Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

With the resumption of economic activities in Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is preparing for the calibrated and safe resumption of B2B events in the coming months. To do so, STB has developed a risk management framework for business events of up to 50 attendees, based on strict safe management measures. STB will trial this framework with two pilot events before gradually scaling up to other events and event organisers (EOs) thereafter. Professor Shen Zhongxiang, General Co-Chair of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Computational Electromagnetics, said, “We chose to continue with our conference in Singapore because of the country’s strong track record in delivering quality business events. We have complete trust that the Singapore authorities and our venue partner have stringent measures to help us deliver a safe event for our participants.” Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said, “Singapore’s business events sector has shown much resilience during this difficult period, and we are grateful for their innovativeness and adaptability. While COVID-19 has severely disrupted the industry, I am confident that Singapore will lead the way in reimagining what a safe and high-quality business event could look like. Together with our industry, we want to set Singapore apart as the world’s leading destination for safe, trusted and innovative business events.” Aloysius Arlando, President, SACEOS, said, “Right now, our industry is at a strategic crossroads, and I am heartened that many of our members and industry players have leveraged this crisis as an opportunity to innovate and upskill. We are taking a whole-of-industry approach to establishing safe operating standards and resilient businesses. Together with STB and industry, we have marshalled our collective wisdom and strength to formulate the IRR …

Yamina Sofo – Director, Sales & Marketing – German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries. “It is important to communicate with each other, to share opinions and share ideas and to see how we altogether pull on one string to get us all out of this crisis. It affected the tourism industry as one of the first and hardest hit, every destination has an impact of the crisis. Germany has done a tremendous job in handling the crisis, from our research, feedback and surveys we are on a high ranking of our standards. Our partners in the industry continuously over the last weeks have implemented the necessary hygiene, distance rules, they have updated and upgraded their products according to the new standards so the destination itself is very well prepared now to welcome back tourists from all over the world.”

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) now belongs to the Champions in the TOP 100 Innovation Competition. In the 27th round of the scientific selection process, the GNTB convinced the jurors in the ‘class B’ of corporations (size: 51 to 200 employees) with its innovative achievements. Specific projects that contributed to the jury’s decision were the use of new technologies, such as the ‘Mixed Reality’ application ‘Palaces, Parks and Gardens,’ in which internet users virtually visit Neuschwanstein Castle, or Sanssouci Palace. A speaker describes the details of each castle in the selected national language. In the #CelebratingBauhaus campaign, experts honored the digital presentation and cultural marketing of the 100th anniversary of the famous Bauhaus art school. Another project included in the evaluation was the GNTB’s pioneering role in the application of face filters for tourist campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. These filters allow users to combine their profile pictures with predefined motifs to create individual image compositions. “In the course of the digital transformation, large parts of the tourist value chain are changing. We are very proud that the GNTB’s commitment to provide clear impulses for the tourism industry is recognised in the TOP 100 innovation competition,” explains Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB Board.

Wego partners with the German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries (GNTO) to invite travellers to discover the destination of Germany and virtually explore its amazing attractions and hidden gems. Until it is safe to travel again, Wego brings the world to you in the comfort of your home. With the message ‘dream now – visit later’, this joint partnership with ‘Wego’ introduces the global campaign ‘#DiscoverGermanyFromHome’ to tomorrow’s travellers in the GCC by providing them with inspiring and informative content, virtual experiences in its 16 federal states, Spotify playlists, an interactive map, quizzes, recipes and much more to keep their interest in the destination alive until travel is resumed. Speaking of the partnership, Yamina Sofo, Director Sales & Marketing, German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries (GNTO) commented, “The Gulf region is among the Top 20 of the most important source markets to Germany and the third largest source market outside Europe. Our partnership with Wego is a great opportunity to highlight that Germany ticks all boxes of the GCC travellers aiming for wellness and recreation, nature and sightseeing or simply for entertainment and shopping, while enjoying high quality services, great value for money, luxury accommodation and facilities.” Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said, “We are bringing the world to our users until it is safe to travel again and we’re thrilled to partner with GNTO to promote one of the most beautiful European countries. Germany entices tourists with its rich and vibrant nature and culture; it’s a must-see destination for everyone.”

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) is inviting UAE residents to take a well-earned break and enjoy the Emirate’s exceptional beaches, outstanding hospitality, thrilling adventure attractions and authentic cultural experiences for the ultimate ‘Shortcation’. Together with its hospitality partners, the Authority has created a special summer package available until 31 August, whereby guests staying for three or more nights at any of Ras Al Khaimah’s participating 4 & 5 star hotels can take advantage of a series of value-adds for a unique and memorable stay. Guests looking to avail this special offer or simply looking for a home away from home this summer, can choose from a number of different accommodation options to suit every need. From ultra-luxurious beach resorts managed by some of the most notable names in the business, to family-friendly city and seaside resorts and properties offering stunning private villa accommodation, Ras Al Khaimah is renowned for its breadth of hotel offerings. With guest safety and wellbeing its utmost priority, the Authority is working with all hotel partners to ensure they are strictly adhering to all government and public health guidelines and complying with all social distancing advisories so guests enjoying their ‘shortcation’ can do so with peace of mind.

