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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Imagine an apple as it travels the globe; stopping first in Boston where it's transformed into a Berkshire pork taco with honey crisp apples, then on to Riyadh where it matures into an heirloom apple and lobster carpaccio and finally, landing in Hong Kong where it emerges as Granny Smith apple, yuzu and kaffir lime bubble tea. The global journey of one ingredient as it passes through the kitchens of…
Tennis player Novak Djokovic is opening a restaurant chain in his native Serbia, and bought the entire world’s yearly supply of donkey cheese for his business. The “pule”, or donkey cheese, is a rare delicacy that’s priced at €1,000/kg, and is made exclusively by Balkan donkeys on a farm west of Belgrade. How do producers justify the exorbitant price tag? In addition to being milked three times a day…
One billion tourists have travelled the world in 2012, marking a new record for international tourism – a sector that accounts for one in every 12 jobs and 30% of the world’s services exports. On the symbolic arrival date of the one-billionth tourist (13 December 2012), UNWTO revealed the actions tourists can take to ensure their trips benefit the people and places they visit, as voted by the public.…
Delta Air Lines is buying Singapore Airlines’ 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways, forging a joint venture to expand the carriers’ trans-Atlantic network, the companies announced Tuesday. Under the agreement, Delta will invest $360 million and British mogul Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic will keep the 51 percent controlling stake. “Our new partnership with Virgin Atlantic will strengthen…
Since life jackets have an expiration date, French carrier Air France has decided to recycle its old ones into an exclusive collection of toiletry cases through a partnership with bilum, a company specialized in the transformation of used material. The first 400 cases will be launched at noon, on Shopping.airfrance.com and Bilumstore.fr, at the price of €19 for the flat case and €24 for the tube toiletry…
Globetrotting editors at popular food site The Daily Meal have released their picks for the best airport restaurants around the world, giving the top spot to Barcelona, where travelers can tuck into a pre-flight meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef. Porta Gaig restaurant inside the recently renovated El Prat del Llobregat airport in Barcelona was deemed the best in the world for a menu that offers…
Colorado-based company Golden Spike announced plans for a commercial venture to send private clients to the moon during a press conference on December 6. On Thursday a team of former NASA executives announced plans to send two people to the Moon for about $1.4 billion. Golden Spike Company’s announcement said it will use existing rocket and capsule technology, and will aim for a first launch before…
The refurbished Hollywood sign was presented in all its freshly painted glory Tuesday after its biggest makeover in 35 years, in time for 90th birthday celebrations. Some 360 gallons of fresh bright white paint was applied over the last two months to the Tinseltown icon, which sits atop Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills north of LA. Over the last two months, workers have used window-cleaner style…
Mini has launched a car hire scheme in the UK’s capital designed to put a smile on Londoners’ faces. Introduced Wednesday, the car hire scheme with a difference is aimed at trying to cheer up the London population who, according to the latest research, are the least happy in the UK, experiencing on average only 142 minutes of fun a day. And while there is no doubt that in terms of sheer driving…
Until now restricted to trainee space explorers and scientists, Europe’s “Zero-G” aircraft is to start making commercial flights for paying customers from March 15. Essentially, you become an astronaut for 5 minutes, flying to a point of zero degrees gravity! The Airbus 300 flies parabolas, offering around 30 seconds of gravity-free experience at the top of each loop. Over a flight lasting two and a half…
The UAE is to be home to ANOTHER 'world's largest'! Christo, the legendary public artist famous for his Wrapped Reichstag (below), plans to build the world’s largest sculpture out of oil drums in Abu Dhabi. “The Mastaba” is a pyramid-like structure made entirely from stacked, painted oil barrels, designed to tower above the sand dunes of the Gulf desert. It will take 30 months and hundreds of people to…
Turns out the story-line for Samuel L Jackson’s Snakes on a Plane isn't quite as far-fetched as it seems! A cobra joined ninety passengers onboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Kuwait yesterday, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. A 48-year-old Jordanian passenger was responsible for bringing the Egyptian cobra onboard. He owns a reptile shop in Kuwait and had hidden the Egyptian cobra in…
