A DDP PUBLICATION Pages: 28Vol. VIII No. 5; May 2012

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Hyatt Hotels Corpora-tion announced that it will utilise

ATM 2012 as a platform to update its key regional stakeholders on its development plans for major properties in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia,two critically-strategic mar-kets for the US-headquar-tered hotelier.

“Hyatt’s progress inSaudi Arabia and Malaysia isabsolutely remarkable andwe are thrilled to offer theGulf residents the best of it, particularly, in both of these premium markets.Our newly-opened world-wide sales office in Saudi Arabia with its focus on localised and personalised services willsupport both the destina-tions,” explained Dubai-based Thierry Bertin, VicePresident - World WideSales, Hyatt International -South West Asia.

Promoting its luxuriousamenities and facilities,Emirates Grand Hotel will offer the visitors, aglimpse of the summer pro-motion at ATM 2012.

Frank Owens, GroupGeneral Manager & Area Director BusinessDevelopment, EmiratesGrand Hotel said, “One of themain objectives in joiningATM is to build excellentrepute of our hotel and most importantly to encour-age people to see what weoffer. Quality service deliv-ered in a personalised man-ner is our priority, ensuringour satisfied guests will cre-ate awareness and returnagain to the property!”

The team hopes to meetpotential travel partners who can bring in more busi-ness opportunities. “Weexpect to build partnershipwith reputable companiesand network with key stake-holders of the industry,”added Owens.

Looking ahead for net-working and building newrelationships with key stake-holders from the travel andtourism market, IberotelMiramar Al Aqah BeachResort, a Moroccan-styleproperty in Fujairah,announced its participationat ATM 2012.

Ashraf Helmy, GeneralManager & Area Develop-

ment Manager, IberotelMiramar Al Aqah BeachResorts said, “IberotelMiramar Al Aqah Beach is

always the right choice fordestination due to the varietyof facilities we offer, highquality food & beverage

services and an exclusive ani-mation programme, never tobe found in any other resortin the UAE.”

The recently establishednew environmental pro-grammes, ‘Tree Planting forRegular Guest’ and ‘KidsGardening Programme’aimed at preserving environ-ment will also be highlighted.

Prospect of the regionalCruise Tourism will be high-lighted once again at thisyear’s ATM event. To expandthe cruise product, both offand on-shore, an out-and-outon-site cruise pavilion willprovide a platform for region-al port operators, tourismservice providers and inter-national cruise liners.

Branding exercises canonly be accomplished byphysically participating in anyevent with a display stand.Optimistic to take part atATM 2013 depending on theprincipals they represent, theexposure and at what costand ROI, Ashley Noronha, InCharge, Al Rais CruiseDepartment underlined,“Walking the floor facilitatesto cover a large area andmeet numerous visitorsattending in person.Furthermore, with theincrease in participationcosts, most of the agents

Unfastening business opportunities within the ME for inbound and outbound tourism professionals, Arabian TravelMarket (ATM) is one of the leading travel and tourism events that provides a varied range of opportunities for thetravel trade. The Event is scheduled April 30-May 3, 2012 at the Dubai International Exhibition & Convention Centre.

ME to score big with ATM 2012

IberotelMiramar AlAqah Beach isalways the rightchoice as adestination due to thevariety offacilities we offer

One of the mainobjectives to bein ATM is tobuild excellentrepute for ourhotel and toencouragepeople to seewhat we offer

Hyatt’sprogress inSaudi Arabiaand Malaysia isabsolutelyremarkable andwe are thrilledto offer the Gulfresidents thebest of it

Thierry BertinVice President - World Wide SalesHyatt InternationalSouth West Asia

Frank OwensGroup General Manager & AreaDirector Business DevelopmentEmirates Grand Hotel

Ashraf HelmyGeneral Manager & AreaDevelopment Manager, IberotelMiramar Al Aqah Beach Resorts

Contd. on page 8

SU S M I TA GH O S H

INTERVIEW

FOREIGN EXCHANGEDIRHAM VALUE

(Subject to variation) (As on 17-04-2012)

