Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

Air Canada is expanding its reach within the Middle East and aims to tap new markets such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The only four star international network carrier in North America, Air Canada celebrated one year of their operations in Dubai recently in the presence of Margaret Skinner, Director Sales EMEAI, Air Canada. Skinner says that the Dreamliner is a game changer for them, but now they have upgraded it to a Boeing 777 for the convenience of the passengers travelling from Dubai – Toronto route and vice versa. Deepu Cyriac, Country Manager for UAE/GCC, Air Canada, stated that they recently opened BSP in Kuwait. They are further expanding their services to have SPA partnerships with Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air and Saudi Arabian Airline to travel via Dubai and London to more destinations in Canada. This flexibility has seen a very good growth from the region. They are currently serving a very good mix of markets around the region.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has ramped up its travel trade activities and consumer awareness campaigns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in an effort to draw more visitors from the GCC market. Positioning itself as one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the region, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority hosted a travel trade roadshow in Saudi Arabia this week in partnership with Emirates Airline. More than 85 key stakeholders from the Saudi travel trade attended the roadshow which comprised awareness workshops for the travel trade in Jeddah and Riyadh on 9th and 10th October. During the first nine months of this year, RAKTDA reported an upturn of 18 per cent in the number of Saudi visitors staying in Ras Al Khaimah’s hotels, compared to the same period in 2015. Moreover, for the month of September, Saudi visitors to Ras Al Khaimah have increased by 39 per cent compared to September 2015. RAKTDA has launched its Vision 2019 tourism strategy with a target for 1 million visitors by the end of 2018. The strategy focuses on the emirate’s inimitable assets which include some of the finest beaches and nature in the region, the highest mountain in the UAE, a unique terracotta desert, 7,000 years of history and heritage, as well as authentic Arabian cultural experiences. The tourism body is planning an additional 20,000 hotel rooms by 2025, along with new tourist attractions, products and events to be developed across Ras Al Khaimah. Emirates Airline serves the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with 70 flights a week offering seamless travel to Dubai from its four gateways: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medinah Al Munawarah.

The UAE successfully took part in a special meeting for GCC tourism undersecretaries held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of the preparations for the 3rd GCC Tourism Ministers Meeting. The UAE delegation was headed by H.E. Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy, and was joined by Saeed Al Samahi, Director General, FTAA; and Abdullah Al Hammadi, director at the Ministry of Economy. The delegates discussed key points from the minutes of its previous meeting — strongly focused on the development of the GCC region’s tourism industry, the further promotion of joint tourism work among GCC countries and the continuation of efforts to achieve common strategic goals and objectives in support of enhancing and improving national tourist attractions of respective member countries. H.E. Al Muhairi shared that tourism in the GCC region has witnessed a positive upward shift in the last few years and has resulted in the region’s tourism segment’s ability to contribute significantly to the economies of countries in the GCC, supplementing contributions that has helped in promoting economic diversity. The Undersecretary revealed that the recommendations produced in the recent meeting complements the move to further enhance joint cooperation among GCC countries.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts opened the doors to the Mövenpick Hotel City Star Jeddah, an European-style property in one of Saudi Arabia’s fastest-growing cities. The 228-room property, which marks the Swiss hospitality firm’s third hotel in Jeddah and 11th in the Kingdom, seamlessly blends a classical interior design with a contemporary façade and the latest modern comforts. Located near to both the Al Harthy Exhibition Centre and Mall of Arabia, and just a 15-minute drive from King Abdulaziz International Airport, the five-star hotel meets the diverse needs of business, leisure and MICE-related travellers. The deal to manage Mövenpick Hotel City Star Jeddah has been signed with AlTayyar Travel Group, a major player in the Middle East’s tourism industry and the only publicly-listed travel group in Saudi Arabia. There are three restaurants from which to choose, including all-day dining outlet Al Deira, the glamorous Al Moltaqa Café, and Al Zohoor Garden located next to the rooftop pool. To celebrate the opening of Mövenpick Hotel City Star Jeddah, the property is offering a 25% discount on reserved room prices, which start at SAR 700 per room, per night.

United States is the top source market for inbound travel in the UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia, Germany, India and France, according to a recent Q2 Report by Sojern. As per the report, except for India all other destinations which topped last year dropped due to various reasons. Outbound travel ranking of popular destinations for MEA travellers had changed in Q2 as well. This time Bahrain shows the highest growth percentage of 188 per cent in travel between June 30 and July 1, followed by Qatar with 164 per cent, Iraq 148 per cent, Kuwait 132 per cent and the UAE with 131 per cent in comparison to the week before. There has been a regional travel increase from 15 per cent to 25 per cent post Ramadan.

UAE-based Travel Connections Arabia (TCA) is expanding its footprints with a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the company’s second office in the GCC. TCA offers a sales and marketing extension to its world-class partner hotels, generating lucrative inbound travel business from the Middle East to properties and destinations located around the world. TCA’s collection of hospitality and tourism clients include some of the most exclusive hotels and resorts around the world, such as Iniala Beach House in Phuket, Thailand; The Mark in New York City, USA; The Lanesborough in London, England; Kulm Hotel St. Moritz in Switzerland; Villa Cora in Florence, Italy; and six exceptional Constance Hotels & Resorts, spread across the Indian Ocean’s top destinations: the Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius. Regional Sales Manager Hamada Hefnawy, with more than four years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry, has recently been appointed to cover all of Saudi Arabia.