Tag Archives: Senior Vice President

Etihad Airways is set to operate a daily scheduled flight between Al Ain in the UAE and Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from May 26 to June 4 to meet increased demand during the last 10 days of Ramadan. The flights will be operated by an Airbus A330, and have been conveniently timed to offer customers in Al Ain with afternoon departures in both directions. Ahmed Al Qubaisi, Senior Vice President – Government and International Affairs, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “We are very pleased to offer these special flights from Al Ain to Jeddah during Ramadan. The flights are conveniently scheduled for the people residing in Al Ain wanting to attend Umrah during the last 10 days of the holy month.” Flight EY 335 will depart Al Ain at 1.30pm, arriving in Jeddah at 3.20pm, with return flight EY 336 departing the Saudi city at 4.20pm and arriving in the UAE city at 8.05pm.

Emirates renewed its support to Mauritius and the Seychelles by extending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which outlines joint activities to promote the two countries. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group met a VIP delegation from Mauritius and Seychelles at Arabian Travel Market 2019.  An MoU was signed  by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations for Africa, Emirates and Sherin Francis, Chief Executive Officer, Seychelles Tourism Board and Arvind Bundhun, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, in the presence of the Didier Dogley and Anil Kumar Gayan, Tourism Ministers of Seychelles and Mauritius respectively. “We have enjoyed long and fruitful partnerships with both Mauritius and Seychelles, and have taken an active role in boosting the tourism industry of the island nations. Our commitment to these destinations and the partnership forged with the respective government authorities, have seen great success. The renewal of our agreements underpins our confidence that the growth of tourism to both Mauritius and Seychelles can be further developed, and we remain confident that we will continue to see these numbers grow,” said Abbas. “The signing of this MoU with Emirates underpins the long-standing strong relationship, developed over a decade, between the Government of Seychelles and the leadership of this global airline. We value the services Emirates has provided and continues to provide to the Seychelles and its tourism industry. We look forward towards further deepening this relationship towards our mutual benefits”, said Didier Dogley, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of the Seychelles. “I am happy that we are renewing this Memoradum of Understanding with Emirates as this is the basis on which we have built …

Ctrip.com International (Ctrip), one of China’s largest integrated travel services companies, has signed an agreement with Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) to develop a global distribution strategy promoting MHR properties to Ctrip’s 300-million strong customer base. The agreement was announced jointly at ITB Berlin by David Zhou, Chief Business Officer—Accommodation Business Unit, Ctrip and Nayan Peshkar, Senior Vice President – Digital, Distribution & Revenue Strategy, MHR. It marks the start of an alliance enabling Ctrip to offer MHR’s iconic portfolio of hotels in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia to its China-based business and leisure travel clients. Zhou said, “Chinese outbound tourists reached nearly 150 million in 2018, and the growth for this year remains strong. By signing this China–focused distribution agreement with MHR, we are continuing to offer 300 million members the best hotel experience worldwide whilst enhancing MHR’s presence and boosting new business opportunities for them in the China market.” Through the aegis of a strategic collaboration agreement, MHR will partner with Ctrip’s membership programme, which will certify its properties as ‘Chinese-Friendly Hotels’ and enable them to benefit from Ctrip’s influential ranking system. MHR and Ctrip will also work towards customer initiatives such as the launching of a flagship store on Ctrip’s digital platforms, joint marketing campaigns as well as knowledge sharing and cross exposure programmes for team members. Ctrip is the number one platform for Chinese nationals travelling overseas. About one in four Chinese citizens use Ctrip to book and search for outbound flight tickets, making it the world’s largest outbound travel platform. Peshkar said, “We are delighted to be raising the profile of our hotel offering in the fast-growing China travel market. Asia …