Country Currency CN Buy CN Sell

USA ..........................USD ................3.653..............3.685

UK ............................GBP ..............5.7177............5.9377

Egypt ........................EGP ................0.605..............0.711

Euro ..........................EUR ..............4.6948............4.8868

Canada......................CAD ..............3.6206............3.7479

Bahrain ....................BHD ..............9.5739............9.9137

Oman ........................OMR................9.405............9.6512

Kuwait ......................KWD............12.9908..........13.4343

Saudi Arabia ............SAR ..............0.9625............0.9972

Qatar ........................QAR ..............0.9944............1.0209

Australia ..................AUD ..............3.7269............3.8377

Japan ........................JPY................0.0445............0.0466

Philippines ................PHP ..............0.0844............0.0873

Singapore..................SGD ..............2.8771............3.0047

India ........................INR................0.0692............0.0725

Pakistan ....................PKR ..............0.0397............0.0416

Bangladesh ..............BDT ..............0.0438............0.0456

Sri Lanka ..................LKR ..............0.0279............0.0291

Nepal ........................NPR ..................0.05..............0.056

Morocco ....................MAD................0.405..............0.525

Switzerland ..............CHF ..............3.9037............4.0703

South Africa ..............ZAR ................0.485..............0.553

Spearheaded by KarnatakaTourism, Kerala has

shown fantastic interest inATM 2012, demonstrating 50per cent of the booth in Indiapavilion representing theirtour operators, wellness spaand some hotels. The State ofMeghalaya is participating forthe first time, promoting theNorth East region, displayingthe splendour of this never-so explored state.

In ATM 2012, Air Indiaand India Tourism both willshowcase their product. India Tourism DevelopmentCorporation (ITDC) will bepromoting specific travel pro-motions for the NRIs andPIOs in ATM 2012.

“Besides promotingwellness, yoga, panchatantra,Ayurvedic treatment, rejuve-nation therapies and MedicalTourism, the significant

aspect of Maharaja Express ofRajasthan, the luxurious trainwill also be displayed, addingvalue to Luxury Tourism.Preparation is in huge flow toshowcase every potentialproduct and special promo-tions keeping ATM in mind,”informed Vikas Rustagi,Regional Director, IndiaTourism, Dubai.

With more than 6 mil-lion foreign tourists visitingIndia, the Country’s tourismindustry has shown stronggrowth in 2011. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT),Government of India has seta goal of doubling the num-ber of foreign tourists by2016 and to create around4,00,000 new hotel rooms allacross the Country.

MoT and the states ofIndia are developing newproducts to capitalise onIndia’s potential from its tra-ditional system of wellnessand medicines like Ayurveda,Siddha and yoga to present itas a unique destination forspiritual healing.

“Visualising cleanlinessand hygiene, MoT haslaunched a ‘Clean India’ campaign aimed to undertakeboth sensitisation and action at field level, bringingthe tourism destinations and their surroundings to anacceptable level of cleanli-ness and FTAs in India,”Rustagi further said.

During 2011 it was 6.29 million with a growth of 8.9 per cent as compared to the FTAs of 5.78 million with a growth of 11.8 per cent during the year 2010 over the corresponding year.

‘Medical Wellness and Luxury Tourism’ is the theme for India Tourism atATM 2012. India is one of the most lucrative health and wellness tourismmarkets in the world. It has been promoting unique travel experiences acrossthe country on an emotional, physical, intellectual and even spiritual level.

Luxury the new theme for India

In ATM 2012, Air India andIndia Tourism both will showcase theirproducts

The State of Meghalaya ispar ticipating for the firsttime, promoting the NorthEast region

Kerala has shown fantasticinterest in ATM 2012 andhas taken 50 per cent of the booth in India pavilion

India@ATM 2012Vikas RustagiRegional DirectorIndia Tourism, Dubai

TT BU R E AU

TALKING PEOPLE

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EDITORIALATM, an event with a vision

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), theleading travel exhibition in the ME

to be held from April 30 - May 3, 2012at the Dubai International Conventionand Exhibition Centre (DICEC), hasbecome the talk of the town.

