Tag Archives: English

On World Tourism Day, Google is launching two free tools to help the travel industry in the Middle East and North Africa identify timely travel demand and make better-informed decisions. The tools are launched under the ‘Travel Insights with Google’ website which includes two new tools available in both English and in Arabic; Destination Insights and Hotel Insights. According to Google Trends, people in Saudi Arabia searched for many countries in the past 8 months including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Thailand the UAE and the UK (London in particular). Additionally, searches from Saudi Arabia for “booking tickets” this year have increased 153% compared to previous year. In the UAE, according to Google Trends, people searched for local entertainment destinations in the past 8 months including the Dubai Fountain and Dubai Butterfly Garden, as well as hotels located locally in the UAE and in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, searches from UAE for “ticket prices” this year have increased 122% compared to previous year. These and similar insights can be helpful for businesses to connect with people searching to travel and plan their campaigns. By leveraging the tools, businesses in the travel and tourism industry can discover insights to reach global travelers, whether they are departing or arriving in MENA, at every stage of their journey, from dreaming about their next travel destination, to booking flights and hotels. Destination Insights The Destination Insights tool will give travel businesses, governments and tourism boards a clear picture of the top sources of demand for a destination, and the destinations within their countries that travelers are most interested in visiting. It also allows businesses to explore how tourism demand is changing, compared to previous months’ or years’ demand and adjust marketing …

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has launched an advanced language-learning programme, which aims to support the tourism promotion operations carried out by the Department’s regional offices in 10 countries around the world. As part of DCT Abu Dhabi’s strategy to develop skills and competencies, the programme is designed to equip employees in overseas offices with the ability to better communicate, using their host country’s language. This includes six languages that represent Abu Dhabi’s top visitor source markets –  English, French, German, Hindi, Chinese and Arabic. Organised in collaboration with Berlitz International Language Institute, the programme offers a training period of at least two months in Abu Dhabi, and is a part of DCT Abu Dhabi’s series of advanced management training. HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Undersecretary, DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “Communicating with international markets in their own mother tongue will significantly expand our overseas offices’ reach and the capability to promote Abu Dhabi internationally. We have received a promising response by using the languages of the countries we operate in, proving the importance of providing language classes to our employees to enable them to convey messages and deliver Abu Dhabi’s image to the world effectively. As language is as much about layers of cultural context and national history, this strategy stands as a very powerful tool for tourism promotion.” Mastering local languages is a highly effective tool in tourism promotion, and will further support DCT Abu Dhabi’s global positioning of the emirate as an exceptional destination for visitors and future investors.