series of commemorative stamps to celebrate the UAE’s ‘Year of Tolerance’. Emirates Post, in collaboration with the Supreme National Committee for the Year of Tolerance, has released these stamps to highlight the achievements of the year in incorporating the values of openness, harmony and coexistence within communities, in line with the UAE’s goal of promoting a culture of tolerance and spreading the message of peace through diversity. The announcement was made at the World Tolerance Summit organised by the International Institute for Tolerance, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The summit focused on promoting the principles of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, the acceptance and understanding of others, the preservation of human dignity and the creation of friendships that value the diversity of religions, beliefs, cultures and languages. The launch of a special edition stamp comes as an initiative to commemorate the Year of Tolerance through a symbol that will carry our message to the world. Commenting on this stamp issuance, His Excellency Abdulla M. Alashram, Acting Group CEO of Emirates Post Group said, “The UAE is spreading a unique message to the world about the importance of diversity and respect across the communities in which we live. It is our responsibility as citizens of the UAE to promote the values of tolerance, coexistence, humanity and peace across the emirates and beyond.”

Seera Group unveiled the Kingdom’s first-of-its-kind integrated Destination Management Company (DMC), under the brand name, ‘Discover Saudi,’ at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London. Set to catalyse international inbound tourism as well as domestic tourism, Discover Saudi, a SAR500 million investment by Seera Group supports the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to transform tourism as one of the key economic growth sectors. It will complement the goal of welcoming over 100 million annual overnight visitors and increasing the share of tourism to the Kingdom’s GDP to 10 per cent by 2030. The brand identity and strategic outlook of Discover Saudi were unveiled on the sidelines of WTM by Abdullah Al-Dawood, Board Member and Group CEO of Seera Group, he said, “The launch of Discover Saudi is part of our SAR1 billion investment in driving tourism development in the Kingdom with a distinctive value proposition. This marks our strong commitment to supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 announced by our leadership. Discover Saudi will have a multiplier effect on the economy; not only will we create a robust infrastructure to support destination tourism services, but also work with Saudi travel operators and government agencies, creating additional value to the economy and promoting job creation for Saudis.” With its focus on developing the Kingdom’s tourism ecosystem, driven by the US$300 billion capex allocated for tourism development until 2030, Discover Saudi addresses a clear white space in the industry today, with only 2 per cent of inbound trips being for leisure. In addition to offering curated experiences for international and domestic travellers, the new DMC will also focus on offering Hajj & Umrah pilgrims who are keen to explore Saudi as …

Travellers in Kuwait will be able to fly directly to Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, starting December 8 with a newly established flight route by Jazeera Airways. Supported by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the independent airline announced the new direct flights to Al Ain at a travel trade event in Kuwait. The event included many DCT Abu Dhabi’s key partners in Al Ain, such as Rotana Hotels, Ayla Hotels, Al Bada Resorts, and Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting, and Golf Club. By establishing the new direct routes, DCT Abu Dhabi hopes to encourage travellers from Kuwait to visit the city of Al Ain in a move to boost tourism to the ‘heritage heartland’ of the emirate. Nabeel M. Al Zarouni, Regional Promotions Manager, Middle East, and Africa at DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “The launch of the new flight route marks a new chapter in tourism between Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. We would like to thank Jazeera Airways for their hard work and collaboration over the past months and for selecting Al Ain are their new destination in 2019, and we will be working closely with them in the future to encourage passengers from Kuwait to discover Al Ain with the help of these new routes.” Andrew Ward, Jazeera Airways Vice President-Marketing & Product, said, “We are proud to be operating our second destination in the United Arab Emirates and provide our customers with more choices to explore and enjoy the hidden gems of our region. We are committed to Jazeera Airways to connect passengers from across our network to new destinations while ensuring we continue to provide them with value fares and reliable service …

Marriott International announced the debut of Delta Hotels by Marriott into the Middle East and Africa with Delta Hotels by Marriott Jumeirah Beach, Dubai. The hotel is ideally located in the heart of Dubai’s most vibrant destinations, the famous Jumeirah Beach Residences (JBR). With direct beach access, it rises tall between the Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Beach, and The Walk, Dubai’s first shopping and dining promenade. Offering a simple and hassle-free travel experience, allows guests to achieve a perfect balance between their work and personal life whether they are on business or on leisure. The hotel’s 45-story tower houses 360 comfortable and stylish rooms, offering a range of room types including suites and serviced apartments, each equipped with premium amenities, focused on what is important to guests for a flawless experience that allows them to glide through their entire stay. Guests can enjoy spectacular views of the Marina and Dubai’s dazzling cityscape from the beach facing rooms and many different parts of the hotel. Plus, the hotel’s culinary offerings can flare up an appetite for every desire. Alex Kyriakidis, President and Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Marriott International, said, “We are excited to introduce the first Delta Hotel to the Middle East and Africa region and believe the brand has immense growth potential in our region with its clear ethos of ‘simple made perfect’. We will deliver on this promise by providing a full complement of streamlined services in a simple and straightforward way, offering both choice and flexibility.”

Expedia Group and business strategy firm Magid released the Online Travel Friction Index finding stating that travellers want suppliers to offer a seamless travel experience and to effectively handle any challenge during their travels. The research is aligned with Expedia Group’s priority focus to unleash the power of its platform to build out traveller and partner solutions that can help knock down the barriers to travel, making it more easier, enjoyable, attainable, accessible and in doing so, ultimately bring the world within reach for billions of people around the globe. In 2018, Expedia Group spent more than $1.6 billion in technology with a focus on making its platform seamless for both partners and travellers. The Group’s massive efforts and investment in research and development over this decade have resulted in significant benefits for both travellers and partners, including a reduction in distribution costs. Cyril Ranque, Group President of the Travel Partners Group, Expedia Group, said, “Expedia Group is focused on connecting the world, by enabling discovery, search and booking of flights, hotels, transportation, and activities – in a low stress, low friction manner. Our technology-first platform is dedicated to providing a one-stop, easy and convenient experience for travellers to discover and book their trip with all the information they need to make the best and most informed selection.”