The success of ATM 2011 hasunmistakably reflected the strength of the regional tourism industry.According to the organisers, overallattendance increased by 15% on the2010 event, as exhibitors and visitorsremained unfazed by the challengesfaced by the region and got down to thebusiness of travel. A post-show analysisrevealed a 20% increase in Buyers Clubattendees while 71% visitors were ofmanagement status or above. A totalof 68% visitors had influentialpurchasing power, 18% visitors placedorders worth US$ 10,000 during theEvent and 38% visitors expected toplace orders worth US$ 10,000 andabove as a result of the Event.

Concurrently, the positive outlookfor the region’s cruise sector is boostingreciprocal tourism potential in keydestinations across the GCC. The futurepotential of regional Cruise Tourism willonce again be a highlight at this year’sATM. A dedicated on-site cruisepavilion will provide a platform forregional port operators, tourism serviceproviders and international cruise linerslooking to develop, a well-roundedcruise product, both off and onshore.

Visitor registrations for the four-dayATM are already up 132% from the same time in 2011 with nearly2,000 visitors.

No surprise, the event has grown to become the largest showcase of its kind in the region and one of thebiggest in the world.

Safety is a never endingcycle. It is always a

continuous journey. We need to operate safely whileconstantly improving oursafety measures.

We had very positivefeedback from the task force,for the safety on-board ourship, ‘Brilliance of the Seas’.Measures like informing theguests immediately to proceedto the emergency areas andnot back to their cabins or thatchildren who are part of thechildren care programmereceive colored bands imme-diately so that the staff knowsas to which area to bring themin case of an emergency, areamong the few actions whichare also being practiced inother cruise lines.

It all sounds simple andobvious but these procedureshave to be in place and fol-lowed through in case of areal emergency and all meas-ures must be taken andworked upon efficiently.There are many aspects ofsafety. Although we areproud of our people, process-es and technology in all areasof safety, we know that wemust keep reviewing them;broaden the range of scenar-ios, prepare, drill, train ourcrew and never stop in ourpursuit of safety perfection.

For Royal CaribbeanCruises, safety and security

are the highest priority; it ispart of our culture, our DNAand is the prime motto ofour mission. We set stan-dards in the industry andalways outperform the safe-

ty and security regulationsgiven to us from authoritiesworldwide. Our marine safe-ty, records our 42-year oldhistory, which clearly illus-trates our commitment tothe safety of the millions of guests and crew that sailon our ships.

All of our ships aredesigned and operated incompliance with the strictrequirements of theInternational MaritimeOrganisation, the UN agencythat sets global standards forthe safety and operation ofcruise ships, codified in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention.Safety related regulations arerigorous and we often goabove and beyond what isrequired, like carrying back-up mechanical, navigationaland safety provisions.

The cruise industry,especially Royal Caribbean,didn’t see an impact of theArab Spring. All the marketsin the region have performedvery well even countries like Bahrain and Egypt, which faced many challengesdue to the unrest yet showed positive growth com-pared to the year before.

We have presently fin-ished a successful season inthe Middle East and willbring a new revitalised shipin Dubai for the winter sea-

son 2013; ‘Serenade of theSeas’. The Cruise will offervacationers 17 sailings,departing every Monday onseven-night United ArabEmirates and Oman itiner-aries from January 2013through April 2013.

We have just intro-duced our summer 2013itineraries where ‘Liberty of the Seas’, ‘Navigator of the Seas’ and ‘Serenade of the Seas’ (after her Dubaiseason) will be among the ships to deliver cultureand hard to resist retailopportunities that Europehas to offer. This latestdeployment opening offers121 sailings on 25 itinerariesthat will make call at 30beautiful ports. Europe is themost popular cruise destina-tion for ME travellers.

Royal Caribbean’s 2013Europe cruises and Cruisetours for the five ships -‘Independence of the Seas’,‘Adventure of the Seas’,‘Liberty of the Seas’,‘Navigator of the Seas’ and‘Serenade of the Seas’ - areopen for booking now.

Lakshmi DuraiExecutive Director

Royal CaribbeanInternational

Celebrity Cruises andAzamara Club Cruises in

the Middle East

In recent months, the topic of cruise ship safety has been discussed intensivelyacross the globe. In Dubai, the ‘Cruise Ship Emergency Response Task Force’is a body of national and local emergency response providers who ensurethe maritime safety and inspect every cruise ship calling into UAE ports.

