Tag: middle east

With an aim to tap the tourism market in the Middle East, Taiwan Tourism Board has partnered with Musafir.com, the UAE’s first premium-experience travel website. The partnership is aimed to raise awareness about Taiwan as a compelling leisure destination in the Middle East. Under the new agreement, Musafir.com and Taiwan Tourism Board will collaborate and conduct joint marketing campaigns in order to diversify the tourism culture in the UAE. In an effort to push the limits of destination marketing, both Musafir.com and Taiwan Tourism Board aim to position the island nation as the top destination amongst travellers out of the ... Read more

India retained its first position as the favoured tourist market for Duabi Tourism, with more than a million Indians visiting the city of gold during the first half of 2018, which is three per cent more than that of last year. As per statistics from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), Saudi Arabia and the UK are in second and third places respectively, while China in the fourth place. Russia improved their position to be in the first 10, with a soaring 74 per cent increase than 2017, delivering 405,000 visitors to the country. The visa-on-arrival facility ... Read more

Royal Oman Police has simplified the tourist visa procedures to get tourist visa to Oman. “Tourist visa fees has been reduced and visa can be applied online,” said the Inspector General Hussain Bin Muhsin Al Shuraikhi.

Experts believe that the declaration of 10-year residency visas for investors and specialists will encourage more medical professionals to UAE. As per reports, Dubai is emerging as a prime destination for medical tourism destination, with Mena region ranked first. By 2020, the Emirate is targeting 5,00,000 medical tourists from 3,25,000 in 2016, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.3 per cent. The rise in demand for healthcare services in the Emirate over the past 10 years was accelerated by population growth, medical tourism and increase incidence of life style related medical conditions. The growth has been substantiated by ... Read more

The implementation of value-added tax (VAT) doesn’t seem to trouble UAE’s hospitality and travel sector, as reports suggest the sturdy tourism sector is growing. Within few month of the tax implementation, the number of tourists rose to 4.7 million recording a growth of 2 per cent, while the accommodation rate reached up to 87 per cent indicating a growth by 0.7 per cent. The experts of hospital and travels industry mark the impact of tax as insignificant. The first year of tax introduction is expected to create a revenue of Dh12 billion and may rise up to Dh20 billion in ... Read more

Israel is becoming a favourite tourist spot for tourists and the initial statistics affirm this. As per reports, Israel had 1.36 million visitors from January-April this year. In this, 4,08,000 tourists alone visited Israel in April 2018 when compared to 3,50,000 last April, recording a 17%hike. The Ministry of Tourism claims that the revenue from tourists in April had exceeded NIS 2.1 billion. Out of all tourists visited Israel in April, 2,38,000 were from Europe. France, UK, Germany, Poland and Italy were the main contributors. The rise in European tourists is attributed to the Giro d’Italia bicycle race. Tourists from ... Read more

Travellers from Russia, China and Iran can now enter the Sultanate of Oman without a pre-entry tourist visa. The move is an extension of new visa policy introduced by Oman in March including the new online application process. By this Oman joined its neighbour UAE in relaxing the visa policies for travellers from Russia and China in the recent years. The Sultanate had already facilitated visa on arrival for travellers from 68 countries including USA, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and the European Union’s Schengen area. Russia, China and Iran are the latest to join the list. Since UAE granted visa ... Read more

The first ibis Styles will be opened at Sultanate of Oman as AccorHotels has signed agreement with the Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran). The hotel which will be opening by 2020 will have 280 standard rooms with design and facilities that symbolize ibis Styles. This will be the first internationally branded economy hotel in the OCEC master development (Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre), giving a strong foothold for AccorHotels in Oman. OCEC is Oman’s largest and only dedicated meeting, conference, incentive and exhibition destination with superior design and state of the art convention infrastructure. The ibis Styles all-inclusive breakfast package ... Read more

In an initiative to develop Sharjah’s tourism prospects, Wego, the largest online marketplace in Middle East and North Africa, has kicked off a unique destination co-marketing campaign in collaboration with Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). The campaign aims at projecting Sharjah’s greatest tourist attractions through online marketing activities. The customary hospitality and traditional charm, fun attractions etc will be promoted through this campaign. The campaign aims to mark Sharjah as a strong spot in world tourist map and make it a unanimous destination of choice among global travellers. The campaign will also have its marketing hand on the ... Read more

Sri Lanka is planning to bring in more tourists fom Middle East. The island nation received a total of 107,635 tourists from the Middle East region in 2017, up 6.5 per cent compared to 2016. As part of efforts to boost visitor numbers from the GCC, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has unveiled its diverse product offerings and experience spread across the small island. “Sri Lanka has much to offer visitors from the region with our distinctive, adventure-packed, eco-friendly, family-focused experiences and offerings, as well as our rich nature, heritage and culture, year-round schedule of festivals and special events, numerous parks ... Read more

