Tag Archives: Dubai

Rotana has announced plans to open seven new hotels in Dubai, four hotels in the capital Abu Dhabi and one in Ras Al Khaimah by the end of 2020. Six of the upcoming properties will be five-star hotels, with the remaining properties comprising of a mix of four and three star hotels and hotel apartments. Upon completion, the new hotels will add 4,360 keys to Rotana’s existing inventory, taking its fast expanding portfolio in the UAE to 44  properties, including 21 in Dubai and 17 in Abu Dhabi, with a room inventory of 11,782  (6,682 in Dubai alone and 5,100 in Abu Dhabi). The total value of the 12 upcoming properties managed by Rotana in the UAE is estimated at USD 1.7 billion. Omer Kaddouri, President & CEO of Rotana, comments: “The UAE is our home market and even as we pursue our global ambitions and expand our footprint into new geographic regions, the country continues to remain the fulcrum around which Rotana’s business strategy is developed and implemented. With us bringing to the local market 12 new properties within the next four years, we further express our commitment to supporting the UAE’s tourism ambitions and reaffirming our belief in the long-term prospects of the country’s hospitality industry. Next year, we will be introducing a number of five-star properties to the market, including the all-new Saadiyat Rotana Resort and villas in Abu Dhabi, scheduled to open in Q4 2017. Ideal for both, business and leisure travellers, the resort will feature 354 upscale rooms and suites, 13 beach villas, a beach club and extensive conference facilities. Rotana already has a significant presence in the capital, and strengthening our portfolio with an …

From December 3-4, 2016, Middlesex University Dubai will host the 4th Annual Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) Asia Pacific Conference (APAC).  The conference theme is Pushing the Boundaries: Driving Tourism Innovation & Creativity Through Research. The 4th TTRA APAC conference follows successful previous conferences in Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, and Tokyo. Dr. Cody Morris Paris, Deputy Director of Middlesex University Dubai and Conference Co-Chair, said this theme “resonates with the spirit of Dubai and the UAE, where there have been significant investments to fulfil a vision of an innovation-driven economy with tourism playing a central role.   Already one of the most visited cities in the world, home of the busiest international airport, and the birthplace of some of the world’s leading hospitality and tourism brands, Dubai is well on its way of reaching 20 million international visitors by 2020, the year of EXPO2020.” “We are coming to Dubai at the Far West of the TTRA Asia Pacific region.  Dubai has been a leader in tourism leveraging its geographic advantages as a natural hub with long term investment and vision for our industry,” stated Carolyn Childs, TTRA APAC President and Conference Co-Chair.  TTRA International was founded in 1970 to support the travel and tourism industry’s growth and success through a focus on the quality, value, effectiveness and use of research in travel marketing, planning and development.  Today TTRA continues to provide leadership for the global community of practitioners, educators, and users of travel research. The Conference will feature nearly 50 leading researchers from industry, government, and academia from more than 15 countries including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Seychelles, UK, USA, Italy, France, Jamaica, Finland, and the United Arab Emirates.   The conference will …

Following an exhaustive review of the competitiveness of Dubai’s retail sector in terms of its global positioning as a ‘shopping destination’ for tourists, undertaken by Dubai Tourism, strategic recommendations spanning priority aspects of the industry value chain were developed in consultation with the Department of Economic Development and key government and private sector stakeholders earlier this year. Outcomes of the strategy cover initiatives to address consumer perceptions, pricing competitiveness, product-mix, experience enhancement, e-commerce and future proofing through digitisation and proactive innovation. His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), said: “Dubai has been continuously growing its standing as a leader in global travel, ranked number four today with the highest average spend per tourist within the economy compared to any other city in the world. Beyond growing tourist volumes, one of the mandates of Dubai Tourism is to significantly enhance the economic value created across all travel related industries to our GDP. Retail is one of the core pillars of our destination proposition, and one that is a key driver of spend within the economy – hence the incredible support from the Department of Economic Development has been paramount to the success of this project. In undertaking this exercise, our aim was to work with the industry towards making Dubai the world’s leading destination for retail-tourism, attracting more traffic and fueling consumption across the shopping precincts, and ultimately accelerating domestic retail industry growth. It has been through exemplary collaboration and joint ownership between the private and public sector that DTCM has been able to deploy a comprehensive list of initiatives to be taken forth to implementation by relevant stakeholders. And …

