Airline, airport, hotel, destination, visa, and Muslim travel updates from Irhal.
The airline marks Philadelphia as its 14th destination in North America NEW YORK, NY, USA – Qatar Airways has reconnected Doha and Philadelphia with the launch of a daily non-stop flight between Hamad International Airport (DOH) and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), its 14th destination in North America, which resumed on 1 August 2026.
Read full storyThis summer, Central Shopping Centers invites international visitors to experience the best of shopping, dining, and leisure with Summer Holiday 2026, running from 20 July – 30 September 2026. Created exclusively for international tourists, the campaign offers shopping privileges across Thailand’s five world-class shopping malls: centralwOrld, Central Park…
Read full storyThe Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Jordan Tourism Board, in cooperation with tourism associations, have launched the integrated digital platform "Ahlan Jordan" as part of measures to support the tourism sector and address the impact of regional circumstances on travel activity.
Read full storyflydubai, the Dubai-based carrier, has increased its daily operations between Dubai and Naples and is set to boost its flights to Milan-Bergamo to a double-daily operation from 31 July, enhancing passenger connectivity to Italy.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – July 28, 2026: The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has announced that Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a museum of modern and contemporary art, will open its doors on 11 December 2026 at Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.
Warner Bros. World™ Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, the region's largest indoor theme park, is inviting guests to place themselves in the hands of one of DC's most iconic Super-Villains, as Kryptonite Collider officially opens.
Malaysia Retains No. 1 Position in Global Muslim Travel Index 2025, Offering GCC Travellers a Summer of Festivals, Culture and Discovery.
The Dubai-based carrier announces the start of daily flights to Aleppo from 20 July, reaffirming its connectivity to opening underserved markets Aleppo becomes the carrier’s second destination in Syria alongside Damascus
What if the most valuable thing you brought home from a trip wasn’t an object, but a story? Northern Thailand is home to dozens of ethnic communities who have carried their identities across mountains and borders for centuries – and many of them welcome curious, respectful visitors.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today launched the search for the 7 Contemporary Wonders of the World, a global initiative designed to identify and celebrate the landmarks and buildings created since 1801 that have had the greatest impact on Travel & Tourism, local communities and economic development, and continue to redefine the future of destin…
Luxury travel today is no longer measured by how much you can see in a few days, but by how deeply you can experience a destination. At Le Méridien Phuket Mai Khao Beach Resort, guests are invited to embrace this philosophy through Long Stay Beach Escape, an exclusive package designed for travelers who wish to enjoy more of Phuket's culture, wellness, and f…
Read full storyTwo hotels, three ways to stay, and one summer campaign inviting guests to choose their own scene across Paramount Hotel Midtown and Paramount Hotel Dubai
Read full storySharjah Museums Offer an Integrated Summer Experience Blending Culture, Science, and Discovery for All Community Members
Read full storyNew five-day programme empowers young people to build confidence, resilience and lifelong skills while embracing active lifestyles
Read full storyAcross Five Museums with Interactive Museum Programmes Enriching Children’s Knowledge
Read full storyOceans of Lights Festival returns to SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi in its third edition to offer a summer program full of activities and new experiences
Read full storyJuly 2026, Yerevan, Armenia: Armenia has extended its temporary visa-free entry arrangement, keeping the country within easy reach for eligible travellers from across the Gulf for a further year. The arrangement now runs until 1 July 2027.
Read full storyJuly 2026, Yerevan, Armenia: The competent Armenian authorities announced the extension of the temporary decision exempting eligible travelers from GCC countries from prior visa entry for an additional year, making the decision effective until July 1, 2027. This decision aims to facilitate travel procedures and tourism movement and exchange between Armenia and the Arab Gulf region, allowing travelers…
Read full storySet within Khalid Lagoon, the island shows how Sharjah brings art, nature and design into everyday public life.
Read full storyBlending cultural discovery with elevated wellness and leisure experiences, World of Hyatt summer destinations offer GCC travelers seasonal getaways across the GCC, Africa and Europe.
Read full storyAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – June 30, 2026: Yas Waterworld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi has officially been awarded the Guinness World Records™ title for the most waterslides in a waterpark, featuring a record-breaking collection of 55 slides.
