05 JULY 2014 ISSUE 243

24

BAHRAIN AIRPORT COMPANY HAS BEEN SELECTED TO PLAY HOST TO THE FIRST-EVER ROUTES MENA EVENT IN

NOVEMBER 2015.

BAC TO HOST FIRST ROUTES MENA EVENT

ABDALI BOULEVARD UNVEILED

04

10

KEMPINSKI IN AL KHOBAR TO OPEN IN Q2 2015

IN THIS ISSUEMARKET UPDATE

GDS

WEEKLY NEWS

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SENIOR JOURNALIST Rita Kasziba

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Strong Corporate and MICE Demand in RiyadhRiyadh’s hotel sector continued to benefit from strong corporate activities in the city during the month of April.

B ased on data compiled by TRI Hospitality Consulting’s HotStats report, occupancy levels in the Saudi capital rose 5.4 points to 73 percent, and despite a 4.9 percent decline in average room rates to USD251.07, RevPAR improved 2.7 percent year-on-year to USD183.29.

With food revenue making up 34.3 percent of total revenues, the five percent surge witnessed in April led to a 14.3 percent jump in total RevPAR to USD333.38 and a 15.4 percent rise in profits to USD180.15.

As Peter Goddard, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consult-ing, noted, with events, such as the Riyadh Travel Fair attracting some 15,000 - 20,000 visitors, corporate and MICE demand re-mained high.

J azeera Airways recorded a 76 percent increase in passenger fig-ures on the Kuwait – Istanbul route, the carrier’s operations per-formance report for April revealed.

Demand also showed significant, double-digit growth on services between Kuwait and other key destinations, including Jeddah, Bah-rain, Alexandria, Cairo and Mashhad.

In addition, the low-cost carrier also continued to lead with a 33 percent market share on the Kuwait – Amman route for the eighth month in a row against three other airlines.

Jazeera Airways also maintained high on-time performance (OTP), recording a 92.59 percent rate for the month under review, as US-based OTP tracker, FlightStats, revealed.

Jazeera Airways

Jazeera Airways: Flown Passenger Numbers Rise

UAE (AED)

Egypt (EGP)

Saudi Arabia (SAR)

Lebanon (LBP)

Bahrain (BHD)

Jordan (JOD)

Syria (SYP)

Kuwait (KWD)

Qatar (QAR)

Oman (OMR)

Tunisia (TND)

Morocco (MAD)

Iran (IRR)

Yemen (YER)

Algeria (DZD)

Libya (LYD)

Dirham

Pound

Riyal

Pound

Dinar

Dinar

Pound

Dinar

Riyal

Rial

Dinar

Dirham

Riyal

Rial

Dinar

Dinar

3.67

7.15

3.75

1,511.50

0.37

0.71

149.65

0.28

3.64

0.38

1.69

8.23

25,735.00

214.86

79.27

1.21

MENA EXCHANGE RATES

Accurate as of

03/07/2014Currencies shown in red are fixed against the US Dollar

COUNTRY CURRENCY 1USD=

05 JULY 2014

GDS WEEKLY NEWS

3

Amadeus Gulf, the commercial division responsible for the sectors of Oman, Bahrain and the UAE, recently show-cased the company’s Business Management Platform

(BMP) solutions to travel professionals outside the International Air Transport Association (IATA) ambit.

Hailed as one of the most innovative web-based platform specifically designed to enhance automation capabilities and efficiency, BMP was presented to 50 small, medium and large travel agencies at two events in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Amadeus’ Remote Ticketing Solution (RTS) within BMP pro-vides both consolidators, owners of ticketing offices at IATA loca-tions, and subagents, sales outlets/booking offices at non-IATA locations with a set of business management and operational tools that ease up operations through eliminating the tradition-al time-consuming, multi-step workflow.

S abre has renewed its tech-nology agreement with Ac-cor to continue marketing

and selling the hospitality company’s room inventory and rates through the Sabre global distribution system, including all 13 Accor brands and 3,600 hotels in 92 countries.

“Innovative hoteliers like Accor are constantly evaluating ways to most effectively reach travel agents and travellers. The Sabre travel mar-ketplace is an important part of our sales and distribution strategy, and Sabre has consistently delivered value and creative ideas to help ac-celerate our growth,” attested Carlo Olejniczak, senior vice president, global sales, Accor.

Travelport Launches New Brand Vision

T ravelport has outlined details of its new global brand vision and strategy. The new scheme, The platform that is redefin-

ing travel commerce for our customers, was de-veloped to more closely align with what Travel-port now offers the industry, rather than over 40 years ago. Travelport’s differentiated content and product offering now includes eNett pay-ment solutions, enhanced air, expanded hotel content and airline merchandising.

As part of the brand re-launch, Travelport has taken the opportunity to more clearly define its key business activities by renaming its two main operational areas. Firstly there is Travel Commerce Platform, which includes merchandising, reserva-tions, payments and workflow management, and secondly, Technology Services business through which it provides critical IT services to airlines for their internal and direct channel use.

Business Management Solutions for Non-IATA Agencies

Sabre Renews Deal with Accor Hotels

Daniel Naoumovitch, CEO, Sabre Travel Network Middle East

Did you know...

Travelport has a

presence in over 170

countries, approxim

ately

3,600 employees and

2013 net revenue

of USD2.1

billion?

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS

4

Bahrain Drives Regional Occupancy Growth

D uring May, occupancy levels in the Mid-dle East and Africa (MEA) region rose 1.9 percent to 63.5 percent, with Bahrain

experiencing particularly strong increase at 27.8 percent.

Across MEA, average daily date (ADR) jumped 3.1 percent to USD154.11, leading to a 5.1 per-cent rise in RevPAR to USD97.94.

As Elizabeth Winkle, managing director, STR Global, explained, Bahrain is currently showing the highest growth in term of occupancy, though the Kingdom is coming from a low base in 2013 and its occupancy still stands at 57.2 percent.