According to the new fare structure, all trips will now be subjected to a fluctuation in base fares at all times, depending on the time of day or if it is a public holiday. “These changes will result in higher fares on some trips, while fares will be lower on other trips. The fare breakdown can be seen in the upfront pricing displayed prior to booking a ride,” said Uber. Currently, the static base fare is Dh8, but with the new system, users will be subject to a new dynamic static base fare of Dh5.4, Dh6.7 or Dh10.6 (varying on the ... Read more

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board launches ‘L.A. Insider,’ a online training tool for travel trade professionals in the Middle East. The mobile and tablet-friendly programme is the first of its kind for L.A. Tourism. The programme, developed by TravPRO, has been designed to help travel trade better sell the city and stay up-to-date with its latest offerings. A record 48.3 million tourists visited L.A. in 2017, and is expected to reach 50 million by 2020. “We’re proud to launch such an advanced training programme, one that will help our clients discover L.A. like an insider and sell L.A. like an expert. ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: lerner Emaar Hospitality group has announced its hunt for its ‘world’s greatest hospitality talent’. The group will conduct a worldwide search to identify talented young people interested in the hospitality sector. The competition is open to candidates below the age of 26 from anywhere in the world and hold a bachelor’s degree from any discipline. The competition aims to identify and nurture the most talented individual for a senior position through a three-year all-expenses paid programme. “With the guest profile changing and a new generation of travellers and entrepreneurs demanding new hospitality experiences, it is important to have youthful ... Read more

Travel is expected to peak this weekend for Emirates, as the airline expects yet another busy period with visitors passing through Terminal 3 ahead of the spring break holiday. “The busiest time for departures will be on Friday 23rd March in the morning and continuing all day on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th March,” the airlines said in a statement. With road works and infrastructure enhancements happening around the main airport highways and roads during this time, Emirates urges customers to build in extra time to their journeys to avoid potential delays. “Customers are reminded to arrive at the airport ... Read more

അബുദാബി ഡെസേര്‍ട്ട് ചലഞ്ച് ഈ മാസം 24 മുതല്‍ 29 വരെ നടക്കും. 24ന് വൈകീട്ട് മൂന്ന് മണിക്ക് യാസ് മറീന സര്‍ക്യൂട്ടില്‍ നടക്കുന്ന വാഹനങ്ങളുടെ റാലിയോടെ 28മത് അബുദാബി ഡെസേര്‍ട്ട് ചലഞ്ചിന് തുടക്കമാവും. ലോകത്തിലെ മുന്‍നിര റാലി ഡ്രൈവര്‍മാര്‍ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്ന മത്സരങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അബുദാബി യാസ് മറീന സര്‍ക്യൂട്ട് ആസ്ഥാനമാക്കിയാണ് തുടക്കം. തുടര്‍ന്ന് അല്‍ ദഫ്‌റ മേഖലയില്‍ ലോകത്തിലെ ഏറ്റവും വലിയ മരുഭൂപ്രദേശത്തേക്ക് സംഘം മത്സരങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് യാത്ര തിരിക്കും. കാറുകള്‍, ബഗ്ഗികള്‍, ബൈക്കുകള്‍, ക്വാഡ് വാഹനങ്ങള്‍ എന്നിവയുടെ കരുത്തും വേഗവും തെളിയിക്കുന്ന മത്സരങ്ങളാണ് മരുഭൂമിയിലെ ട്രാക്കുകളില്‍ നടക്കുക. കാറുകളുടെയും ബഗ്ഗികളുടെയും എഫ്.ഐ.എ. വേള്‍ഡ് കപ്പും ബൈക്കുകളുടെയും ക്വാഡുകളുടെയും എഫ്.ഐ.എം. ക്രോസ് കണ്‍ട്രി റാലി വേള്‍ഡ് ചാംപ്യന്‍ഷിപ്പുമാണ് നടക്കുന്നത്. ഷോ അബുദാബി റേസിങ് ടീമിന് വേണ്ടി മത്സരത്തിനിറങ്ങുന്ന യു.എ.ഇ. ചാമ്പ്യന്‍ ഡ്രൈവര്‍ ഖാലിദ് അല്‍ ഖാസിമിയും ഫ്രഞ്ചുകാരനായ സഹ ഡ്രൈവര്‍ സേവ്യര്‍ പാന്‍സെരിയുമാണ് യു.എ.ഇ.യിലെ ആരാധകര്‍ ഉറ്റുനോക്കുന്ന താരങ്ങള്‍. അല്‍ ദഫ്‌റ മേഖലയുടെ ... Read more