RCI pledges on cruise ship safety

Lakshmi DuraiExecutive Director, Royal CaribbeanInternational, Celebrity Cruises andAzamara Club Cruises Middle East

Tilal Liwa Hotel is honoured tobe nominated for the prestigiousWorld Travel Awards 2012 andproud to be among the MiddleEast’s Leading Deser t Resort.Located on the edge of the RubAl Khali Desert, Western regionof Abu Dhabi amid rolling sand dunes and an unspoileddeser t landscape, the Hotel is managed by Danat Hotels & Resor ts, a leading player in Abu Dhabi hotel's industry.This unique destination offersguests to unwind in puretranquility and have anunforgettable desert experience.

We had very positivefeedback from the taskforce, for thesafety on-board our ship,‘Brilliance of the Seas’

Tilal Liwa Hotel nominated as Middle East’s Leading Desert Resort

NEWS M A Y, 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 5

The five vessels; CostaVictoria, Queen Mary 2,

Silver Whisper, PacificPrincess and Costa Favolosa,were anchored together atPort Rashid, sending a clearsignal that Dubai is a primedestination for CruiseTourism in this region. InJanuary, Dubai CruiseTerminal hosted four largeocean-going cruise vessels at the same time.

The management of DPWorld, UAE Region, whichoperates Port Rashid, success-fully implemented a plan tohandle all five vessels at once

in close coordination withDubai Tourism & CommerceMarketing, Dubai Customs,Dubai World Security, TheRoads & Transport Authorityand travel and tour operators.There were help desks set upto offer the guests, touristinformation in different lan-guages. DP World’s vision forPort Rashid is to eventually beable to serve as many as sevencruise vessels at one time.

Mohammed AlMuallem, Senior VicePresident and ManagingDirector, DP World, UAERegion said, “The success inhandling five mega passen-ger vessels simultaneouslyconfirms Port Rashid’s abilityto embrace the growth inCruise Tourism. It is a clearsign of Dubai’s position as acruise destination of choice.Our expansion plans for Port

Rashid are in line with DubaiGovernment’s efforts to makeCruise Tourism an economicgrowth engine. DP World iscommitted to invest longterm in the transformation of Port Rashid towards this end with the support and close cooperation ofDTCM, our strategic partnerin promoting the cruiseindustry in Dubai.”

Mohammed AlMannaei, Director – PortRashid, DP World, UAERegion said, “Welcomingmultiple cruise ships and taking care of thousands of passengers at one time are challenges that weembrace with enthusiasm.Our highly-trained staffmembers and baggage handling teams worked in tandem with our partnersto ensure that our honouredcruise guests experienced a memorable visit to Dubai.We look forward to more of such visits.”

More than 7,200 tourists arrived aboard five mega ocean liners on April 12, 2012. They were greeted with the finest of Emirati traditions at the DP World operated Dubai Cruise Terminal (DCT) in Port Rashid.

5 mega cruises onboard DCT

Mohammed Al MannaeiDirector – Port RashidDP World, UAE Region

Mohammed Al MuallemSenior Vice President and MD DP World, UAE Region

Gulf Incentive, BusinessTravel & Meetings exhibition(GIBTM) delivered its Global Meetings IndustryResearch report detailing the condition of the Gulf, Middle East and North African region during the Event.

The report indicatedthat 48.2% of ME buyersand 47.2% of global buyerssaid that they organisedmore events in the last 12months as compared to theprevious year.

Furthermore, 64.5%and 56.4% respectively said that they are furtherlooking at increasing thevolume. Supporting such anincrease in the volume ofevents are 53.7% of MEbuyers and another 46.4% of global buyers that have signalled anincrease in their budgets inthe next 12 months.

The results of thereport were drawn out of asurvey of 1,063 buyer-respondents, 143 of whom are based in the ME.Out of the total respon-dents, 364 have heldevents in the region.