The Tourism Office of Spain invites the travel trade to learn more about the destination through its webinar titled ‘Spain will wait’ on Wednesday May 20, 2020 at 1100 hours (UAE). To participate please contact Crisna de Guzman at crisna.deguzman@ddppl.com or call +971505074618, +971554704200. This session will be covering two main destinations: Madrid and Barcelona. This will be an ideal opportunity to learn about the destination, its most known and unknown areas, what to do when in Spain, discover new itineraries, its weather, its culture; the series includes a whole new awareness of one of the most sought after European destinations in the world. The main goal of these sessions will be to create an inspiring, emphatic and informative content in an interactive environment to communicate with tomorrow’s travellers.

The German National Tourist Office, Gulf countries (GNTO) has appointed Yamina Sofo as its new Director Sales & Marketing. In her new capacity, Yamina Sofo will provide leadership and strategic direction to the Gulf region team, manage a wide range of marketing campaigns and activities as well as work closely with the local and overseas trade partners and industry stakeholders to promote ‘Destination Germany’ as a year-round travel destination throughout the Gulf region. Speaking on her appointment, Sofo commented, “I’m proud to say that Gulf region is among the Top 20 of the most important source markets to Germany and the third largest source market outside Europe. Due to its diversity, Germany is one of the preferred travel destinations for the GCC nationals, whether for wellness and recreation, nature and sightseeing or simply for entertainment and shopping – offering high quality services, great value for money, luxury accommodation and facilities as well as environmentally-friendly transportation links throughout the entire country.” Commenting on the recent lockdown, Yamina said, “In spite of the lockdown, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has launched “#DiscoverGermanyFromHome”, a joined communication campaign on all social media channels worldwide to communicate inspiring, emphatic and informative content with tomorrow’s travellers in an engaging and interactive way.”

German National Tourist Board (GNTB) brings together their ongoing marketing activities on all social media channels worldwide in a joined communication campaign – #DiscoverGermanyFromHome, amid the recent lockdown. The main goal is to create inspiring, emphatic and at the same time informative content in an engaging and interactive way and to communicate with tomorrow’s consumers. The campaign includes virtual experiences of the destinations in Germany in all of the 16 federal states. The campaign therefore invites consumers to experience destination-Germany virtually and furthermore strengthens the communication with potential future Germany visitors. Besides #DiscoverGermanyFromHome the campaign also uses the hashtags that are currently circulating such as #staysafe, #stayathome or #traveltomorrow. Petra Hedorfer, Chairwoman of the GNTB Executive Board, says, “With over 30 social media channels we are continuously trying to keep the interest in Destination Germany alive, inspiringly and informatively. Besides the direct consumer contact, we are also using our established online tools to maintain the active dialogue with our Germany tourism partners and the international tourism industry.” Due to the current situation the GNTB has postponed all planned market specific and worldwide marketing campaigns such as the start of the planned campaign ‘German Summer Cities’ and ‘#WanderlustGermany’ to the second half of the year. The preparations for the campaigns have been completed to the extent that the digital parts of the campaigns can start at the flick of a switch.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) launches a range of far reaching support initiatives, aimed at its hospitality, leisure and development partners, during the peak of COVID-19 crisis and to lay the strong foundations for future recovery. In a move that further reflects the emirate’s ‘ONE RAK’ commitment to transparency, ease of doing business and global community spirit, the tourism authority has sent all business partners and stakeholders a comprehensive contingency plan, which maps out short- to mid-term solutions to mitigate the negative impact of coronavirus on travel to Ras Al Khaimah. Addressing partners and stakeholders via a virtual meeting on April 1, Raki Phillips, CEO, RAKTDA, highlighted that the hospitality industry was facing a grave threat from the coronavirus crisis. The UNWTO estimates losses from international visitor spends to be between USD $30-50 billion globally, while The World Travel and Tourism Council have found up to 50 million jobs have been put at risk. RAKTDA’s prompt robust response sees the creation of an internal Stimulus Committee and Steering Stimulus Committee representing the Emirate. Led by Raki Phillips and top executives across the hospitality, leisure and development sectors, specific measures include a six-month waiver of all touristic licenses; waiver of Tourism Dirhams from March to May; a complete exemption of tourism licensing fees for Q2 and Q3 and tourism licensing fines until September 30. This support will be further enhanced by a dedicated Financial Incentive Package aimed towards non-government owned touristic entities, including budget, midscale and 4-star hotels as well as attractions, golf courses and other tourism establishments. In addition to this, hospitality partners will be able to benefit from complimentary participation in a diverse array of exhibitions and …

Dubai’s tourism industry closed a successful decade at the end of 2019, welcoming an all-time high 16.73 million international overnight visitors, an impressive 5.1 per cent increase in tourism volumes, definitively surpassing the global tourism growth forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) by over one per cent. With momentum firmly tracking against Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2022-25, latest data released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) reflects the sector’s exponential progress in a compressed time-frame relative to peers, culminating in Dubai being ranked the World’s Fourth Most Visited City for the fifth consecutive year by MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index 2019. Rapidly gaining traction on the ‘travel wish list’ for today’s global traveller, 2019 not only delivered record tourist arrivals and indicated strong desirability for future visits, but also reinforced tourism’s role as key economic growth driver. Contributing an impressive 11.5 per cent in GDP value, Dubai’s tourism sector was ranked one of ‘Top 10’ strongest economic share generators, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Cities Report 2019. The Report also ranked Dubai the third largest city in capturing direct international tourism spending with a total of US $27.9 billion. His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said, “This past decade, and 2019 in particular, have delivered unmatched acceleration in Dubai’s stature as a ‘Destination of Choice’ for global travellers assuring advancement towards the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to make it the #1 most visited, preferred and revisited global city. While the global economy remains in a state of flux, we can clearly …