“Kuwait is leading the ADR increase in the region, as the country rose 12.8 percent to KWD72.12 (USD255.74),” added Winkle, noting that currently the Middle East has the fastest growing pipeline in the world with 99,199 rooms under contract as of May. Mohammed Al Saqqaf, engineer, during his

speech on behalf of URC and KIPCO

Abdali Boulevard UnveiledUnited Real Estate Company (URC) announced the inauguration of Abdali Boulevard, the mixed-use project within Amman’s Ab-dali project, developed by Abdali Boulevard Company (ABC).

H ailed as the largest integrated, mixed-use development in the new downtown of the Jordanian capital, the 121,000m2

Abdali Boulevard incorporates leisure, residential and retail components, including international restaurant chains, cafés and high-street retail brands, while office spaces are also available.

Developed at a cost of USD500 million, the project is set to significantly contribute to the Kingdom’s economic strengthening and archi-tectural renaissance, as Faisal Al Ayyar, vice presi-dent, Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO), high-lighted.

Abdali Mall, another major development in the new downtown area of Abdali is set to be un-veiled to the public in 2015.

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS

5

B oth Muscat International Airport and Salalah International Airport recorded increases in passenger volumes dur-

ing April with Salalah experiencing an over 100 percent rise in international figures.

Based on the National Centre for Statistics and Information’s data, during the month un-der review, 2,662 flights landed at the south-ern Omani city’s airport, marking a 41.6 per-cent year-on-year improvement and bringing total passenger numbers to 257,517, up 18.9 percent, with international travellers account-ing for 82,040 passengers, an increase of 100.1 percent.

Meanwhile the capital city’s airport wel-comed a total of 2,957,700 travellers, mark-ing a 8.1 percent growth with the number of flights operated to and from the hub rising 11.2 percent to 3,076 services.

In line with the Sultanate’s endeavours to enhance air services across the country, Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC) has signed a memorandum of under-

standing (MoU) with airport operator Dublin Airport Au-thority International (DAAI), to train and develop OAMC employees who will work at the new facilities in Muscat and Salalah.

The initiative will initially offer 100 OAMC members the opportunity to equip them-selves with the requisite skills at Dublin and Cork’s airports over a six-month period, with more employees expected to join the programme at later stages.

In addition, the MoU also allows DAAI employees to gain experience at OAMC’s upcoming airport projects in

Muscat and Salalah.

Kevin O`Driscoll, senior vice president, DAAI Training Academy (left),

and Vic Allen, acting CEO, OAMC

Oman Airports Management Company Partners with Dublin Authority

Salalah: 100 Percent Rise in International Passengers

Did you know...

Upon completion,

Muscat International

Airport’s new ter-

minal will handle 12

million passengers per

year.?

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS

6

Dubai Launches Beach Protection Initiative

A n AED35 million (USD9.5 million) project has been approved in Dubai for the rehabilita-tion of all areas of the Umm Suqeim beach-

es starting from the second fishing harbour to Burj Al Arab at the length of approximately 3.5km.

As Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general, Dubai Municipality (DM), explained, the initiative comes as part of the responsibilities of DM for the management of public beaches in the emirate en-suring the sustainability of marine and coastal en-vironment, and it is also in line with Dubai Vision 2020.

The project, launched at the end of June, is ex-pected to be completed by March 2015, and will consists of five groynes normal to the beach with lengths ranging between 135 – 165m and beach nourishment works only. The total volume of beach sand required to accomplish the proposed stabilisa-tion scheme is approximately 760,000m3.

S indbad Club, the family resort in the heart of Hurgha-da, Egypt, has over the years built a loyal customer base according to Rasha Sherif, director of business

development, Sindbad Club. “The Sindbad Club name is synonymous with quality

and reliability and that is why we are always trying to sat-isfy all the tastes of our clients. Being one of the frontrunners in promoting the club all inclusive concept in the Red Sea area, we gained our reputation as a family resort by provid-ing a variety of activities, various restaurants and bars and a friendly smile by our staff,” explained Sherif, saying that over the coming months, the Asian restaurant on the beach; Bierstube, the German bar and pub offering sea views; and the Lebanese and Italian restaurants are expected to be huge hits with guests staying at Sindbad Club which brings together three properties; Sindbad Beach Resort, Sindbad Aqua Hotel and Sindbad Aqua Resort.

Sindbad Club Maintains Loyal Customer Base

Sindbad Club

T he Sharjah Investment and Development Author-ity (Shurooq) has commenced the second phase of the Flag Island development with the new fa-

cilities scheduled to be unveiled to the public in the first quarter of 2015.

Upon completion of the second stage, the island will offer a host of recreational facilities and amenities, includ-ing an open-air 1,000-seat amphitheatre, an art gallery and a variety of shops, restaurants and cafés, offering a vibrant and alluring destination for residents and visitors alike.

Located at walking distance from the downtown, Flag Island is set to become a must-visit tourist, cultural and art destination, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, chairperson, Shurooq, explained.

Home to the flagpole on which the UAE flag is flying, the Flag Island initiative is hailed as one of the fastest projects developed by Shurooq. The first phase was com-pleted in a span of four weeks, while the second stage is slated for completion in nine to 12 months.

Shurooq Continues Flag Island Project

Flag Island

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS

7

Dubai in Top Three for High-net-worth Chinese Travellers

Dubai has been ranked as the third most popular destina-tion amongst high-net-worth Chinese travellers, rising from the eighth place in 2013.

The research study, conducted by Hurun Report in association with the International Luxury Travel Market Asia and The Chinese Luxury Traveller 2014, also revealed that 10 percent of those sur-veyed, named Dubai as a must-visit destination in the next three years and placed the UAE within the top 10 most popular coun-tries for shopping.

In 2013 275,675 Chinese travellers visited Dubai, marking an 11 percent year-on-year increase and placing the Asian country in the top 10 for the emirate’s source markets.