Report summary

• In 2011, 58.5% ofevents organised by buyers were conventionsand congresses

• The top 10 countriesfor ME buyers during thepast 12 months were theUAE (Abu Dhabi andDubai), Saudi Arabia,Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey,Thailand, Jordan, India and Malaysia

• The top 10 countriesfor Global buyers duringthe past 12 months wereUAE, the USA, China, Italy,France, the UK, Spain, Indiaand Germany

• In the next 12months, Global buyers willsee growth in India, theUSA, Singapore, Thailand,Italy, the UK, France, China,Germany and Macao

• The top 5 markets forMENA region are the UAE,Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatarand Kuwait

• The top client typesin the ME are Corporate,Government-owned enter-prise, NGO’s, Government/not-for-profit, Associations,Agencies and Consultants

Global Meetings IndustryResearch Report

Costa Victoria, QueenMary 2, Silver Whisper,Pacific Princess and CostaFavolosa, were anchoredtogether at Port Rashid

The Five Vessels

TT BU R E AU

CRUISES6 TRAVTALK M A Y, 2 0 1 2

Q. What are the exceptional features of StarCruises?

A. Star Cruises is the leading cruiseline in AsiaPacific catering to families, honeymooncouples, MICE groups, family reunion andweddings on-board.

Q. To what extent is the awareness among theME cruise lovers?

A. The number of passengers from the MEregion, consisting of locals and expatsproves, the awareness of Star Cruises in theregion. In fact, we get requests from newermarkets like Africa, Morocco, etc.

Q. How does Star Cruises handle MICE groups?A. MICE travel is one of our leading segments

on-board. We have conferences on-boarddone from the region covering variouscorporate companies.

Q. Is halal food available on any of yourcruises?

A. In fact, we are the only cruise line servinghalal food on-board two of our shipsSuperStar Virgo and Superstar Libra. TheSuperStar Virgo has a certified halalrestaurant, The Taj.

Q. How are the cruise selling agentsresponding to the effect of Dubai andsurrounding tourism getting influenced bythe cruise industry?

A. We observed an increased interest amongthe travel agents in selling cruises. As, theycan offer, new destinations to theircustomers every time and thereby thecommission earned by them is higher too.The benefit of selling a cruise is that theydo not undercut each other as the ratesoffered to all the agents are same.

Najeeb Mithvani, Second Assistant Vice President, Star Cruises

Al Tayer Holidays (a divisionof Al Tayer Travel Agency)

wholesales their products to the travel trade in GCC through their appointed sub-agents in Oman, Doha, Kuwait,Saudi and Bahrain.

“We have started representing Disneycruise line sinceDecember 2010 andduring May –September 2011 we have sold around 400 cabins. We have started appointingagents in GCC, trained them, marketed and sendfliers, thereby, afterwhich we started getting enquiries,”

informed Asif Hussain, Manager- Outbound Al Tayer Holidays,Distributor for Disney CruiselineGCC-wide.

“We conduct roadshowsand workshops on an annualbasis and also have an onlineprogramme, ‘Disney Stars’ forthe travel trade where weencourage the agents to learnand appear for an examination.After qualifying they are certi-fied as a ‘Disney specialist’. The

specialists are then taken onFam trips to have a touch andfeel experience of the product.We also arrange an Annual partyfor their encouragement andprovide product updates,” hefurther added.

The ‘Live Chat’ facility isan exceptional one which AlTayer Holidays possesses in theirwebsite; it increases extremeinterest among the travel trade where they can achieveresponses instantly along withthe transcription of the wholeinformation in their mailboxthereafter for record.

Disney Cruise Line createsan experience unlike others.Toddlers, children and tweenshave their own age-appropriate,Disney-exclusive activities andcaring Disney counsellors.

“To assure best product,it’s always advisable to makeearly bookings of any cruiseline,as for instance forMediterranean voyage in 2013,it is better to start bookings in

October 2012, as the sailings arealways full,” suggested Hussain.

Disney Fantasy was addedto the Disney Cruise Line fleetin March 2012 boasting a lavishdesign and state-of-the-art facil-ities. Disney Magic takes to destinations in Caribbean,Mediterranean, Canada, NewEngland and Northern Europe.The Disney Wonder transportsto ports of call in the MexicanRiviera and Alaska. DisneyDream is a cruise linerrenowned for its design andinnovative onboard facilities.

