Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) announced record-breaking visitor numbers to Ras Al Khaimah in August 2019, with almost 118,000 visitors choosing the UAE’s northernmost Emirate to visit and enjoy its fascinating history, traditional culture, magnificent landscapes and world-class hotels and resorts. The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah has witnessed a 5 per cent growth in overall visitor arrivals YTD, with the peak reaching 117,995 visitors in August 2019. Reports also revealed an 8.4 per cent increase in domestic visitor arrivals which indicates a rise in the Emirate’s popularity as a preferred staycation destination amongst UAE residents.  As for international markets, Poland, Russia, India, Kazakhstan and Czech Republic have significantly contributed to the record-breaking number of visitors recorded MTD August 2019 with growth percentages of 26.6 per cent, 25.3 per cent, 13.7 per cent, 9 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively. Raki Philips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said, “We are extremely proud to announce the record-breaking number of visitors we welcomed to the Emirate in August 2019. Nearly 118,000 visitors have chosen to explore Ras Al Khaimah and experience the diversity of its landscapes and offering from pristine beaches, undulating terracotta desert, to awe-inspiring vistas of the majestic Hajar mountains, including the country’s highest peak – Jebel Jais”.

Events for Tourism Growth will be adopted as the official show theme for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2020, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 19-22, 2020. According to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the direct contribution of travel and tourism to the Middle East’s GDP is predicted to rise by 4.2 per cent per annum to US $133.6 billion by 2028 – driven in part by additional tourists to the region as a result of mega-events, major sporting and political events, cultural festivals, concerts and MiCE events.  Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said, “Events of all kinds have become increasingly important drivers for international arrivals to the UAE, GCC and wider MENA region over recent years.  With this in mind, ATM 2020’s spotlight theme will be launched as a platform to explore the impact events have on tourism growth in the region and to inspire the travel and hospitality industry about the next generation of events, while bringing together senior travel executives to meet and conduct business under one roof over four days.” ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event with representation from 150 countries. With over 100 exhibitors making their debut, ATM 2019 showcased the largest ever exhibition from Asia.

Turkish Airlines announced its passenger and cargo traffic results for August. The flag carrier recorded 84.8 per cent load factor in this month despite the global shrinkage of demand in the aviation sector. Offering connections to more countries than any other airline from a single hub, the global carrier’s international-to-international transfer passenger numbers increased in record numbers with a 9.4 per cent increase compared to the same month of the last year. Continuing towards its goal of becoming one of the top five air cargo brands in the world with its Turkish Cargo brand, the flag carrier increased its Cargo / mail volume by 11.5 per cent compared to the same month of the last year. The national flag carrier maintains its two-digit growth numbers at air cargo market in its new home as well. According to August 2019 Traffic Results domestic load factor was 88.4 per cent and international load factor was 84.3 per cent. International passengers excluding the international to international transit passengers showed a decrease of 0.4 per cent in August. Main contributors to the growth in Cargo / mail volume were North America with 24.8 per cent, Far East with 12.2 per cent and Europe with 11.3 per cent increase. In August, domestic showed load factor growth of 0.6 points, while North America and Far East increased by 0.4 and 0.3 points respectively.

Travellers across the world are increasingly prioritising value over cost, demanding more autonomy when it comes to personalisation, and using digital solutions to research and manage their trips. These are among the findings of Travelport’s Global Digital Traveller Research 2019, which surveyed 23,000 people from 20 countries. When booking a flight, value is a top priority for over four out of five (86 per cent) travellers today with just one in five (18 per cent) now booking solely on cost. This trend is apparent across all age groups led by Baby Boomers (91 per cent) who prioritise value marginally more than younger generations. Across all age categories, when booking a flight, travellers typically want to personalise their own experience (42 per cent) through add-ons like extra legroom, additional baggage allowance and meal upgrades. One quarter (24 per cent), however, prefer to receive branded offers, such as Flexi and Saver, which provide a basic level of personalisation. A wide range of technologies are now influencing decision-making. Nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of travellers today consider it important whether an airline offers a good digital experience when booking a flight, up +3 per cent on 2018. Over half (58 per cent) also consider this when choosing accommodation, up +7 per cent on 2018. Commenting on the findings of the research, Travelport’s Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, Fiona Shanley, said, “Travellers are consumers too and they want an experience from travel providers and travel agents that is as simple and engaging as the best retailers. Travelport’s latest global research shows that technology is key to this – from serving relevant and personalised offers to providing attractive propositions from trusted sources. With increasing …

flydubai announced that flights to seven destinations will move from their current operating base of Terminal 2 and relocate to Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB). Other flydubai services will continue to operate from Terminal 2. From October 27, 2019, flights to Almaty, Basra, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Nur-Sultan, Sofia, and Zanzibar will operate from Terminal 3. These destinations have been chosen to help improve connections between Emirates and flydubai with smooth and quick transit times. The additional 07 points will bring the number of destinations operated out of Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB) to 22. This move is part of the innovative partnership with Emirates that goes beyond code sharing to several initiatives spanning commercial, network planning, airport operations, the alignment of the frequent flyer programmes and an enhanced customer journey.  “As our partnership with Emirates continues to grow, the addition of these seven destinations to Terminal 3 builds on the success of last year’s move and provides more opportunities for us to optimise connectivity for our passengers,” said Alex Mackenzie, Senior Vice President, Airport Services at flydubai. The full list of flydubai flights operating from Terminal 3 includes Almaty, Basra, Belgrade, Bishkek, Bucharest, Catania, Dar es Salaam, Helsinki, Kilimanjaro, Krabi, Krakow, Mineralnye Vody, Naples, Nur-Sultan, Prague, Rostov-on-Don, Salalah, Sofia, Tashkent, Zagreb, Zanzibar and Yangon. All other flydubai flights will continue to operate from Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC).

