Category Archives: Exhibitions

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) joins the tourism delegation from the UAE led by the Ministry of Economy to visit three Scandinavian cities as part of the ‘Visit UAE’ roadshow. The delegation comprising eight government officials, Emirates airlines and 29 representatives from the hotels and travel agencies across the UAE, is visiting Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen from September 17 to 21, 2018. SCTDA will showcase the enriching tourism experiences in Sharjah with its diverse culture and heritage to encourage more people from these cities to visit the emirate. Participating in the roadshow is one among the number of activities the authority intends to implement in the next couple of months to help drive tourism growth. The workshops to be held during the roadshow will provide a platform for SCTDA and the UAE delegation to strengthen partnerships with their counterparts in the Scandinavian cities. HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, SCTDA, said: “The tourism sector is a major pillar in the UAE’s efforts in economic broadening, a key strategy for the country’s transition to the post-oil economy and the ‘Visit UAE’ roadshow will contribute in achieving this vision. Our country has continued to gain popularity across the world as a leading destination in the Middle East. We look forward to capitalising the opportunity to present our market offerings in these European cities and strategically position Sharjah as a destination of choice.”

Over 750 local and international companies have participated in this year’s Hotel Show held from September 16 to 18 at Dubai World Trade Centre. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and CEO and Chairman of the Emirates Group inaugurated the event and the leisure show, which sees participation from various technology and sports equipment companies that have revolutionised the hospitality trade. The hospitality leadership forum opened with Olivier Harisch, CEO, Emaar Hospitality Group sharing the road to 2020 and how Emaar copes with the number of rooms, strategies to recognise women in leadership roles at Emaar, how they use technology as an enabler, etc. He reiterated that people have an emotional investment in hotels and thus, hotels need to be constructed in a smart manner alongside a smart procurement. Philip Wooller, Director for Middle East and Africa at STR Global reiterated the evolving scale and structure of Dubai’s room supply. He said that Dubai is on its way to a steady growth plan as it is an emerging destination, which still leads the way with US $180 as average room rate. Apart from the forum, the inaugural Chef’s table and the second Middle East housekeeper’s league of champions events enthralled the visitors further. Various companies supplying décor had created masterful resort areas, which received enough attention from the participants.

With just a few days left, the Arabian Travel Awards is all set to recognise the efforts of the travel, tourism and hospitality professionals. The black-tie award show will be conducted in Dubai on September 20, 2018. An exclusive invitation-only event, it will involve some of the most prominent personalities from the region. The Chief Guest for the event will be HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority. Owing to the dedication and commitment of professionals working not only in the emirates, but also in the Middle East that has revolutionised the travel industry, United Arab Emirates has become a hub for travel, tourism and hospitality. The Arabian Travel Awards is a platform for the Middle East market to appreciate the efforts of the travel specialists who have contributed to the booming travel and hospitality industry. The Awards aim to encourage them to continue promoting tourism in the region, especially since all roads are set and ready for the Expo 2020 and beyond. Following a systematic method of internet-based voting, these Awards are fair and unbiased and are supported by TravelTV.news, TravTalk Middle East and TravTalk India – premier media partners for extensive coverage. The awards will be divided into four categories: Personal Awards, Business Awards, Trending Awards and Partner Awards. To name a few, these include awards for Best Business Hotel, Best Family-Friendly Hotel, Best City Hotel, Best Green Hotel, Best Leisure Hotel, Best Destination Management Company, Best Hotel Apartments, Best B2B Travel Portal and Best Luxury Hotel, among many others.