Al Tayer Holidays, a division of Al Tayer Travel Agency, deals in outbound travel with distribution rights for Disney’s portfolio - Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line and the mother of all resorts, Walt Disney World – Orlando.

Disney cruise line’s unmatched USP

Asif HussainManager – Outbound, Al Tayer HolidaysDistributor - Disney Cruiseline, GCC

‘Disney Stars’ an onlineprogramme for the traveltrade

After qualifying travel agentsare cer tified as a ‘Disneyspecialist’

Annual par ty for theirencouragement

‘Live Chat’ facility

Unmatched Experience

SU S M I TA GH O S H

COVER STORY8 TRAVTALK M A Y, 2 0 1 2

prefer to walk the floor as events like ATM provide a perfect platform for PR exercises.”

Exhibiting for the 14th

time in ATM 2012, Lakshmi Durai, ExecutiveDirector Royal CaribbeanInternational, CelebrityCruises and Azamara ClubCruises Middle East updates,“ATM is the perfect forum toignite discussion and debateamong the industry peersand provide an invaluableresource that allows traveland tourism trade profession-als to converse on key issuesand shape the sector’s future.In 2011, our bookingsincreased by 30 per cent andwe believe participating at ATM supported this successful result. In ATM2012, we will promote ourcruise vacations and informnew itineraries, revitalisedships and new destinationsthat we are sailing to.”

“We will once againhonour our travel trade partners during the event asthe last time with AnnualRoyal Caribbean Middle East

Travel Trade Awards whosupported us throughout theyear,” she added.

The Middle East is animportant market for thedevelopment of Ras Al

Khaimah as a tourist destina-tion and ATM 2012 will pro-vide the perfect platform topromote the emirates’ vari-ous visitor attractions. TheAuthority will promote RAKas the ‘rising emirate’ andlook at new source markets,expanding existing marketsof the UAE, surrounding theME and Europe.

“During the last 12months, the Ras Al Khaimah(RAK) Tourism DevelopmentAuthority (TDA) participatedin many of the majorInternational Travel Showsincluding WTM 2011 inLondon and ITB 2012 inBerlin. To promote RAK andeducate travel professionalson the emirate’s tourismproducts and attractions,RAK TDA have also hosted anumber of roadshows to var-ious European cities. Clearstrategic goals and targetshave been set by RAK TIDAincluding increasing the totalnumber of annual visitors tothe destination to 1.2 millionby 2013 and increasing theemirate’s total hotel andresort room inventory to10,000 keys by 2016,”explained Victor Louis, ChiefOperating Officer, Ras Al Khaimah TourismDevelopment Authority.

ATM is an importantevent for Tourism Authorityof Thailand (TAT) as it helpedextensively to promoteThailand to the Middle Eastmarket and has helpedexpand its network. TheEvent also provides opportu-nity to showcase its newproducts and services. Sincethe opening of UAE TAT officein 2007, the Tourism Boardhas participated ATM every

year and is as usual lookingahead to attend and partici-pate in ATM 2012 eagerly.

Wisoot Buachoom,Director, Tourism Authorityof Thailand, Dubai andMiddle East elucidate, “Thisyear, we will have more than70 participants on our standcovering 400 square metres.In addition, to supportThailand’s leisure market, we will also promote niche markets includingMedical Tourism, honey-mooners, golfing holidaysand Eco Tourism.”

The year 2011 was thebest for the visitors from theMiddle East to Kenya with atotal of 21,128 visitors fromthe UAE alone, resulting in a42 per cent increase on visi-tor numbers from the UAEcompared to 2010. TheKenya Tourist Board will bereturning to ATM 2012 withits own dedicated stand aftera hiatus of 2 years.

“Following extremelypositive results from 2011and the increased air lift fromthe region with all major car-riers, we can now completelyengage with the travel trade

around the region. HenceATM 2012 will very muchfocus on Middle East traveltrade,” informed JohnChirchir, Regional MarketingManager, Emerging Markets,Kenya Tourist Board.

