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Mohammad Khamis Bin Hareb Al Muhari has been appointed the Director General of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities (NCTA) by the Ministerial Council for Services. The council is chaired by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Council. Khamis has over 17 years of experience in tourism and international marketing, and…
Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Saudi based Siraj Capital signed an agreement on Tuesday to establish the first three Holiday Inn Express hotels in Saudi Arabia. They will be located in Madinah and King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), Knowledge Economic City, and Madinah Road in Jeddah. Under the agreement, it is expected that 12 more Holiday Inn Express hotels will be established throughout the Kingdom…
Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities announced contracts to establish five new museums have been approved during the commissions meeting on Tuesday. The museums will be located in Hail, Baha, Damman, Asir, and Tabuk. Prince Sultan said the SCTA also decided to introduce a new hotel classification system consistent with international standards, on December…
A summit of the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) heads of state will discuss plans for a $60 billion railway project that will link Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and later Oman. Construction of the new system will begin in 2011 and is planned for completion in 2017. The railway will provide transportation connections for GCC which currently depends on trucks, ships, and planes,…
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said less than one percent of tourism jobs in the UAE are taken by Emirates despite a substantial investment in the leisure sector. As the UAE becomes less dependent on oil revenues, it is expected that tourism will account for nearly one third of the economy by 2030. However, tourists generally find they are served by Filipino or Indian tour guides and hotel staff and…
A tourist shipping line between the Iraqi port of Basra and Iranian port of Khorramshahr will be launched soon. The governor generals of Basra and Khuzestan agreed to the new Tourist Shipping line when the Iraqi delegation visited Khuzestan province. The two sides also signed Memorandum of Understandings and the agreed items include, among other things, increasing the trade volume in the Shalamanche border,…
The United Arab Emirates, a federation of the seven emirates Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman,Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah, has many landmarks that showcase its amazing past and promising future. One of the important religious and national landmarks is The Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque. It is one of the most significant architectural treasures in modern UAE. Dubai boasts the Burj…
1,000 Haj pilgrims on three different flights landed safely at Abu Dhabi National Airport on Monday. Sixteen more flights carrying 2,840 pilgrims are expected to arrive by December 8th. Returning pilgrim Mohammed Bakr said he traveled with Al Bateen Tours for Dh40,000, that none of the pilgrims had accidents, and no one is sick. Mr. Bakr complimented the UAE Haj official mission for requiring the tour…
The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA) signed an accord to share and benefit from each country’s expertise regarding tourism. The accord was signed during a visit by BTA Director General Zhang Huiguang to the DTCM head office recently. Director Zhang headed a five member delegation on his first ever visit to Dubai where he and DTCM Director…
Premier Inn, the biggest hotel brand in the UAE, announced they are reducing room rates at its two properties in Dubai by 40 percent due to the global downturn. Daily rates for hotels at Dubai Investment Park and Dubai Silicon Oasis have been cut from AED495 to AED295, and this price is guaranteed for every Premier Inn room at the two hotels. The company explained in a statement that business travelers are…
Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) said it is proceeding with plans to add 1,200 more hotel rooms to the hospitality sector. TDIC Senior Communication Manger for Abu Dhabi projects said the TDIC has cooperated with groups specializing in hotel management to add the rooms. Mahra Khalid Al Qassimi said the Qasar Al Sarab resort in the western region has been opened and all other…
Dubai tour operators have reduced their prices by as much as 40 percent in order to attract more tourists as there will be many new hotels opening in 2010. Lower costs and brand new hotels are expected to attract many more tourists from India and China next year. A spokesman for the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) said “Last year the average room rate had reached $700 in Dubai.…
A new Mastercard survey showed that intra-regional travel has become more popular in the Middle East than destination further away due to the global economic downturn. Survey respondents were asked about their likely travel destinations in the next six months, and chose six intra-regional destinations out of a total of ten top destinations. Egypt and the UAE were the most popular choices for UAE respondents at…
Flydubai announced it is cutting fares 50 percent on all flights until December 15th, beginning on Tuesday. During this period passengers can book one way fares to and from Dubai at half price including all taxes and one piece of hand baggage. The company also reduced the price of flights transferring through Dubai by 20 percent during the sale. Bookings must be made by 11:59 pm on December 15th for travel…
Dusit International opened their first Dusit Princess hotel outside of Thailand in Dubai near Deira City Center, just five minutes away from Dubai International Airport. The opening coincides with more positive news about prospects for the tourism and hospitality industry in the Middle East. The UAE achieved top ranking in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 and the country’s long-term growth is…
The first aqua park in Qatar is getting ready to open in Doha, in April 2010. The park, which will be located on Salwa Road, will have a giant wave pool, lazy river, and a number of slides. The wave pool will create waves up to 1.5 meters high. The water park will have a phased in opening with the first 100,000 square feet set to open next year, and another 300,000 square feet currently under construction…
Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways will increase its flights to Kathmandu, Nepal from four times a week to every day, beginning in January 2010. Etihad began the Kathmandu flight service in December 2008, and it has proven to be quite popular, with high volumes of traffic going into the Middle East and Abu Dhabi, as well as transit traffic to onward destinations like Frankfurt, London, and Western Europe. A…
An online poll showed that most people believe Dubai should move away from expensive, luxury hotels and offer alternatives in order to continue increasing the number of tourists to the emirate. Over 60 percent of those who took the survey believe Dubai is receiving less visitors due to its image as an expensive city, and this is because travelers are cutting back on luxuries during the global economic…