Amadeus has announced that it will be repositioning its offerings in Bahrain by transitioning its local customers to a new distributor entity under the name of Amadeus Bahrain. The new company will be the exclusive distributor of Amadeus solutions throughout the Kingdom, providing local airlines, airports, hotels, travel agencies, and other travel players with access to the full breadth of Amadeus technology. Travel companies in Bahrain had previously worked directly with Amadeus Gulf, a regional joint venture that continues overseeing the company’s operations in the UAE and Oman. The new Amadeus Bahrain entity will be headed by longtime industry veteran and Bahrain resident Daniel Naoumovitch, who joins in the capacity of Managing Director. Additional Amadeus support staff will transfer to the new entity, with all Amadeus contracts in Bahrain remaining unchanged and assigned to the new entity, ensuring a seamless transition of operations. Antoine Medawar, Senior Vice President—Retail, Middle East and Africa said, “We are fully committed to the high standards of service and support that Amadeus is known for, and believe this move will enable us to enhance those offerings in the future.” Bahrain’s tourism industry is booming as the Kingdom expects to welcome 15 million annual visitors by 2020 – equivalent to roughly nine times the Kingdom’s population. The sector also accounts for approximately 9.7 per cent of the country’s GDP, with tourism revenues projected to top $1 billion by 2020, according to recent figures from the Bahrain Economic Development Board. Daniel Naoumovitch, Managing Director, Amadeus Bahrain added, “I am thrilled to be part of the Amadeus family and the new organisation being established in Bahrain. We look forward to energising Bahrain’s rapidly expanding travel industry by capitalising on …

flydubai is set to start flights to Tashkent from March 11, 2019. The five-times weekly service between Dubai and Tashkent will become a daily operation from May 31, 2019. Business Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 7,500 (USD 1,785) and are inclusive of all taxes with 40 kg checked baggage, meals and in-flight entertainment. Economy Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 1,545 (USD 420) including 20 kg checked baggage and a meal. The carrier will operate the new route with one of its brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from Terminal 3 of Dubai International (DXB). The new cabin features a flat-bed in Business Class and in addition to the extra space and privacy, passengers can sleep comfortably during their flight. Economy Class offers new RECARO seats designed to optimise space and comfort so that passengers can sit back, relax and enjoy their flight. Commenting on the launch of flights to Tashkent, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “we are pleased to become the first UAE national carrier to offer direct flights to Tashkent, strengthening ties between the UAE and Uzbekistan via these new direct air links. This creates opportunities for further development of tourism and trade flows and is in line with our commitment to opening up previously underserved markets and offering more travel options to fly to Dubai and beyond.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations and E-commerce, flydubai, said, “We hope the new route will be a popular choice for passengers travelling from Dubai and the GCC looking for new hidden gems within a short flying distance from our hub in Dubai.”

In its first biannual city briefing event of the year, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) highlighted its strategic framework, activities and campaigns in line with the Tourism Vision for 2020. Hosted for hotel establishments, destination management companies, event organisers, tourism attractions and government departments, the event was held at the Conrad Dubai with approximately 1,000 attendees. Keynote speeches at the latest briefing led by His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General, Dubai Tourism, provided valuable insights into the growth drivers behind Dubai’s record year-to-date international visitation, providing stakeholders with an in-depth analysis of the city’s visitor demographics and visitor satisfaction results from the annual Dubai Visitor Survey. Key successes and learnings from international marketing and business campaigns were also discussed. In addition, these keynotes covered the significance of Dubai’s robust calendar of retail and festival events spearheaded by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), and Dubai College of Tourism’s first-of-its-kind multi-disciplinary educational platform for the region. Both of these are key elements of the future outlook for tourism in Dubai and set to transform the city’s fast-evolving industry and the overall visitor experience. Another keynote was delivered by Manal Al Bayat, Senior Vice President – Business Development and Integration at Expo 2020 Dubai, who provided crucial insights into what can be expected in the lead up to the event and the legacy it will leave behind.