“We will launch a newSales Guide Book for the trav-el trade at ATM and strategi-cally looking ahead to expandthe leisure elements of Kenyain this region. In addition, wewill increase the focus onKenya as an ideal short haul

MICE destination, especiallyfor high-end incentive travel and promote the destination as an exciting,value-for-money and educa-tional for school trip travel,”he further added.

Bin Majid Tours &Travel had participated inATM throughout under thebanner of Dubai TourismCommerce & Marketing(DTCM). For the first time,Bin Majid will represent inATM 2012 as a group com-prising of six companies with4 hotels - Bin Majid Hotel,Bin Majid Resort MangroovHotel and Acasia Hotel, afleet rent a car company,Impala and Bin Majid Tours.

“For a destination likeDubai, the basic challengeswere an instable rhythmbetween offers and demandsbut presently the situation isgetting better. Dubai is taking‘more volume out of the des-tination and more profit outof the situation’. We arereceiving big volumes fromAsia, thereby competing withAsia and Turkey as a destina-tion. Besides, tough compe-tition and quality of services,competitive creativity is

required,” Manel Khemiri,Deputy General Manager, Bin Majid Tours & Travel putit in plain words.

Bin Majid has tried to bethe replacement destinationfor Egypt, Syria, Tunisia while expecting a higherdemand for 2012. BesidesDubai and Ras Al Khaimah,being the main targets, Bin Majid also sells Qatar,Bahrain and Kuwait for

Contd. on page 24

Contd. from page 1

Clear strategicgoals andtargets havebeen set byRAK TIDA toincrease thetotal number ofannual visitorsto thedestination

In ATM 2012,we will promoteour cruisevacations andpresent newitineraries,revitalisedships and newdestinations

Most of theagents preferto walk thefloor as eventslike ATMprovide aperfectplatform forPR exercise

Ashley NoronhaIn ChargeAl Rais Cruise Department

Lakshmi DuraiExecutive Director, Royal CaribbeanInternational, Celebrity Cruises andAzamara Club Cruises Middle East

Victor LouisChief Operating Officer Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority

Perfect platform for building relationships

We will launch anew SalesGuide Book forthe travel tradeat ATM and arelooking aheadto expand theleisure elementsof Kenya in thisregion

This year, wewill have morethan 70participants on our standcovering 400square metres,promotingniche markets

Wisoot BuachoomDirector, Tourism Authority ofThailand, Dubai and Middle East

John ChirchirRegional Marketing Manager, EmergingMarkets, Kenya Tourist Board

HOTELS M A Y, 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 9

Joining hands with FujairahTourism & Antiquities

Authority in ATM 2012, theGroup will showcase its sixproperties in both Dubai andFujairah. The Group’s focus ofparticipating in ATM 2012 isto build partnerships and fur-ther strengthen its presencelocally and across the world.

“Our presence at ATMwith Fujairah Tourism &Antiquities Authority hashelped us strengthen thisassociation and showcase ourproducts globally with them.We are soon going to be on the ‘Definitely Dubai’iphone application that isbeing widely promoted byDTCM showcasing our hotelsin ‘Hot Deals’ section,” stated Alok Narula, GroupGeneral Manager, FortuneGroup of Hotels – A PraveenShetty Enterprise.

“This year we will notonly focus on specialist indus-

try days but also consumerdays as all our local properties planned in 2011 are ready to be show-cased,” he added.

With overall 11 years ofhospitality experience, theHotel Group has productsthat suit all kind of stays. Beit the need of long stay busi-ness or families looking forfully furnished hotel apart-ments with kitchen facilities.Fujairah hotel also offers get-away packages for the adven-

ture lovers with variedadventure sports.

Presently the Group islooking ahead in adding 4more hotels in Dubai during2012 which results in 9 prop-erties, all being developed inless than two years, provingit to be the fastest growingchain in UAE.

Almost around 25-30per cent of the businesscomes from the travelagents. Designed exclusive-ly for the travel trade part-ners in the Middle East andIndia, the Group have‘Fortune Preferred PartnerMembership (FPPM)’, theprogramme enrollment is byinvitation only. Fam tripsare an integral part of thestrategy as it always helpsbring in travel professionalsto experience the productsand the services. Some trips are lined up in summerfor the travel partners from CIS and Indian Sub-continent.