Read full storyExperience the Colours of Malaysia at Citrawarna 2026 This Summer
Read full storyGermany is an ideal destination for friends traveling together, thanks to its creative neighborhoods, vibrant markets, street food culture, and stunning natural retreats
Read full storyFollowing the launch of its first collaboration in 2025, the Jacquemus brand returns this summer to the Monte Carlo Beach Club with a new design that reimagines the coastal atmosphere with a contemporary spirit. The design evokes the spirit of 1950s beach clubs, where elegance meets the calm Mediterranean lifestyle.
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Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has confirmed it will take a stake in Jet Airways of India, ending weeks of speculation about a possible deal. Etihad said the move would allow it to take a bigger foothold in the growing Indian market. It follows a series of equity investments around the world from the ambitious carrier, with Etihad also having taken stakes in Aer Lingus, Seychelles Airways, airberlin,…
Vienna, Austria – Qatar Airways’ impeccable safety standards across the airline’s entire operations have been recognised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on the 10th anniversary of IATA’s Operational Safety Audit Program (IOSA). The safety audit is IATA’s stringent mandatory auditing program that assesses the operational management and control systems of member airlines worldwide and…
يفتتح سمو الشيخ احمد بن سعيد ال مكتوم رئيس هيئة دبي للطيران المدني رئيس مطارات دبي (معرض المطارات 2013 ) الذي يقام في مركز دبي التجاري العالمي في ( قاعتي الشيخ راشد والشيخ زايد ) في الفترة ما بين 6 – 8 مايو الجاري. ويشهد المعرض في دورته الحالية، تنظيم اكبر ملتقى من نوعه في المنطقة، يجمع ابرز قادة المطارات الدولية تحت شعار (ملتقى قادة المطارات الدولية) الذي ستبدأ فعالياته يوم 7 مايو في احدى القاعتين، وتستمر…
A total of 16 million passengers passed through London Heathrow Airport in the first three months of 2013, a record for the period. The figure represents a 1.8 per cent increase on the same period last year. Revenue at the airport was also up 6.1 per cent, to £520 million, reflecting increased traffic and higher tariffs. A slight increase in retail spend per passenger, up from £6.26 to £6.33,…
A luxury vacation package costing $1.5 million, dubbed “the world’s most expensive holiday,” has been sold to an unnamed Chinese man. The luxury holiday takes in all of UNESCO’s spectacular 962 World Heritage Sites, spans over 157 countries and lasts one year. Costing $1.5 million, the package was put together by luxury travel company Hurlingham Travel and sold through exclusive e-commerce site…
A rare red “lotus bowl” from the Chinese emperor Kangxi period of 1662-1722 has been sold for an eye-popping $9.5 million at a Hong Kong sale. The price set a new world record for any Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period during the Qing dynasty after it was bought by a Hong Kong ceramics dealer for HK$74 million ($9.5 million) Monday, Sotheby’s said in a statement. The ruby-ground “falangcai” bowl…
Birth of a Museum, the first large-scale presentation of the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent collection, was opened last night by HH Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council in the presence of a host of dignitaries including His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, HE Sheikh Sultan bin…
Vietnam Airlines has announced it will be extending its services from Gatwick Airport. During the summer season, Vietnam’s flagship carrier will add a fifth weekly service from Gatwick, increasing its Ho Chi Minh City route from two to three flights a week. The airline will also continue to serve Hanoi twice a week. The announcement comes as the UK and Vietnam celebrate the 40th anniversary of…
Three-time World Travel Awards winner, Dukes London, is celebrating its recent refurbishment with an invitation to the region’s ladies to take a ‘luxury road test’ in the heart of the city’s fashionable St James’ district with a stay in a newly renovated suite. Home to 90 rooms, including 11 high-end suites and the hotel’s exclusive 700-square foot Penthouse overlooking Green Park, guests heading to the UK…
For the millions of Britons heading off this summer to holiday destinations around the world, or for those who go on regular weekend breaks to mainland Europe, taking a taxi from the airport to a city centre hotel is usually the most convenient and fastest way to travel. But how much or little are Brits paying for this convenience? New research from travel money specialist Moneycorp looks at the cost of a…
It sounds like a contradiction in terms: opulent hotels that provide five-star service and amenities while respecting the environment. But according to Ecoluxhotels' website, helmed by a travel journalist and an environmental consultant, the two concepts don’t have to be mutually exclusive. As the world fetes the 43rd edition of Earth Day on April 22, globetrotters with deep pockets are…