Bringing the spotlight on the USD137 billion global Islamic tourism

market, Expo Centre Sharjah (ECS) is to play host to the in-augural World Islamic Tourism Summit & Exhibition incorpo-rating the 2nd Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Tourism Fair in 2015.

A memorandum of un-derstanding to bring the two events together was signed by Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, CEO, ECS, and El Hassane Hzaine, director general, Is-lamic Centre for Development of Trade, OIC’s subsidiary or-gan, in Casablanca.

Sharjah to Welcome Tourism Summit

Family Business Network (FBN) International has chosen Dubai for this year’s global summit, which will run be-tween October 15 – 17, under the theme of A proud past,

a sustainable future. The event will mark the first time FBN International, an

organisation spanning over 50 countries, will stage its annual gathering of more than 800 family businesses in the Middle East. Topics will include succession planning, governance, wealth management and social entrepreneurship.

Commenting on the upcoming, 25th global summit, H.E. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, president, GCC, FBN International, said, “As hosts, we aspire to contribute and be a part of the summit’s platform [...]. The GCC economies are dynamic and evolving, and family businesses historically are at the forefront of this change.”

Dubai to Host Family Business Global Summit

Expo Centre Sharjah

05 JULY 2014

RENDEZVOUS

8

Q & A withKristina Bushueva

ONCE CALLED RUSSIA’S WINDOW TO THE WEST, ST PETERSBURG HAS BECOME A MELTING POT OF AUTHENTIC HERITAGE AND WORLD-FAMOUS ARTS. HERE KRISTINA BUSHUEVA, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING, CORINTHIA HOTEL ST PETERSBURG, SHARES HER VIEWS ON THE MENA MARKET’S GROWING SIGNIFICANCE.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: In your opin-ion, what are the most important features of the city and Corinthia Ho-tel St Petersburg that appeal to the MENA clientele?

KRISTINA BUSHUEVA: Travelling to St Petersburg is similar to travelling to a different time. It is the only city that takes you on a journey to discover ar-chitecture from the 18th-19th century, while walking through the streets and experiencing typical Russian entertain-ment, activities and folklore.

The city itself, also known as ‘Venice of the North’, may offer MENA guests a wide choice of activities throughout the year. […]

Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg is an integral part of the city’s cultural life. It combines history and modern times; the hotel’s facade dates from 1861, but the interiors represent great samples of the art deco modern. The hotel offers an excellent opportunity to learn about St Petersburg’s remarkable theatre scene in the 19th century, by visiting the fas-cinating Samoilov Family Museum, lo-cated on the second floor of the hotel.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: What makes Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg the ideal choice for MENA guests?

KRISTINA BUSHUEVA: Russia is a country that needs to be discovered. The most popular destinations are St Petersburg and Moscow – it is a good combination for one trip. Usually our guests prefer to stay four nights in the northern city and then three nights in the capital. Both cities offer several stay options based on different budgets – from price sensitive three-star hotels to luxurious stay in suites.

Our hotel facilities can offer both business style rooms as standard ac-commodation in the business wing and additional luxury amenities in the execu-tive wing. Both options are very popular; tourists groups are staying in the busi-ness wing, but high-level delegations or royal families prefer the executive wing.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: How have guest numbers from MENA grown over the past years?

KRISTINA BUSHUEVA: Traffic from the MENA region keeps increasing on yearly basis and many factors are involved here. First of all, it is still quite a new and

unusual destination. Great route possi-bilities are also provided by the airlines. Few years ago, Emirates has opened di-rect flights from Dubai to St Petersburg. Many more airlines operate direct flights to Moscow, like Qatar Airways, flydubai and Etihad Airways, just to name a few. Even local Russian airlines are increas-ing their presence in MENA, offering our guests additional opportunities.

Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg pro-vides different services in order to please our guests and satisfy their various pref-erences, mainly when selecting menus according to their tastes and traditions. We are much more flexible for special re-quirements and our food and beverage team is very well informed on guests’ dining preferences depending on their nationality, culture and religion.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: How do you see the MENA market segment devel-oping over the coming years?

KRISTINA BUSHUEVA: We expect a larg-er increase of travellers from the MENA region. Additional developments of new air routes as well as the development of the destination on the governmental level are the main actions now. Russia is increasing its presence on the interna-tional level, promoting its destinations and educating about its traditions.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: In recent times, Russia has become one of the most talked-about markets. How do you see the Russian tourism industry developing over the coming years?

KRISTINA BUSHUEVA: Russia is a des-tination that offers tourists much more opportunities and we feel that their interest in the destination is gradually growing. The main issue at the moment is the visa entry permission process. […] In the future, the Russian government is planning to make a three-day non-visa regime for those arriving by plane.

St Petersburg is adapting itself to foreign travellers, so they can smoothly access the city. […] Guides are offering excursions in different languages, in-cluding Arabic. Different restaurants are opening, offering food prepared as per national traditions of our foreign guests.

Although the city is still considered as an exotic destination, its development leads to the adaptation of our guests’ needs. There is clearly an increase of trav-ellers from the MENA and GCC region.

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING, CORINTHIA HOTEL ST PETERSBURG

“TRAFFIC FROM THE MENA REGION KEEPS INCREASING ON YEARLY BASIS

Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg

05 JULY 2014

ACCOMMODATION WEEKLY NEWS

9

A ustralia-based The Travel Corporation family of brands has announced its intention to resume operations in Egypt for the 2014-2015 season,

as a strong showing of support for the Egyptian people.Brett Tollman, CEO, The Travel Corporation, con-

firmed that the company has been monitoring the destination closely and after extensive consultation with its teams on the ground and speaking with travel partners in each market, it is returning to Egypt later this year.

“Taking a staggered approach, our youth brands Contiki and Busabout will be the first to resume trips in September of this year, closely followed by the glob-al leader in guided holidays, Trafalgar and premium brands Insight Vacations, African Travel and Lion World in the new year. Our six-star experience river cruise brand, Uniworld, plans to re-commence sailings on the Nile in September [2015], with a beautifully refurbished River Tosca,” Tollman added.

