Tag Archives: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is rolling out a set of initiatives to deliver end-to-end ‘Only in Dubai’ experiences to ensure tourists get to enjoy an unforgettable stay in the emirate, and encourage repeat visitation, as part of efforts to further strengthen and sustain the city’s world-class propositions. One of the key pillars of Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2022-2025, the ‘Only in Dubai’ set of initiatives will deliver authentic and world-class end-to-end destination experiences across travel touchpoints that are tailored to relevant segments of tourists. The tourism strategy announced by Dubai’s visionary leadership aims to make Dubai the most-visited city in the world, targeting 25 million visitors annually by 2025, and the unparalleled ‘Only in Dubai’ experiences will offer regular unexpected delight moments and active reduction of detractor moments or pain points that will positively impact guest happiness to inspire the millions of tourists to re-visit Dubai. Measuring visitor recommendation and satisfaction is being done through Tourism’s Happiness Index, which was launched under His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai. This index measures not only Dubai’s ability to exceed service expectations, but also helps ensure that every visitor to Dubai becomes a passionate loyalist and a firm advocate of the city. Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “While our world-class propositions and experiences showcase the diversity of the destination offerings and provide segment-based preferences for tourists, we are working closely with our partners and stakeholders to curate, create and deliver personalised end-to-end experiences. Visitors will be able to enjoy at every step of their journey, which starts from …

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced an “e-hail” taxi joint venture with Careem Networks recently at a press conference held under the patronage of His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer; Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, RTA; Mudassir Sheikha, Co- founder and CEO, Careem, along with other senior officials and CEOs from the RTA and senior executives of Careem. HE Al Tayer stated that this partnership was the first in the world between a government transport authority and the private sector. “This initiative stems from RTA’s keenness to implement the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai, to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world. It also aims to bring happiness to people, deliver classy services to tourists and enrich customer’s experience. This partnership is the first-of-its-kind worldwide between a government transport authority and a private entity specialised in taxi e-hail business. “Through this new company, the RTA intends to leverage the taxi sector in Dubai. It involves raising the efficiency of taxis in Dubai through enhanced accessibility of vehicles and their online booking and reducing the expected waiting time for the vehicle. It also entails a host of advantages to clients such as making a direct online payment via the app, charting the most suitable journey route, sharing the ride with others, displaying details of the vehicle and driver, in addition to an option for providing the service with a chauffeur. Five of the big e-hail taxi companies operating in the global market submitted technical and financial proposals but Careem was selected as it caters to the provision of …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has introduced business to business (B2B) online platform that offers a white-label reservation and ticketing solution for attractions and experiences to operate more efficiently, allowing better connection to their customers. Attractions will be able to create personalised ticketing systems under their own brand name, while expanding their reach and increasing their customer base to a diversified audience. Additionally, the Attractions Marketplace will equip partners with sophisticated reporting tools, with an integrated back-end system that allows analysis of ticket sales and key distribution channels, with the system also providing an interactive dashboard summarising bookings made via each sales channel, sales target performance and inventory and capacity occupancy. Launching in January 2019, the B2B ‘Attractions Marketplace’ has been designed to create a seamless technological framework to further stimulate industry cohesion through the connectivity of the city’s attractions and experiences with the global industry’s network of B2B resellers. Guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai, and the government’s 10X Initiative, the online marketplace will give the city’s diverse portfolio of attractions and experiences a higher level of digital maturity through robust technology, mobile transactions and timely bookings by industry resellers. Developed by Dubai-based technology provider, PrioHub, an entity under the dnata group, in partnership with PrioTicket technology, the Attractions Marketplace has been designed after conducting in-depth research into the local travel sphere and interaction with sector stakeholders to identify key challenges faced by the emirate’s attractions in marketing themselves to a global audience. Providing attractions and experiences with a world-class platform to automate their operations instead of manual …

China’s Belt and Road initiative is expected to have major implications on trade and investment flows among Muslim countries, according to panellists addressing the topic at the Global Islamic Economy Summit 2018 (GIES) in Dubai. Entitled ‘One Belt, One Road, – How Might We Harness the Silk Route for the Islamic Economy?’, the panel highlighted the unprecedented opportunities for the Muslim nations that are located along the New Silk Road and examined the new growth opportunities that are opening up as the major infrastructure project progresses. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai, the fourth edition of GIES is organised by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre in cooperation with Thomson Reuters as strategic partner. Held from October 30-31, 2018, GIES attarcted the participation of over 3,000 key decision makers, policymakers, government officials, business leaders and industry experts from around the world. Launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, Belt and Road aims to improve connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries. During the session, Professor Nabil Baydoun, Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai, spoke about the geographical importance of what is a new ‘Silk Route’ and how the project is an integral part of the Chinese plan for their economy. “It helps China increase trade among 65 countries and its biggest advantage is that it brings China closer to the world. Each nation needs to step up and play a part in working towards Belt and Road. Chinese regulations need to open the door to the world,” he said. Professor Wang Yiwei, …