Introducing 3D seat models on emirates.com, Emirates has becoming the first airline to introduce web virtual reality (VR) technology on its digital platform. The 3D seat model is a visualisation engine that displays an immersive 3D 360 degree view of the interior of the Emirates A380 and the Emirates Boeing 777, giving customers a chance to explore their seats, the spacious cabin and the Emirates onboard product. This new feature available on emirates.com allows users to navigate through the Economy, Business and First Class cabins, as well as the iconic Onboard Lounge and Shower Spa on the Emirates A380 using navigational hotspots. Alex Knigge, Senior Vice President -Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand (Digital), Emirates said, “As we continually invest to provide our customers with an unmatched travel experience onboard and on the ground, we also work very hard to give our customers a world-class digital experience. We are pleased to be the world’s first airline to introduce this cutting-edge web VR technology.” The high-quality 3D generated graphics offer an outstanding render that is close to reality. Customers accessing emirates.com via their mobile devices or the Emirates app for iOS and Android will also be able to explore their seats before checking in online with the 3D seat map.

An MoU was signed at the Arabian Travel Market between Emirates and Mauritius to strengthen their partnership in future. It was signed by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations for Africa, Emirates’ and Devi Seewooruthun, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, in the presence of Anil Gayan, Minister of Tourism, Republic of Mauritius, . “Mauritius has always been an important destination on the Emirates network, and we are pleased to be continuing our long standing commitment with them. We will look to develop a series of joint activities together with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, to highlight the destination and its appeal throughout our network”, said Abbas. “The partnership between Mauritius and Emirates has stood the test of time. The signing of this fresh MoU is a strong signal to strengthening that partnership even more in the years to come”, said Gayan. The agreement will see marketing activities such as attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops, amongst others, be undertaken jointly by Emirates and the Tourism Board. In 2017, Mauritius welcomed 1,341,860 tourists. The destinations’ main markets are France, UK, Germany, South Africa, India, Italy, China, the Russian Federation and Reunion Island.

In keeping with its strategy to receive 1 million cruise tourists by 2020-21, Dubai Cruise Tourism has signed an MoU at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) to launch the Dubai Cruise Committee, which confirms the implementation of a collaborative framework designed to consolidate the city’s position as ‘cruise hub of the region’. The Dubai Cruise Committee is a strategic network of leading industry partners; Dubai Tourism, DP World UAE Region FZE, Emirates Airline, The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai, and Dubai Customs. This newly-signed MoU demonstrates each organisation’s commitment to work together to increase the number of cruise tourists to Dubai. As well as agreeing to work together to sustain the emirate’s position as a leading winter cruise destination, the Dubai Cruise Committee discussed and approved business development strategies to secure long term contracts with existing clients and attract new cruise lines to use the emirate as their winter home port in the region. The committee also agreed to work to extend Dubai’s cruise season further into the summer months, to appeal to additional market segments around the world. Commenting on the newly-signed MoU, Hamad Bin Mejren, Senior Vice President, Dubai Tourism, said, “Dubai has been instrumental in pioneering cruise tourism in the region, and our success could not have been achieved without our close working relationships with both the public and private sectors. This landmark agreement signed by the Dubai Cruise Committee will ensure that international cruise lines will receive an end-to-end support for their plans in Dubai.”

Travelport and Air France-KLM have signed an agreement for the distribution of content through Travelport’s platform. Air France-KLM and HOP! content on Travelport’s platform will include Travelport’s rich content, branded fares, fare families and multiple ancillaries. Travelport customers will continue to benefit from Travelport’s tools beyond booking capability that enable workflow automation, change management processes, multiple content integration, robotics for fulfilment and other vital services. This agreement also enables customers selected by Air France HOP! and KLM to access a private channel via Travelport through which they will receive content without the additional distribution surcharge levied by Air France-KLM starting April 1, 2018. Derek Sharp, Senior Vice President and Managing Director – Air Commerce, Travelport, says, “This agreement is an extension of a long-term relationship which has delivered greater choice to Air France KLM’s customers. We look forward to a continuing productive partnership as we deploy new technology with the airline.” Emmanuelle Gailland, Vice President – Distribution, Air France-KLM, says, “Travelport has been a great partner throughout our private channel engagement as a transition towards NDC. Both Air France KLM and Travelport will work together to bring NDC content of new fares, products, services and rich media in the marketplace.”