Millennium Hotel Amman Gets ‘Grand’ UpgradeMillennium & Copthorne Hotels Middle East and Af-rica (MEA) has upgraded Millennium Hotel Amman to the five-star deluxe-branded Grand Millennium Amman, Jordan.

T he revamp involved refurbish-ing the interiors, fixtures and furnishing, creating additional

meeting and conference facilities, as well as enhancements to the Moroc-con Hammam and spa to create a more luxurious experience.

M eliá Hotels International continues to expand its footprint in Egypt with the launch of two new hotels under the newly-renovated Sol Hotels & Resorts brand.

Scheduled for opening later this month, Sol Taba and Sol Dahab will add 657 units to the Spanish company’s Egyptian room-count.

Located on the Sinai Peninsula on the shores of the Red Sea, the properties are set to appeal to holidaymakers and diving enthusiasts.

Guests staying at the 400-key Sol Taba will enjoy access to 200m of private beach, two swimming pools, tennis and volleyball courts, several restaurants and bars, and three meeting rooms.

Sol Dahab is located alongside 400m of breach and offers 217 rooms, a spa, gym, kids’ club, event facilities, numerous restaurants, and various sports centres.

Meliá Adds Two Resorts in Egypt

As Ali Hamad Lakhraim Alzaabi, CEO, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels MEA, noted, the ambition of Grand Mil-lennium Amman epitomises the com-pany’s plans to manage 50 properties across the region within the next three years with focused management, moti-vated staff and supportive owners.

Grand Millennium Amman

Grand Millennium Amman

The Travel Corporation to Re-enter Egypt

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS ACCOMMODATION

10

Radisson Blu Resort Jizan to Open in November

F ollowing the recent launch of Radisson Blu Hotel Dhahran, Carlson Rezidor

Hotel Group plans to open Radis-son Blu Resort Jizan in Novem-ber.

“With 160 rooms, this brand new property will represent a very important addition to our Radisson Blu brand in Saudi Ara-bia,” explained Basel Talal, gen-eral manager, Radisson Blu Ho-tel Riyadh, and district director, Saudi Arabia, The Rezidor Hotel Group, noting that the company has also signed an agreement for Park Inn by Radisson Dammam, scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of the year.

Accor HotelServices Mid-dle East has signed a management agree-

ment with United Youth Com-pany (UYC) to develop a new Novotel hotel on Olaya street in Riyadh.

Slated for completion in 2017, the company’s second property under the midscale brand in the Saudi capital will feature approximately 215 rooms with dedicated meeting spaces, a fitness centre, well-ness facilities and a swimming pool with deck. Guest will also enjoy all-day dining and a lob-by lounge with a café corner.

As Christophe Landais, chief operating officer, Accor HotelServices Middle East, pinpointed, the new project brings the total number of hotels in operation or in de-velopment in Saudi Arabia by the group to 29, representing nearly 6,800 rooms.

Novotel Riyadh Olaya to be Unveiled in 2017

Mutaz Hassanain, president, UYC (left), and Christoph Landais

Kempinski Al Othman Hotel, Al Khobar

Kempinski Al Othman Hotel, Al Khobar to Open in Q2 2015

Kempinski Al Othman Hotel, Al Khobar is set to welcome its first guests in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, Hany Abdelmoneim, general manager, Kempinski Al Othman Hotel, Al Khobar, revealed.

Located at the epicentre of the Al Khobar, Dammam, Dhahran con-urbation, the property will boast 141 rooms, 57 suites and 20 serviced apartments.

“Nine restaurants and cafés are sure to bring innovative cuisine ex-periences to the local market. The ho-tel’s exciting leisure facilities include a fully equipped gym, a swimming pool and Kempinski’s luxury Resense Spa brand. Corporate guests could avail themselves of various facilities including a particularly impressive suite of function rooms comprising two banquet halls of 1,080m2 each,” noted Abdelmoneim.

05 JULY 2014

ACCOMMODATION WEEKLY NEWS

11

Delmon Hotel Apartments to Add New Facilities

In a bid to make guests’ stay even more comfortable and memora-ble, the management of Delmon Hotel Apartments, Muscat, plans to introduce a number of new facilities, Fathima Remziya, business

development manager, Delmon Hotel Apartments, Muscat, revealed. As Remziya explained, demand for competitively priced accom-

modation has significantly increased over the past years driven by Oman and the region’s infrastructural and economic development.

“At Delmon Hotel Apartments, we have both leisure and corpo-rate clients. […] Some GCC guests stay for about a week or 15 days with families to visit relatives or just to get away. European clients usu-ally stay for about 10 nights to discover the country and experience its true culture,” elaborated Remziya.

Marriott International views extended stay as a key area for opportunity and major expansion in the Middle East

and Africa (MEA) region.As Neal Jones, chief sales and marketing

officer, MEA, Marriott International, pinpoint-ed, approximately one third of business room night demand globally is extended stay driven, which is defined as five nights or more.

“Extended stay is our most profitable lodg-ing segment returning house profit margins above 65 percent and on average over 55 per-cent,” revealed Jones, saying that with Marriott Executive Apartments and Residence Inn by Marriott, the company is well-positioned to cap-italise on the rising demand. “The select service and extended stay tier makes up 13 percent of Marriott International’s rooms in the region, but by 2020 it is expected to be almost 60 percent of the company’s room inventory in MEA.

Marriott: Extended Stay is a Key Area in MEA

Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Creek

Majestic Arjaan by Rotana in Muharraq, Bahrain, has recorded a 12 percent year-on-year growth in occu-pancy in the long-term stay segment.

As Jamal Yousif, marketing and communications executive, Majestic Arjaan by Rotana, explained demand for extended stay accommodation is on the rise.

“This type of accommodation […] is cheaper than the equivalent hotel rooms while it offers the same level of sophistication, services and modern conveniences. Another rea-son is the benefits that you experi-ence in a hotel apartment; more spacious accommodation and you have the option of cooking your own meal,” commented Yousif, adding that the utmost reasons is the home away from home feeling.