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is embarking on a three-city roadshow to India to help promote the emirate and encourage more Indian visitors to explore and discover Abu Dhabi. The delegation, including the UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways, Jet Airways, Yas Experiences, Dusit Thani, Royal Arabian, Air Travel Enterprise, Sofitel and Rotana, will be in India from 17th – 21st September, 2018. The roadshow will commence in New Delhi in northern India before moving on to Chennai and ending in Bengaluru. Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions and Overseas Offices, DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “India is a vital tier-one source market for us, providing us more hotel guests each year. In 2017, we recorded spectacular double-digit growth from India and we are already recording further progress from the Indian market since the turn of the year. We are now running a series of roadshows to cities across the country, highlighting the emirate and its attractions. We have excellent air connectivity, with 278 flights a week to Abu Dhabi from 12 Indian destinations.” Bejan Dinshaw, Country Manager India, DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “Our persistent efforts have managed to reinforce India as one of the leading overseas source markets for Abu Dhabi. Our YoY performance has witnessed stupendous growth and this has been possible because of the impressive work done by our trade partners. These roadshows have helped our stakeholders to connect with the regional trade partners, further boosting tourism to the Emirate.” India is currently the second-largest overseas market for Abu Dhabi after China. Last year saw more than 360,000 Indians staying in Abu Dhabi’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments, an increase of more than …

The Luxury outbound travel market was attended by over 100 participants at the Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel and Resort.Rwanda Consulate was the main sponsor for the event with TravTalk Middle East as the exclusive media partner. It was a very informative and personalised experience for the many buyers and sellers who attended the event. Thailand tourism, Turkish tourism, Seychelles tourism, Azerbaijan tourism were present along with many international tour operators from US, Canada, Vietnam, etc with luxury properties from Seychelles, Rwanda, Georgia with Raviz centrepoint hotel  Dubai was the official hospitality partner of the event. Attendees such as Nirvana travels, Omeir travels, Kanoo travels, Al Naboodah and Cozmo travels, Al Arabi travel agency, Micco travels, Claviger, pluto travels, gezira travel,  are just some of the few names who attended the event. The most important of such events is the unique time factor with the buyer and seller having the liberty to decide to network with each other.  Mario Anthony Managing Director of Luxury Connections and organiser of the event welcomed the international sellers and buyers from the UAE and introduced the key note speaker VK Balaji Chief Operating Officer of TBO Holidays. Balaji mentioned that the travel sector in this part of the world has many opportunities and everyone will be able to avail a piece of business if the proper channeling is done.  

For the first time, Rwanda Consulate in Dubai will be the exclusive partner at the second edition of Luxury Outbound Travel Market to be held on September 6, 2018 at Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel and Resort. The event is being organised by Luxury Connections with  exclusive media partnership by TravTalk Middle East, Tourism Breaking News and TravelTV. News. Rwanda Consulate in Dubai will provide an in-depth presentation of various offerings especially for clients of this region. The new ease of visa facility open to all countries is a sure step in the right direction for development of tourism in Rwanda. Safety is another key component essential for travellers and this is a feature which the consulate iterates for all travellers. Conservation is part and parcel of Rwanda’s rich tourism strategy; hence all what travellers need to know about the rich nature, cultural heritage and maintain the environment will be disclosed to all travel agents and tour operators present at the event. Some of the offerings that will be presented will be the famous Gorilla trekking, volcanoes, hiking and forest trails.

Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has announced that it is primed to host a very busy events season with its venues to be fully occupied by major local and international events before the end of this year, with more than 50 exhibitions and conferences across key sectors including culture, healthcare, leisure, lifestyle, and business. Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of ADNEC, said, “ADNEC seeks to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as the capital of business tourism sector in the region, by attracting major international events to the Emirate. We have completed all preparations needed to host more than 50 major and international events before the end of 2018, which is a confirmation of our success in this field. ADNEC’s workforce, led by a group of highly skilled professional national talents, have worked on developing a wide range of programs aimed at attracting exhibitors and international associations. The coming season will witness exhibitions and conferences hosted and organized for the first time, in accordance with the key sectors identified by the Abu Dhabi plan and the Emirate’s vision 2030.” Al Dhaheri noted ADNEC’s keenness to continue developing infrastructure for all its local and international venues, making all efforts needed to enhance customer satisfaction and exceed the expectations of events organizers and local and international visitors, while conforming to the highest international standards in this competitive sector. He also commended the efforts of the government and private sectors partners, especially the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism and the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, as well as exhibition organisers and representatives of local and international professional associations.