As part of its efforts to achieve the Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, which aims to attract more than 10 million tourists to the emirate by the year 2021, the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced that it will organise roadshows in three Chinese cities — Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. The campaign, which is set to run from September 16-20, is aimed at stimulating the Chinese outbound travel market to Sharjah by encouraging them to take advantage of the UAE’s visa-on-arrival policy for Chinese tourists. The growing number of Chinese tourists to Sharjah who come to explore the emirate’s cultural and heritage identity has made it one of the most important markets for SCTDA. Therefore, the roadshow will add immense value to the Authority’s efforts to attract more Chinese travellers to the emirate, by creating awareness on its product offerings and other special packages. In line with this, the roadshows in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai will see SCTDA highlight the emirate’s ambitious development projects in cooperation with the public and private sectors before Chinese audiences. H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA, said, “The number of visitors from China during the second quarter of this year has reached to 13,289, which reflects the consistently increasing interest of Chinese tourists to visit Sharjah, and it is expected this figure will go even higher by the end of this year. In view of this growth, SCTDA’s upcoming roadshows in three Chinese cities will strengthen communication channels with travel, tourism and hospitality industry leaders, and will promote exchange of best practices, successful experiences, and insights on latest trends to effectively support the growth of the tourism industry.”

Palladium Hotel Group will be the new official sponsor of Real Madrid Basketball. The Santiago Bernabéu stadium hosted the presentation of the agreement in the presence of the President of Real Madrid C.F., Florentino Pérez, and the CEO of Palladium Hotel Group, Abel Matutes Prats. The agreement, whereby Palladium Hotel Group will sponsor the shirt of Real Madrid Basketball’s first and second team, was confirmed with the signature of the directors and will be in force for the next three sports seasons. Perez referred to the agreement, “Today is a very important day for our basketball section. We link the real Madrid name to a prestigious company that will help us to be stronger and face new challenges in a stage that is already historic for our basketball team.” Prats stated, “Today is a historic day for Palladium Hotel Group and we are immensely proud of the trust that Real Madrid has shown in us. It’s a privilege to be associated with a club such as this one, and to do it with a legendary team like the basketball team”. Palladium Hotel Group’s sponsorship agreement with Real Madrid Basketball shows the great expansion of the group in recent years, as well as the efforts to reposition its brands and their identity. Due to this sponsorship agreement, the hotel group’s logo will appear on the official polo shirt of Real Madrid Basketball´s first team, both for the players and the technical team, as well as on the club’s kit. All these new designs will be available from September 18th in the official stores of Real Madrid, Adidas and other authorised establishments.

Ras Al Khaimah is preparing to welcome 2020 with a mesmerising fireworks display. For the first time, #RAKNYE2020 will feature pyro-drones that will create never-before-seen fireworks starting with the countdown to the beginning of the New Year and culminating with Ras Al Khaimah’s main landmarks being recreated in the sky accompanied by more fireworks. There will also be a special Japanese aerial shell fireworks display, another innovative experience. The two new experiences this year attempt to clinch two Guinness World Records. #RAKNYE2020 will be even more special this year with a range of celebrities – including top performers from the Arab world – set to put forth an awe-inspiring music performance. Details of the event and tickets sales will be revealed in October.  Families will be delighted with an added array of activities for young ones at three new locations dedicated to the public and families along the sea coast opposite Al Marjan Island. To drive the preparations for the event, various government entities in Ras Al Khaimah including Marjan, Ras Al Khaimah Police, Ras Al Khaimah Government Media Office, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce, Public Works, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, Al Hamra and others, are collaborating to organise another compelling celebration.

Etihad Airways has re-launched etihad.com as part of its continuous commitment to improve the online customer journey, making it easier for guests to plan their trip, search for information, and manage their booking. The refreshed website is now live globally on all Etihad’s site editions in 16 languages. Redesigned from scratch, guests visiting etihad.com now enjoy faster loading pages, thanks to cleaner redesigned content, images, and graphics.  An easier-to-navigate site and a reduction in the number of pages makes it simpler for people to find the information they want. Frank Meyer, Chief Digital Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Enhancing the guest experience is at the heart of what we do. Knowing travellers increasingly turn to digital channels to manage their journey, we completely redesigned our website to provide a superior digital experience.” With a larger percentage of consumers accessing etihad.com via mobile, the new website is responsive across any device, be it a smartphone, tablet or desktop, allowing guests to access information quickly and easily, before they reach the airport. Additionally, 25 per cent more guests are now accessing self-service functionalities and checking in online thanks to the newly integrated technology which supports flight tickets booked through all channels. Previously, this was only available to those that booked directly through Etihad.

Hotelbeds announced a strategic alliance with Selina, one of the fastest growing hotel brands in the world. This strategic agreement will give Selina access to Hotelbeds’ large high-value distribution network made up of more than 60,000 travel agents, airlines, tour operators and loyalty programmes in more than 140 source markets worldwide. At the same time, Hotelbeds customers will have, from now on, access to the Selina hotel portfolio, consisting of more than 52 properties located mainly in Latin America, but also across Europe, with properties in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The hotel chain plans to open more than 35 locations in 2019, including upcoming openings in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Felipe Muñoz, Global Head of Sales for Selina, commented, “This alliance is very important for Selina as thanks to Hotelbeds we can have access to one of the largest B2B distribution networks, including both wholesale and retail, in the world.” Matias Elisavetsky, Regional Director of Sourcing for Hotelbeds in Americas, said, “Selina is one of the fastest growing hotel chains in Latin America, with plans to further expand its reach and become known not only in Latin America, but also the United States, Asia, and Europe.”