Dubai’s first National Day Super Sale kicks off December 1, with the new retail initiative promising to offer a memorable and rewarding shopping experience to residents and visitors during the UAE’s 45th National Day celebrations. The National Day Super Sale is organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), with the aim of boosting Dubai’s vibrant retail sector and further spreading the festive cheer on this joyous occasion. Many local, regional and international brands are participating in the citywide sale, which runs until Saturday, 3 December, and will surprise shoppers with amazing discounts from 30- 90 % on a diverse range of merchandise including apparel & fashion, footwear and leather accessories, cosmetics, jewellery, and much more. Saeed Mohammad Mesam Al Falasi, Executive Director, Retail and Strategic Alliances, DFRE, said: “The National Day Super Sale initiative falls within the framework of our strategy to develop plans aimed at further boosting the emirate’s retail sector. Running promotions that offer retailers numerous options to boost sales during this time of the year will further enhance the emirate’s appeal as a year-round shopping hub. No other destination in the region offers such a superb collection of fashion and lifestyle brands, all under one roof. As Dubai has set the highest standards in terms of brand mix and quality in the retail sector in the region, it is significant to note that we have the participation of leading retail groups in the UAE. This unique National Day initiative provides several opportunities to buy sought-after items at incredible prices – giving shoppers even more reasons to celebrate the UAE National Day.” The three-day …

Dubai Parks and Resorts announced that every year it will celebrate UAE National Day with a limited number of tickets priced equivalent to the anniversary year.  This year, Dubai Parks and Resorts will celebrate the 45th UAE National Day with 4,500 tickets for 45 AED per person per park from (1st December – 3rd December) at LEGOLAND® Dubai and Bollywood Parks™ Dubai. As the largest integrated theme park destination in the region, Dubai Parks and Resorts is a destination that the UAE can be proud of and it is only fitting to mark UAE National Day annually in a truly memorable way. The #DPRNationalPride tickets will go on sale at www.dubaiparksandresorts.com from November 26th and a limited number will also be available over the National Day Weekend (1st December – 3rd December) at the park gates. Families looking to celebrate National Day together at the destination are encouraged to go online or to the parks early to avoid disappointment.  Guests can visit either LEGOLAND® Dubai or Bollywood Parks™ Dubai and enjoy over 76 interactive rides, shows, attractions and experiences, many of which have never been seen anywhere else in the world before.  Some of the many highlights include MINILAND in LEGOLAND® Dubai where families can admire UAE landmarks made from 20 million LEGO® bricks and, in the world’s first Bollywood theme park, see big screen Bollywood movies brought to life via cinematic rides and thrilling 3D and 4D simulations. Guests will also be able to visit Riverland™ Dubai, a unique themed retail and dining destination at the heart of Dubai Parks and Resorts that is free for all to enjoy.  Riverland™ Dubai will be fully dressed for the UAE National …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) highlighted its new initiatives aimed at further enhancing the overall visitor experience and boosting green tourism practices, as part of the activities that are being held during UAE Innovation Week from November 20-26. Dubai Tourism has set up an exhibition stand at BOXPARK, the offbeat outdoor destination by Meraas that is showcasing a new version of the Dubai Calendar App, two exciting concepts developed under the Dubai Sustainable Tourism Initiative, and information on the Dubai Expert training programme. The annual UAE Innovation Week was launched in 2015 by His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai to help create and sustain a culture of innovation in the UAE and help position the country as a global hub for innovation. Dubai Tourism is one of the government entities that are organising activities to celebrate Innovation Week in each emirate. Open daily from 3-9pm, the free-to-attend outdoor exhibition at BOXPARK features an upgraded Dubai Calendar App, a digital smart hub that is being displayed on an interactive screen designed as a mobile phone frame and offering visitors the opportunity to view all upcoming events in Dubai, buy tickets and make seat reservations through just one click. There are also video screens on site, highlighting Dubai Calendar activities. Visitors to the Dubai Tourism stand at BOXPARK can also learn about the Hospitality Sustainability Board Game and the Carbon Calculator, two concepts developed under the Dubai Sustainable Tourism Initiative. Workshops will be held daily during the exhibition to allow representatives from the hotel industry to play the Board Game, an educational tool that was created …