The 5th World Green Economy Summit 2018 has begun on October 24 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE; Prime Minister and Ruler, Dubai, Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre with the theme ‘Driving innovation, leading change.’ His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler, Dubai, also attended the inauguration ceremony’. During the opening ceremony, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honoured delegations and representatives of countries participating in the Preparatory Conference on the Establishment of World Green Economy Organization (WGEO). HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai; Managing Director and CEO, DEWA; and Chairman, WGES, delivered his keynotes at the summit, extending thanks and gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for inaugurating the summit. HE Al Tayer reaffirmed that the summit comes in line with the vision of the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President, UAE, and the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, UAE and Ruler, Dubai and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince, Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander, UAE Armed Forces, for the United Arab Emirates to be the best country in the world, by the UAE Centennial 2071. It also witnessed a speech by HE Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister, Climate Change and Environment, highlighting the UAE’s transformation progress into green economy. Christina Figueres – Former Secretary General, UNFCCC, also gave a speech, reviewing leading efforts being made by the United Nations and Member States to …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has published the first interactive, web-based, manual under the Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) Initiative to help hotels and hospitality establishments map out a sustainable journey and trigger a positive impact on the environmental performance of the tourism industry. This has been designed in line with the Department’s commitment to ensure that the emirate takes the lead in promoting sustainable best practices and green initiatives, in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a leading sustainable city globally. By identifying the collective environmental impact in the tourism industry, the guidelines provide practical and cost-effective solutions around four key themes: energy conservation, water conservation, waste management and sustainability engagement of staff and guests. These form the basis for key objectives that the Manual sets out to achieve, including the promotion of energy and water conservation measures by benchmarking activities that help to identify and implement effective policies and incentives; the development of training programs, communications campaigns and events to promote sustainability initiatives to all staff and guests; and the further development of Dubai as a “smart city” by extending the use of new technologies in daily operations, e.g. remote load control, Building Management Systems (BMS), and control sensors. Commenting on the launch of the industry standards, Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director – Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism said, “Reflecting outstanding work in the field of green tourism, this pioneering document published by Dubai Tourism under the DST initiative serves as a valuable guide to help create a sustainable future for our …

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has said that mega projects being implemented in the UAE are reinforcing the country’s profile globally as a model for sustainable growth driven by diversification, innovation and productive partnerships with the private sector. He also said the tourism sector is key to the development of the UAE’s economy, due to the value it adds through key projects and its ability to attract millions of visitors every year. “We welcome visitors from across the world and provide them with an exceptional tourism experiences. We want them to leave with lasting memories that they can share in their countries and communities. The continuous development of infrastructure has enabled our country to be a destination of choice in the region. Supported by the talent and creativity of our people, I am confident that we will be able to establish global leadership in several sectors. The UAE will continue to be a symbol of progress and prosperity,” Sheikh Mohammed added. His remarks came as he approved the ‘Dubai Cruise Terminal’ as the main hub for cruise tourism in Dubai. His Highness also attended the signing ceremony of a strategic partnership agreement between Meraas and Carnival Corporation & plc that aims to transform Dubai into a major regional maritime tourism hub.

In a first, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has organised a series of workshops, inviting hotels, tourism agencies and environmental organisations to review the progress of the Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) initiative. Its aim is to explore ways how sustainability standards can be further enhanced to support effective resource management across various hotel classifications, and to contribute effectively to raising professional awareness towards the environment, the economy, and the use of natural resources. These focus groups are a tangible demonstration of Dubai Tourism’s continuing commitment to work closely with its tourism and hospitality stakeholders to promote sustainable tourism and achieve the goals set out in the Tourism Vision 2020. Connecting 40 leading hotel operators, owners and representatives from hotel establishments, as well as environmental organisations, the event offered an interactive platform to discuss knowledge-sharing to discuss the feasibility and implementation of timelines for 19 new industry sustainability standards developed by DST. Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism, said, “Working in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a sustainable environmental destination, the credible and feasible sustainability standards and certification schemes are key tools in the transformation of our tourism industry, working in line with the city’s overall clean energy and sustainable development targets”.

Indian passport holders, with residence visa from either the UK or EU, can now avail visa on arrival for travel within the UAE. In a cabinet meeting chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, it was announced that the government had approved the decision to grant visa to Indian passport holders with residence visa from either UK or EU. Earlier this year, UAE cabinet approved to grant visa on arrival to Indian passport holders with either a valid US visa or a Green Card. This will strengthen ties between the two countries attracting more visitors to the destination.

The recently concluded Arabian Travel Market (ATM) from April 25-28, 2016, at the Dubai World Trade Center declared an increase of 7 per cent in terms of visitor numbers and 9 per cent increase from 2015 in the number of Buyer’s Club members with over 28,000 trade visitors which included VIPs, sponsors and speakers attending the show released by Reed Travel Exhibitions. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, ATM has grown to become the largest event of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in the world. The 2016 edition had an additional hall, with 423 main stand holders representing 86 countries, 64 country pavilions and over 100 new exhibitors making their debut. Main focus was the mid-market segment targeted at various new markets with wellness and responsible tourism playing a key role as well. One of the most interesting seminars was the discussion on UAE being the global tourism hub.