Majestic Arjaan by Rotana: Increased Demand

Majestic Arjaan by Rotana

Did you know...

Marriott Execut

ive

Apartments Dubai

Creek opened back

in 2001?

05 JULY 2014

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Novotel Business Park Dammam Aims Higher

Novotel Business Park Dammam aims to be recognised as the leading and preferred business hotel in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

According to Parvez Ahmed, director of sales, Novotel Business Park Dammam, in order to further enhance the guest experi-ence, the hotel’s team remains committed to adopting the brand’s famous service attitude. Ensuring the best returns to owners and the patent company, Accor, is another key component of the hotel’s strategy, while further strengthening the existing relationships with associations is also a priority. As Ahmed further noted, implementing environmental initiatives and representing the local culture are also high on the management’s agenda.

In line with its endeavours to continuously upgrade its services to ensure high guest satisfaction, Shaza Al Madina is to introduce two new services.

As Katrina Thornely, marketing coordinator, regional office, Shaza Hotels, revealed, the new Silk Floors will serve as executive floors, providing guests with luxurious and innovative service con-cepts and enhanced interiors.

In addition, the hotel is also gearing up for the launch of the royal suite, which, according to Thornely will not only be the new-est but also the largest royal suite in Medina at 450m2.

Shaza Al Madina Enhances Guest Experience

Shaza Al Madina

Novotel Business Park Dammam

Abu Dhabi-based Cristal Hotels & Resorts plans to open a number of new

properties in Saudi Arabia. As Kamal Fakhoury, chief op-

erating officer, Cristal Hotels & Re-sorts, revealed, the company has three properties under develop-ment in the Kingdom, two of which are scheduled to open in Riyadh within one year, while the third one in Dammam is slated for launch in 18 months.

In addition, as Fakhoury dis-closed, two more Saudi projects are expected to be announced shortly.

“Saudi Arabia is the biggest market in the GCC and serves as a key feeder to other GCC and non-GCC markets where we plan to expand,” commented Fakhoury, adding that the Saudi tourism in-dustry is bound to experience solid growth over the next five to 10 years.

Cristal Hotels & Resorts to Expand in Saudi Arabia

05 JULY 2014

AIR WEEKLY NEWS

15

Emirates Boosts Capacity to San Francisco and HoustonEmirates is adding passenger and cargo capacity in San Francisco and Houston on December 1 and December 3 respectively, when it switches from operating the routes with a Boeing 777-300ER to its double-decker Airbus A380.

The new aircraft will offer an addi-tional 135 seats to San Francisco and 137 to Houston, represent-

ing a 38 percent increase in overall pas-senger capacity, and 80 percent more seats across premium cabins.

Since 2007, Emirates carried over 2.3 million passengers on the two routes, and its flagship A380 will al-low the carrier to connect even more people and facilitate trade between these important US cities and the Mid-dle East, India, Africa and beyond, sug-gested Hubert Frach, divisional senior vice president, commercial operations, west, Emirates.

A rik Air has expanded its reach to the Middle East by becoming the first Ni-gerian airline to offer a commercial

service between Abuja in Nigeria and Dubai, hence reinforcing its position as one of West and Central Africa’s largest commercial carriers.

The first commercial flight on the new

route is slated for July 28, and the airline will subsequently operate five weekly services. The outbound flight will depart from Murtala Mu-hammed International Airport in Lagos, arriv-ing at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, only to then continue to its final destina-tion of Dubai International Airport Terminal 1.

Arik Air Adds New Commercial Flight to Dubai via Abuja

Effective July 28, Iranian carrier Mahan Air will start of-fering a nonstop flight from Kerman to the new home destinations of Esfahan, Tabriz, Kish, Sari and Zahedan,

following its goal to provide customers with greater choice to key business and leisure destination across the country.

The new routes will be serviced by British Aerospace BAE-146 aircraft, seating a total of 107 passengers across econo-my cabin.

Mahan Air carried over 3.2 million domestic passengers in 2013 and this latest move is expected to increase its do-mestic traffic and market share for the current year.

Mahan Air Expands Domestically

Emirates

Mahan Air BAE-146

Arik Air

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS AIR

16

Qatar Airways started serving its newest destina-tion, Tokyo Haneda International Airport, as of June 18. The addition of the Japanese hub dou-

bles the airline’s service to the city to two flights a day.Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways, who was joined at

the press conference held after the touchdown, by Woo Yew Seong, senior vice president commercial, East Asia

and South West Pacific, Qatar Air-ways, and Tomohiko Matsumoto, country manager, Japan, Qatar Airways, commented, “We have enjoyed a very strong relationship with Japan since we began operat-ing flights to this culturally rich and beautiful country in 2005. Since then we have enjoyed a steady growth which allowed us to ex-pand our operations to Tokyo Nari-ta in 2010, and now Tokyo Haneda.”

Tokyo Haneda Receives Qatar Airways

Japanese Garden

Gulf Air Steps up Turkey and Cyprus Operations

As part of its new summer schedule, Gulf Air has launched additional services to Istanbul and Larnaca.

In order to meet the growing demand, the Bahraini carrier now offers seven weekly flights to both Istanbul Atatürk Airport and Larnaka International Airport.

“As the holidays approach, we are pleased to offer our customers increased flexibility and choice in booking their summer and Eid vacations,” commented on the frequency in-crease Ahmed Janahi, acting chief commercial officer, Gulf Air, underlining that Istanbul and Larnaca are destinations of both year-long and seasonal popularity with both routes delivering strong two-way traffic results.

E tihad Airways has extended its code-share agreement with Air Seychelles to include the Indian Ocean island carrier’s

recently launched new services to Paris. Operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft,

the new flight links Charles de Gaulle Airport twice weekly with the Seychelles via Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the service, which com-plements the UAE airline’s existing, twice daily operations to the French capital, Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer, Etihad Air-ways, said, “Our partner Air Seychelles’ return to Paris marks another milestone in its journey of growing its international operations by fly-ing to and from more key destinations.”