World’s first Bollywood inspired theme park opened its doors at Dubai Parks and Resorts. Bollywood Parks Dubai is a first-of-its-kind theme park that showcases rides and attractions based on some of Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters. The park opened with a ceremony that included various live entertainment shows performed by the talented Bollywood artists and dancers. Bollywood Parks Dubai will recreate the Bollywood experience through themed attractions and rides spread across five zones: Bollywood Boulevard, Mumbai Chowk, Rustic Ravine, Royal Plaza and Bollywood Film Studios. Visitors will experience bold action, colourful story-telling and captivating dance sequences inspired by nine popular films: Rock On!!, Don, Lagaan, Sholay, Dabangg, Mughal-e-Azam, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, RA.One and Krrish. Bollywood Parks Dubai’s flagship offering is the 850-seater Rajmahal Theatre that will be home to a separately ticketed Broadway-style, Bollywood -themed show. During the day, the park will have up to 20 live shows across five stages: Rock On!!, Crossroads, Mumbai Express, Rangmanch and Stars on Steps. The park will also offer six themed restaurants that capture India’s mouth-watering culinary offerings and eight retail outlets stocking quintessential filmy fare.

The budget carrier SpiceJet has launched direct daily flights from Dubai to Mangalore. The airline will operate a daily direct flight SG 59 on the Mangalore-Dubai route departing at 0.20 am. Whereas SG 60 will be operational on the Dubai-Mangalore route departing at 12.55 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday and at 3.40 am on Monday and Saturday respectively. SpiceJet will deploy its Boeing 737 fleet for the newly devised schedule. Dubai is one of SpiceJet’s six international destinations and with the launch, SpiceJet now serves non-stop flights to Dubai from 10 Indian cities — Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Delhi, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Madurai, Mumbai, Pune and Mangalore and with connections from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, besides Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.

In partnership with Architectural Heritage Society and IQPC the Cultural Tourism Middle East 2016 was held at Al Murooj Rotana. This brought together high level officials from the Tourism, Cultural Development & Antiquities, Heritage & Arts, Cultural Activities, and Architectural Heritage community to showcase their latest developments and discuss ideas and strategies to boost tourism through culture, heritage, arts and festivals. In the opening remarks by Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Dubai Tourism Development and Investments, stated that many initiatives are underway to establish Dubai as a cultural hub with the opening of the Dubai Opera and other culturally important and interesting programmes. In order to build towards making Dubai a cultural hub currently steps are being taken by Dubai Tourism to focus on sustainable tourism. Some of the key areas covered at the event included how the region is setting a foundation to support the expected doubling of tourist arrivals over the next few years in light of the economic downturn, The role cultural tourism play in economic  transformation in a mission to diversify economy, the needs to boost cultural and societal awareness, how the region could make use of their cultural assets to improve their tourism performance, and how  cultural tourism strengthens cultural understanding and perception of the Arab world.

The UAE is one step closer to being the world’s first location for a new form of high speed transport system that can enable people to travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in 12 minutes, following an agreement signed between Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) and pioneering mobility company, Hyperloop One. Alongside the signing of the RTA agreement, the Hyperloop One team introduced, for the first time ever, a vision that represents a complete transformation in the way that people travel in the 21st century as the engineers, architects and designers from Hyperloop One and BIG have collaborated intensively for six months to produce a wholly original system design for Hyperloop travel. The idea of a Hyperloop – a low-pressure tube through which levitating pods containing both passengers and goods can travel at up to 1,200 km/h – has recently gained attention around the world. Benefits include higher standards of safety than a passenger jet, lower build and maintenance costs than high-speed rail, and energy usage, per person, that is similar to a bicycle. Today the company showcased the first-ever routes from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, several Hyperports (the equivalent of a station or airport) throughout Dubai, and the conceptual interiors and exteriors of the individual passenger pods. The work is based on a detailed study of how an urban and inter-city transport network should integrate with the existing infrastructure. It’s autonomous, point-to-point and vastly simplifies the experience of getting from your front door to your destination.