The second edition of the Arabian Travel Awards has received a record number of entrants from various regions in the Middle East. The event will be held on September 20 in Dubai.  Arabian Travel Awards is a platform for the Middle East market to appreciate the efforts of the travel specialists who have contributed to the booming travel and hospitality industry. The aim is to encourage them to continue promoting tourism in the region especially as all roads are set and ready for the Expo 2020 and beyond. The Arabian Travel Awards are fair and unbiased, following a systematic method of internet-based voting. These awards are supported by TravelTV.news, TravTalk Middle East and TravTalk India who are premier media partners for the coverage of the event. The awards will be divided into four categories: Personal Awards, Business Awards, Trending Awards and Partner Awards. They will include awards for Best Business Hotel, Best Family Friendly Hotel, Best City Hotel, Best Green Hotel, Best Leisure Hotel, Best Destination Management Company, Best Hotel Apartments, Best B2B Travel Portal, and Best Luxury Hotel to name a few.

The second edition of the Travel Tech Middle East Congress (TTME) will be held at The H Dubai from September 26-27. “TTME’s agenda is replete with relevant topics and presentations, with top industrial leaders on board to present and speak, we are very thrilled to host this congress next month. This event is set to make a tremendous impact for the travel technology in Middle East and Verve Management is set to be there to provide this platform for all interested organisations looking to invest in Middle East region and learn about the market”, says a team member of Verve Management. Verve Management is delighted to have Albert Fernando (Travelwings), Albert Dias (Musafir), Matthew Sliedrecht (Cleartrip.com), Brett Henry (Travel Daily) and Andrew Pearson (Intelligencia Ltd.) on-board to present on the evolution of metasearch for travel & tourism, leveraging data-driven insights in corporate travel, top traveller behaviour trends, Travel Marketing and Artificial Intelligence at TTME 2018, respectively. Another additional panel which has recently been added on the agenda is the “Industry challenges for travel start-ups to solve” with confirmed speakers like, Diego Lofeudo (Sr. Executive Digital Expert & Former member of Expedia Leadership Team EMEA), and Vineet Budki (Guiddoo Worldwide) joining the panel. Vineet is also taking up a presentation on bitcoin for the travel industry. TTME Speakers will also include: Geet Bhalla (HolidayME), Nabil El Shafeay (Visit &Go), Paulina Klotzbucher (Travelstart), Haitham Abdel Baki (Millennium & Copthorne Hotels), Mamoun Hmedan (Wego), Sameer Bagul (Cleartrip.com) Anna Trushkina (Wego), Philip Jones (Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach) and Stephen Meredith (Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts).

Recognising the key players in the industry, the second edition of the Arabian Travel Awards will take stage on 20th September 2018 at JW Marriott Hotel in Deira, Dubai. The much awaited successful black tie event from Durga Das Publications (fze) invites all trade partners to be part of this exciting evening. Nikhil Jeet, convener of the awards states that this year’s nomination is still available for voting online. All the information regarding nominations is on the website— www.arabiantravelawards.ae. To nominate, one can go to the nomination page, where there are categories and sub-categories. Select the right option, fill the form and send it in. There will be a confirmation email with a voting link sent across. Some of the criteria for nomination includes; All entries must be travel and tourism products that serve the public or the industry, Your business is eligible to enter if it has been operational in its recent form for at least 12 months at the time of applying, Any entrants for New Hotel or New Resort categories will be eligible to enter if, at the time of applying, they opened within the past 12 months, If your entry relates to a specific project, it must have been completed and fully implemented at the time of applying, Any internet or technology products must have been operational for at least 12 months at the time of applying. Arabian Travel Awards supports, promotes and develops the Middle East Travel and Hospitality industry by identifying and rewarding excellence and inspiring its practitioners to continuously raise the standards of their product and service offering and there by taking Middle East Tourism and hospitality industry to the next level.