Etihad Airways and Air Seychelles Expand Partnership

Seychelles

Did you know...

Etihad Airways

carried

11.5 million

passengers

in 2013?

05 JULY 2014

RENDEZVOUS

17

Q & A withSumathi Ramanathan

THE GULF IS BECOMING A PRIORITY MARKET FOR THE UK AND SUMATHI RAMANATHAN, REGIONAL MANAGER, ASIA PACIFIC AND THE MIDDLE EAST, VISITBRITAIN, EXPLAINS WHY IS THE REGION A MOST SUITABLE LAUNCH PAD FOR THE AUTHORITY’S STRATEGIC MARKETING ACTIVITIES.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: In late 2012 VisitBritain shifted its Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regional office from Singapore to Dubai. What were the main reasons?

SUMATHI RAMANATHAN: We have established ourselves in the Asia Pa-cific for a very long time since we had a presence there for the past 15 years. A couple of developments necessitated the move into Dubai and the biggest one was that the Gulf markets started to show very strong growth for us. That is a market we had a small presence into so we decided to upgrade our presence and start looking at our Middle Eastern strategy from there. But a key reason is the shift in global aviation develop-ment. Middle Eastern carriers have started changing the way travel is tak-ing place in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The whole world is now being con-nected via the Middle East.

Before this shift we did not have a strong partnership with Middle Eastern carriers but the last one and half year we signed deals worth GBP6 million (USD10.1 million) with Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways and that was not possible when we did not have an established presence in the Middle East. We are looking at where the global tour-ism flows and where aviation develop-ment is happening. These partnerships link the Middle East and Asia Pacific very strongly with Europe and the UK.

What is needed is to have a very good understanding and build strong partnerships with the airlines which can only happen if you are based out there. The fact that we have signed three-year strategic deals means we need a dedi-cated team, a strong senior manage-ment team in Dubai to nurture those relationships.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: Dubai being a global aviation hub offers excellent links to the world. How is VisitBritain to use this in order to influence route development into Britain – from the region and internationally?

SUMATHI RAMANATHAN: While our base is in Dubai, our core source mar-kets in Asia Pacific are Australia, Japan, India and the Gulf states. We are using Dubai as a hub but we have very strong teams and invest a lot of money in these other markets as well. The Qan-tas – Emirates partnership means that

part of the world, which is an emerging economy goes into London. We are de-lighted for this but we would like them to spend time in London and go even beyond. Those airlines have access into regional Britain. Emirates, for example, connects six cities in Australia with six cities in the UK. [...]

With increasing competition and a lot of new routes opening up we can not rely on selling the same thing to the same market. We are interested in get-ting people to understand what more Britain has to offer.

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY: Which are your office’s main responsibilities and what your main achievements one and half year later?

SUMATHI RAMANATHAN: For the Gulf markets the results are phenom-enal. We went from just under 500,000 visitors to close to 590,000, almost a 100,000 visitors increase in a year. In terms of spend they have gone from GBP1 billion (USD1.7 billion) to GBP1.5 billion (USD2.5 billion). We are seeing very good results. In terms of our own tactical activity [...] something we have not being doing is working on strate-gic partnerships with the travel trade. We are identifying the top two or three players in each of the Gulf countries in order to do joint funding marketing activities. In 2013 we worked with Emir-ates Holidays to create interesting pack-ages because a lot of the travel from the Gulf states happens mostly in the sum-mer months. We started introducing winter packages and that was the first tactical approach, including the Christ-mas markets and shopping during the Christmas sales season. [...] We started seeing that people understand the con-cept of winter, they like the concept of Christmas markets.

Travel trade in the Middle East is very important for us, as even though people are digitally savvy and the youngsters are into [the social media], the actual holi-day booking is done mostly by a travel agency. We recognised the importance of the travel trade and we are forming strong partnerships in the region.

Our strategy in the region was very UAE- and Dubai-focused. Since April we have broadened our horizons to the GCC markets so we have six gateway cities, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait City, Riyadh and Jeddah so we have started branching out actively. [...]

REGIONAL MANAGER, ASIA PACIFIC AND MIDDLE EAST, VISIT-BRITAIN

we are able to tap into this to develop stronger relationships in Australia. A lot of our work is in partnership with these airlines. We worked with Qatar Airways in Australia to promote the Edinburgh offering with the new launch. Whilst our hub is in Dubai, work is taking place across the region. Being in Dubai allows us to reach out there more strongly. Etihad Airways has bought into Jet Airways in India and that means that it has access to over 50 cities in India and

these are the emerging cities that Brit-ain is interested in.

Saudi Arabia is our fastest growing market in the gulf and Qatar Airways recently won the rights to fly domesti-cally there and suddenly working with Qatar Airways allows us strong access to regional cities and enables us to extend our reach from regional Asia to regional Britain.

Regional Britain is very important because most of our visitors from this

05 JULY 2014

WEEKLY NEWS INTERNATIONAL

18

Third Holiday Inn Express in Thailand

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has recently opened the 184-room Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn in the bustling

Thai city. Owned by TCC Hotels Group, the property is the brand’s third in the country and the second in the capital.

“[In 2013] Thailand achieved record numbers of tourist arrivals, with over 26 mil-lion visitors from around the world, making the country an important part of our growth strategy in Southeast Asia,” said Clarence Tan, chief operating officer, Southeast Asia and Resorts, IHG.

He added that opening a second Holiday Inn Express property in the centre of Thai-land’s capital offers both business and leisure guests an amazing opportunity to stay in an ideal location whether visiting the city for work or to absorb the diverse and colourful culture, electric nightlife and famous cuisine.

A Hyatt Hotels Corporation affiliate has entered into a contract with Armenian hotel developer and owner company, Jersan, to launch a new Hyatt Place-branded property in the south Armenian spa

town of Jermuk. Scheduled for opening in 2015, Hyatt Place Jermuk will mark the sec-

ond Hyatt Place project in the country and will offer authentic hospitality and purposeful services.