The stunning southern Thai province of Trang welcomed its one millionth visitor, Mr. Wichaya Kiatying-angsulee, on 29 November 2012. Senior executives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Trang Provincial Authority, Trang Chamber of Commerce and Nok Air presented a certificate to the millionth tourist of 2012 at the Departure Lounge of Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok. The event was presided over by Mr.…
Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, announced the expansion of services to Karachi, Pakistan. The four weekly flights from Sharjah to Karachi are now increased to daily flights, making it easier and more convenient for passengers travelling between both cities. Additional flights will now operate between Sharjah and Karachi, departing Sharjah…
6 December, 2012: Six Senses Zighy Bay announces its third collaboration with Oman Sail’s EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – the Tour 2013. Starting from Manama, Bahrain and ending in Muscat, Oman, the route will traverse the Arabian Peninsula with Six Senses Zighy Bay as the first stop entering Oman. Touring through four nations and seven marinas, EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – the Tour sails over 1,408 kilometres in only…
The much-anticipated Twelve at Hengshan, A Luxury Collection Hotel, was unveiled last week on Shanghai’s tree-lined Hengshan Road. Twelve at Hengshan is the only five-star luxury hotel within Shanghai’s most romantic and history-filled Hengshan Road neighborhood of chic avenues lined with plane trees imported from France in the early 1900s. Carefully incorporated within the low-rise heritage district,…
Shenzhen Airlines today became the latest carrier to join the Star Alliance network. At a ceremony held at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance, welcomed the airline into the family on behalf on the Alliance’s Chief Executive Board (CEB). “Shenzhen Airlines is China’s fifth largest carrier and strengthens the Star Alliance presence in China and across Asia. Our customers now…
Athens, GREECE – Qatar Airways has announced it will launch direct scheduled flights from Athens to New York from the middle of 2013. Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker made the announcement in Athens on the occasion of the airline's eight-year presence in Greece and to commemorate the carrier’s increasingly strong operations in the country. While in the Greek capital, Al Baker met with…
The piano used as the prop for the key flashback scene between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in “Casablanca” will go on sale next month. Sotheby’s says the auction in New York should raise between $800,000 and $1.2 million for the 58-key piano on which the movie’s character Sam plays “As Time Goes By” for Rick and Ilsa. “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid,” Bogart’s Rick tells Bergman’s Ilsa as the three…
Hermès is adding its own touch of luxury to the annual “Heart” stamp collection issued by France’s postal services, La Poste. Designers were inspired to turn some of the French luxury brand’s iconic scarves into stamps and Zoé Pauwels’s design was chosen to feature in La Poste’s 2013 Valentine’s Day collection. Pauwels’s illustration includes birds, hearts and shooting stars brought together by cloudy…
Jamie Oliver’s Operation Russia is nearing completion, with plans firmly in place to open his first Jamie’s Italian outposts in Moscow and St. Petersburg next year. It’s no surprise that Oliver should set his sights on Russia for the expansion of his rapidly growing empire, given that he enjoys star status in the country and his cookbooks often appear on bestseller lists. His publication Jamie…
The iconic Californian villa where Brian de Palma shot Scarface is available to rent, for $10,000 a week or $30,000 a month. Fans of legendary Cuban-American gangster Tony Montana, portrayed by Al Pacino in the 1983 movie, will be able to make the most of El Fureidis villa. Located in Coral Gables, Florida in the film, the actual villa is in fact in Santa Barbara, California. The luxurious…
Over the Christmas and New Year season Air France will serve its first class passengers a new menu of dishes, including a special caviar appetiser. The Eggxiting by Petrossian, will be served as an individual glass “egg” of Caviar Alverta Royal and is available on flights departing from Paris until January 31! December will also be an opportunity for La Première (first class) customers to enjoy…
“A testament to ultra-modern design, the new Radisson Blu Hotel, Maputo is located overlooking the Indian Ocean within easy reach of Maputo International Airport and the city centre. Cutting-edge style and unique features are the hallmark of this first-rate hotel where guests can look forward to luxurious guest rooms, superb dining and state-of-the-art conferencing facilities,” … that is how the Radisson Blu…