German flag-carrier Lufthansa has been forced to cancel the vast majority of its flights today after a strike by ground staff. Just 32 flights were scheduled to depart, out of the 1,700 originally planned. German airports affected are Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. Only 20 of the airline’s planned 1,650 short-haul flights are to go ahead, while 12 of its 73 scheduled long-haul…
Conde Nast Traveller United Kingdom ratings, based on readers’ surveys and journalists’ reviews and coming out every winter, has become a popular feature and powerful encomium in the travel industry. Serving as the guiding principle of the British glossy, the slogan “Truth in Travel” certified the authenticity of the recognition of Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives as Best Beach Hotel 2013 in…
A team from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities uncovered remains of a palace dating back to the 7th Century during an archaeological excavation in the Al-Ateeq valley of Madinah. Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed, the head of the excavation team, said that the discoveries in the site included a variety of pottery, glass, stone tools and steatite utensils. The palace is believed to have been built during…
The African country of Eritrea with its beautiful seacoast, colonial architecture and vast array of archaeological sites is a fast-growing tourist hotspot. Saudi visits went up 10 percent in 2012, according to World Agency for Travel and Tourism. Eritrea has the potential to attract plenty more tourists from Saudi Arabia and more because of its beautiful beaches, hotels and landscapes. Eritrea has many…
Chinese tourists have surpassed Germans as the world’s biggest travel spenders, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation reports. Chinese tourists spent $102 billion on foreign trips last year, spending 41 % more than last year and beating the $84 billion spent on travel by German and U.S. tourists. "The impressive growth of tourism expenditure from China and Russia reflects the entry into the tourism…
Back in 1998, Louis Vuitton launched its City Guides collection, and now 15 years and over 100 destinations later, the French luxury brand has unveiled a new set of artistic travel books. The Louis Vuitton Travel Books see a series of the world’s most interesting illustrators and artists let loose on travel destinations. First up, in Paris, Congolese painter Chéri Samba explores the French capital…
For travelers looking for a healthy getaway, here are a few good places to stay along the way. 1. InterContinental has launched a new hotel brand called EVEN, the first mainstream hotel brand to focus exclusively on wellness. Exercise options include in-room touches such as a coat-rack that doubles as a pull-up bar, well-equipped gyms, personalized fitness advice for all guests and a “Wellness Wall” with…
Travelers who fly business class have voted the Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport the best in the world for the third year in a row, for services like personal chauffeurs, 5-star dining options and in-transit spa and sauna experiences. Announced in Geneva this week, voters in Skytrax’s World’s Best Airport Awards named the luxury terminal by Qatar Airways the World’s Best Premium Service…
The daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev has bought the Greek resort island where shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis famously married Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. Greek media reports on Saturday placed the value of Skorpios island at over $100 million and said Ekaterina Rybolovleva, 24, wanted it not only for leisure but also business purposes. She purchased Skorpios, in the Ionian Sea…
Huvafen Fushi, a luxury resort in the Maldives that claims to have the world’s first underwater spa, is offering an innovative new menu of wellness packages. The spa, named LIME, offers a window to the amazing diversity of ocean life designed with soft furnishings and fabrics that echo the colors and textures of the surrounding corals and sponges. The underwater treatment rooms took 12 months to…
A 400-year-old masterpiece that only came to light during a renovation at Paris’s Ritz hotel has been sold for $1.88 million to New York’s Metropolitan Museum. The painting by 17th century artist Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) had adorned one of the suites in which fashion designer Coco Chanel lived for more than 30 years. Its presence came as news to hotel management when it was discovered in July 2012, a…
In a hotel in Soho, Central London, the world’s first ‘hotel’ made entirely out of cake opened to public yesterday. The edible sweet dream offers guests: vanilla sponge cushions; a rug made of 1,081 meringues; windows and walls clad with 2,000 macaroons; marshmallow garlands; windowsills made from cake; a bath filled with caramel-coated popcorn; and edible books on the bedside table. To create the…
The Swiss luxury hotel chain Kempinski said on Tuesday that it was dropping plans to open a huge pyramid-shaped hotel that has stood half-built for decades in North Korea amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. In November, the Geneva-based luxury hotel chain said it hoped to open Pyongyang’s 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel in July or August this year. But on Sunday, the South China Morning Post…