The new-built hotel will feature 88 rooms, 170m2 of meeting space, open market, restaurant, fitness centre, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

Armenia to Get a Second Hyatt Place Hotel

Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn

Ritz-Carlton Announces First Resort in Langkawi

Following an agreement with AJ Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Ho-tel Company will double its presence in Malaysia by opening an oceanfront Ritz-Carlton resort on Langkawi, Malaysia in 2015.

The 132-room luxurious The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi, which will in-clude 42 villas, sensitively blends in with its surroundings with design elements that reflect the traditional kampong village.

Moreover, the resort will offer a family-friendly escape with three swimming pools, including one specially created for children, and a spe-cially-designed Ritz-Kids Club.

05 JULY 2014

AGENT CORNER

19

Hassan Bolaachoub

Founder and general manager

Beautiful Morocco Voyages

Morocco

www.beautifulvoyages.com

Agent’s Insight

Who are you?My name is Hassan Bolaachoub and I am 36 years old, from Tangier, Morocco. I am the founder and general manager of Beautiful Morocco Voyages, located in Ra-bat. Beautiful Morocco Voyages, founded in 2013, is a young agency with a very passionate, dynamic and creative team of tourism and travel agents. The agency’s services include incoming and outgoing, flights, hotels, cruises, golf/spa packages, guided tours and packaged vacations in Morocco and in other touristic destina-tions, Umrah and Hajj, as well as corporate event planning.

What is your favourite thing about working in the travel industry?My favourite thing about working in the travel industry is the opportunity to travel to all these new and exciting destinations and meet wonderful people from differ-ent cultures and learn and experience new things.

When is the best time to visit Morocco?It is always a good time to visit Morocco. My country is blessed with beautiful weather throughout the whole year. So a visitor can enjoy the beautiful beaches in the summer, enjoy nature and the mountains in the spring, skiing in winter or enjoy sightseeing in any of the major and historic cities, and alternatively enjoy a safari in the beautiful dunes of the Sahara desert.

Where would you like to travel to for your next holiday?I have so many destinations I would love to visit in my to-do list like the Fiji Islands, Nepal, Thailand, Cuba, Czech Republic, China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, and Scandinavia.

Why should people come to you for travel advice?People should come to Beautiful Morocco Voyages because we have a passion for travel. We love what we do and we love assisting and serving our clients to plan their dream vacations and offering them the best deals.

COMPANY:

POSSITION:

NAME:

LOCATION:

WEBSITE:

05 JULY 2014

WHO’S MOVED

20

Deepak Dahiya has been ap-pointed director of sales and marketing at The Ajman Pal-ace Hotel & Resort.Dahiya has been tasked with driving new business to the property. He joins the hotel’s team from Dubai Marine Beach Resort & Spa where he served as di-rector of sales and marketing, following a five-year stint with Gold Swiss-Belhotel Dubai where he headed sales and marking for the hotel’s launch and then took it through a re-branding to Mercure. Dahiya began his career in the industry with Sofitel Luxury Hotels in India, before joining Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts in Bangalore. He moved to Dubai in 1999, gaining a wealth of experience with Starwood Ho-tels & Resorts Worldwide and Al Habtoor Group.

ZIAD BOUJABER

MUHAMMAD SAQIB NAWAZ

DEEPAK DAHIYA

CHADI NICOLAS

Ziad Boujaber has been named executive assistant manager in charge of sales and marketing at Marina Hotel Kuwait.An accomplished leader with over 16 years of experience un-der his belt, Boujaber has long been a vital member of the property’s management team. Over the past three years, as director of sales he played a key role in further strengthen-ing the business ties with ex-isting clients and stakeholders and generating leads for new business. In his new role, in addition to his prior duties, he will also assist in the development of strategies and carry our various sales and marketing activities in order to maximise revenue.

Muhammad Saqib Nawaz has been named sales man-ager at Emirates Grand Hotel in Dubai. Besides assisting the director of sales and marketing in max-imising revenue, Nawaz will be involved in the development of new sales strategies. His re-sponsibilities will also include building new business partner-ships and maintaining existing connections. Nawaz has been in the indus-try for eight years and has extensive experience in oper-ations and sales from compa-nies and properties, including Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts and Habtoor Grand Beach Re-sort & Spa.

Chadi Nicolas has been cho-sen to lead the team at Hala Arjaan by Rotana, Abu Dhabi as the property’s new general manager. Nicolas takes on the position after working at Khalidiya Pal-ace Rayhaan by Rotana as ex-ecutive assistant manager, co-ordinating the hotel’s various functions and activities with the general manager, regional staff and corporate personnel. He brings almost 13 years of hospitality experience to the role, having previously served at some of Rotana Ho-tel Management Corporation’s leading properties in the UAE capital.

Boujaber has over 16 years of experience

Nicolas served leading Rotana

propertiesNawaj will work

on new sales strategies

05 JULY 2014

TRAVEL CHANNELS

21

SCTDA Launches 10th Tourist Guide Programme

H aving run from June 8 - 19, the initiative involved lec-tures, workshops and field visits to all the major land-marks in the emirate.

There were 11 different countries including the UAE, UK, France, Rus-sia, Japan, China, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Tunisia represented on the course, and most of the partici-pants were already working as profes-sional tourist guides.

The Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) completed its 10th course of Tourist Guide Licensing and Training in

collaboration with the University of Sharjah.

IATA and UNWTO Joined Forces for

Innovation

Abu Dhabi Airports Launches Training Programme

U nited Nations World Tour-ism Organization (UN-WTO) and International

Air Transport Association (IATA) signed their first memorandum of understainding with the advance-ment of innovation and talent development in tourism and air travel being the core component of the collaboration.

Both organisations have agreed to jointly advocate for in-novation and talent development in the public and private sectors as a means to promote competitive and sustainable tourism develop-ment, with particular focus on the air transport industry.

