New connections. Fresh perspectives. The travel developments to know.
5,425 reports
Work on the Dubai Monorail system continues despite delays in other transportation projects caused by the economic slowdown. The monorail will house 40,000 residents. Residents in the City of Arabia neighborhood will be connected when the project is complete. Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group are the developers for City of Arabia. Their executive director said system is still in the early stages of design and…
The Palm Monorail is the latest attraction to open to the public on Nakheel’s Palm Jumeirah. It costs Dh1.4 billion to build and opens a few months prior to the opening of Dubai Metro in September. The railway is the first of its kind in the Middle East. Altantis Hotel is the only destination and a round trip takes only ten minutes. Passengers pay Dh25 per ticket to depart from Gateway Towers at the entrance…
Abu Dhabi based Rotana Hotels revenue per available room (RevPar) in the UAE fell between 15% and 20% for the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year. However, senior executives said the company will move forward with expansions plans. Rotana’s chief executive said the global slowdown has affected the UAE, and the slowing demand and increased supply will continue to affect…
Emirates Airline and Group has partnered with Marriot International to develop a new luxury $490 million 1,614 hotel in Dubai. Emirates is currently constricting the Park Towers twin tower property near Dubai’s Business Bay district on Shiekh Zayed Road. The two companies signed a contract for the development and Marriot has been appointed operator of Park Towers, which will be under Marriot management and…
Jazeera Airways announced yesterday it will launch four new flight services from Kuwait and Bahrain from 1 June 2009 and Dubai flights will be increased to six. Jazeera Airways CEO Andrew Cohen said they will operate direct flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Sanaa, and Salah. They will also begin their first direct flights from Bahrain to the Yemeni capital. Jazeera Airways began operations in October 2005 and…
Etihad Airways defended their new 48 hour special offers available on their website, following complaints by customers that the promotional prices were misleading and inaccurate. Dozens of customers have complained about large discrepancies between the actual price after extra charges compared to the promotional price. For example, a return flight to Heathrow Airport on May 4-5 and May 18 could be purchased…
The number of UK visitors to Dubai fell 9% in the first quarter of the year. Figures from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) show the number of visitors from the UK and Ireland in the first months of the year fell to 195,000 from 210,000 for the same period last year. The market in the UK and Ireland increased to 13% to 900,000 in last year. The director of the DTCM office in the…
Vice executive chairman for Rotana Hotels in Dubai said their profits, occupancy, and rates fell 25% last year. Imad Elias said hotel prices became too high as a result of hoteliers arrogance, and they should now come down to a more competitive level. Rotana Hotels has 16 hotels in Dubai. Hotels.com Hotel Price Index shows in the fourth quarter of last years Dubai hotel prices were the second most expensive…
Emirates Airlines chief said they have increased the free baggage allowance up to 30% from 4 May 2009. Emirates divisional vice president for Revenue Optimisation said they made the change to demonstrate their commitment to putting the passenger first. The new allowance rules are being implemented throughout the airline’s global network of more than 100 destinations. Economy class passengers may check in…
Jumeirah Group employees saved the company close to $2.7 million by taking voluntary unpaid leave during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The company’s HR director Mathew Mee said “It’s amazing the take-up when you go to colleagues and ask them ‘are you interested in taking time off to help the company” He said many have done just that and they will be coming back to the business. Mee added he…
Emmar Properties chief executive said on Wednesday they will open two new hotels in Dubai, add 1,000 new employees to their staff, and have also agreed to manage their first European property. Marc Dardenne said “We will add 1,000 associates to our family.” The new hotels will open in Dubai in August and September. He said they signed their first management agreement to operate a hotel in the South of France
An official with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said the number of visitors from developed markets has declined but they will meet their longer target of 2.7 million visitors by 2012. Dayne Lin Kok Chun, the products development division director for ADTA said “Abu Dhabi has had cutbacks from Europe and developed markets, but its’ not something that would cause major alarm bells to cause us to review…
Afghanistan took a step towards reviving its tourism industry with the opening of its first national park, Band-e-Amir in Bamyam province last week. The park was opened with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which spent about $1 million (Dh 3.67 million) to develop it. Band-e-Amir consists of six deep blue lakes and a beautiful landscape dotted with snow…
CEO of Dubai International Airports (DIA), Paul Griffiths, said passenger arrival growth is “still in positive growth territory” while passenger movement at some of the world’s top ten airports fell up to 15%. Last year passenger arrivals at DIA increased 9% to 37.4 million. For the first quarter of 2009, passenger arrivals increased 2% to 9.5 million compared to the same period last year. Griffiths said…
The Mediterranean State of Malta is opening a representative office in Dubai. The move represents a shift in focus from Europe as a source market for tourists, to the Dubai region and the Middle East. Malta’s tourism industry has matured and the county offers many features lacking in Europe including Mediterranean climate, sun, sand, and water sports. Malta Tourism Authority chief executive Josef Formosa…
Emirates Airlines chairman and chief executive said they will not postpone scheduled delivery of new planes through 2011 despite the global downturn in air travel. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum spoke about the carriers operations at the start of the four day Arabian Travel Market which opened in Dubai yesterday. He said Emirates expects to take delivery of 17 new planes for the fiscal year beginning last…
Kingdom Hotels and Investments (KHI) sold its 39.3% stake in the Four Seasons Resort at Sharm El-Shaikh in Egypt for $70 million. KHI is chaired by Prince Alwaweed bin Talal. Implications of the agreement are that KHI will realize $178 million from the enterprise value of the resort and ancillary real estate. Four Seasons continues to manage the Four Seasons Resort at Sharm El-Shaikh. Kingdom Holdings and…
Etihad Airways announced its new first class cabin at the Arabian Travel Market 2009 in Dubai today. Etihad spent Dh 257 million upgrading the cabins, which have 12 individual suites providing passengers more privacy, comfort, and increased storage. A highlight of the new cabins is an extra large seat which extends fully to a flatbed 80.5 inches long. The seat has a built in massager, head rest, lumbar…