Abu Dhabi Airports has welcomed 100 UAE national stu-

dents from various schools, colleges, and universities for its Summer Training Programme. The initiative which commenced in June was developed in line with Abu Dhabi Airports’ com-mitment to raise aware-ness about careers within the aviation industry.

As part of the pro-gramme, students partici-pated in a comprehensive training, with the aim of promoting aviation aware-ness amongst Emirati youth, hence supporting the growing need for hu-

man capital within the industry. Discussing the programme, H.E. Ali Majed Al Man-

soori, chairman, Abu Dhabi Airports, commented, “Abu Dhabi Airports strives to educate and encourage students, as part of its corporate and social responsi-bility to give back to the community.”

Shurooq Solidifies Business Ties with China

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) recently welcomed a business delegation from China, which aimed to turn market research

into investment and business opportunities in the UAE.Elie Armaly, director of business development, Shurooq,

said that China is a very important trade and investment partner, since bilateral trade between the Asian country and Sharjah has grown rapidly in recent years. Indicatively in the first half of 2013, combined imports and exports, grew

by more than 14 percent to AED78.6 billion (USD21.4 bil-lion), after registering close to 40 percent year-on-year rise over 2012.

During the visit, Armaly delivered a presentation giving an overview of the investment opportunities in Sharjah, with a specific fo-cus on the four investment sector that have been identi-fied as key areas of potential growth, namely leisure and tourism, healthcare, trans-port and logistics, and envi-ronmental services.

Shurooq’s Delegation

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Participants of the Course

05 JULY 2014

TRAVEL TALK

22

ROCHELLE LOBO

AKBAR AL BAKER

USAMA KARIM AL-HAREMI

General manager, Dunes Hotel Apartments – Oud Metha, Dubai.

CEO, Qatar Airways.

Head of corporate communications and media, Oman Air.

“Winning the TripAdvisor Certifi-cate of Excellence is a true source of pride for the entire team at Dunes Hotel Apartment – Oud Metha and we would like to thank all of our guests who took the time to complete a review on TripAdvisor. There is no greater seal of approval than being rec-ognised by one’s customers.”

“Qatar Airways is looking for-ward to how this new route [connection Doha and Miami] will enhance our excellent of-fering to passengers, provid-ing even greater flexibility in the number of US gateways to choose from, since we now fly out of six major hubs in the country. Miami has always been a global city; a crossroads of commerce, art and culture. [...] Qatar Airways looks forward to building a strong relationship between Miami and Doha.”

“Oman Air is pleased and proud to accept the Best Arab Air Car-rier award and we would like to thank the judges and everyone else at the Arab Tourism Media Awards for this accolade. [...] Later this year, Oman Air will re-ceive the first of the 20 aircraft we currently have on order and we look forward not only to of-fering even more people a su-perlative passenger experience, but also to enabling even more people to visit Oman and to dis-cover for themselves the unique beauty and timeless culture of this wonderful country.”

TRAVEL TALK IS YOUR SPACE – this is a casual forum for travel indus-try professionals to discuss current issues and share stories. We want to hear from you, so send your comments, questions, frustrations and observations to editorial@traveltradeweekly.travel

Oman Air will receive the first of the 20 aircraft

There is no greater seal of approval than being recognised by one’s customers

Miami has always been a global cityy

05 JULY 2014

PHOTO ALBUM

23

Share with us the latest images of your activities and let your colleagues know what you have been up to.

Send your photos to editorial@traveltradeweekly.travel Because a picture is worth a thousand words...

Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, chairman, Al Habtoor Group, released his autobiography in Hungarian language.

Dubai Duty Free employees successfully conquered the High Atlas Challenge in Morocco

Holiday Inn Bur Dubai staff celebrated Inter-Continental Hotels Group’s Service Week

Celebrating the opening of Double-Tree by Hilton Jakarta - Diponegoro

Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways and Her Majesty The Queen at the opening of London Heathrow’s New Terminal 2

Al Murooj Rotana Dubai hosted an Iftar for students of the Special Needs Future Development Center

Take a Shot!

The first Emirates Pelé-ane – named after three times World Cup winner, Pelé

05 JULY 2014

NEWS & EVENTS

24

ROUTES SILK ROAD

Tbilisi, Georgia, July 6 – 8, 2014(www.routesonline.com)A route development forum that connects CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia.

SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL GOLF & TRAVEL (SIGT)

Shanghai, China, September 5 – 7, 2014(www.shanghaigolfshow.com)SIGT will be a meeting place where golf industry people and golf enthusiasts can meet.

CITYSCAPE GLOBAL

Dubai, UAE, September 21 – 23, 2014(www.cityscape.org)Cityscape Global’s mission is to enhance and support the vision for real estate growth worldwide to an international audience.

INCENTIVE, BUSINESS, TRAVEL & MEETINGS EXPO (IBTM) INDIA

Chennai, India, September 3 – 5, 2014(www.ibtmevents.com)An invitation-only event for India’s inbound, outbound and domestic incentives, business travel and meetings industry.

WORLD ROUTES 2014

Chicago, US, September 20 – 23, 2014(www.routesonline.com)An essential global gathering for aviation organisations from across all continents and countries.

EVENTSBAC TO HOST FIRST ROUTES MENA EVENT

Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) has been selected to play host to the first-ever Routes MENA event in November 2015.

T he three-day show will see route devel-opment professionals from across the MENA region gather together to dis-cuss air service development to, from and within the region.

According to Mohamed Yousid Al Binfalah, CEO, BAC, the inaugural forum will highlight Bah-rain’s deep-seeded aviation heritage and reiter-ate the Kingdom’s role as an aviation hub in the MENA region.

Katie Bland, director, Routes, UBM Live, add-ed, “The MENA region has become very important from an aviation perspective. It represents nearly 11 percent of global aviation – about double its share from a decade ago – driven by global hub strategies in the Gulf and liberal aviation access policies.”

Bahrain International Airport