Fortune Group of Hotels had participated in ATM 2011 forthe first time showcasing their 3 hotels and also tied upwith travel agents based in CIS markets during the event.

Fortune enhances its pace

“Green is not a colour, itis the state of mind.

Working on Zero landfill proj-ect is to prove how the blackhotel can lead to ‘Go Green’campaign. Setting an exam-ple to follow, we will be thefirst hotel to achieve this inthe region,” expressedIftikhar Hamdani, GeneralManager, Ramada Hotel &Suites, Ajman.

Predominantly on sus-tainable measures to improvethe bottom line and to take acorporate social responsibilityby involving in environmentalsupport, Ramada Ajmanengages itself with manyactivities round the year.“Around 49 per cent increasein leisure segment is observedwith German and Russianbeing the major feeding mar-ket. India comes next withGCC thereafter followed byPakistani clientele in terms ofmix nationality. We had record

business in banquetting atMajestic in 2011 and it contin-ued with the same trend infirst quarter 2012,” Hamdanistated. Ajman Tourism Boardwill have its own pavilion forthe first time in ATM 2012 andRamada Ajman is thrilled to beone of the main contributorswith its existing clients andpotential partners to promoteAjman as a destination.

Presently, the Hoteloffers 336 rooms and anoth-er renovated tower to open

by mid-April 2012. It is alsoopening 60 more keys tomake the total inventory to400 by end of April 2012.

“ATM is always animportant platform to show-case our facilities and serv-ices particularly to attractthe GCC guests. “We willalso participate in Wyndhambrand meeting on the lastday of ATM which is a longawaited event for all theWyndham hotels in theregion,” he stated.

Ramada Ajman with three black towers is a landmark itself and is now venturing for its first Zerolandfill hotel in Ajman by the first quarter of 2013.

Black hotel ‘Go Green’

Alok NarulaGroup General Manager, Fortune Group ofHotels – A Praveen Shetty Enterprise

Iftikhar HamdaniGeneral ManagerRamada Hotel & Suites, Ajman

Beach cleaning

Regular blood donations camp at the hotel

Earth Hour celebration

Educating guest on environment support

Visits to the elderly homeAjman and special need children in Sharjah

CSR Efforts

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HOTELS

Be it travel bureaus, desti-nation marketing organ-

isations, travel trade andeven developers seeking ahighly respected and profes-sional operator to managetheir properties, the hospital-ity group caters to all.

“We will participate inATM 2012 jointly with our col-leagues from Bangkok,Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,Bahrain, Doha, Istanbul andNew Delhi. As Fraser is grow-ing its presence here andworldwide, we always havesomething innovative to pres-ent. Being an internationalcompany our clients comefrom far and wide. However,

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait andQatar are among our most pro-ductive source markets in theregion. We also enjoy strongsupport from UK, USA andmany South East Asian coun-tries,” informed David Brown,General Manager, FraserSuites Dubai.

Frasers works closelywith the Tourism Boards within the region, mostnotably Qatar and Bahrain astheir properties are locatedthere. Fraser Suites Dubaiactively participates in DTCM sponsored roadshowsthroughout the year.

“DTCM fulfils a vitalrole in not only promotingDubai as a highly attractivedestination, but also engages the tourism industry stakeholders to leverage itsimmensely successful brandwhich for us is a win-win out-come,” he added.

The travel partnersaccount major contribution tothe revenues and it will continue for the years ahead.The YTD results revealed a strong growth of 22 per cent over 2011.

“We actively marketthe travel trade and conductfrequent product trainingsessions to ensure consult-ants are updated with our latest offers to accurately convey ourunique selling points toprospective clients. We havecultivated excellent relation-ships with a number of key on line, retail andwholesale travel agencies.We consider them to be ourbusiness partners andessential to our future suc-cess,” he informed.

Frasers Hospitality is all set to showcase its unique products and services to new audiences in ATM 2012. Italso plans to introduce ‘Frasers’s Difference’ in the event.

‘Fraser’s Difference’

Golden Tulip Middle Eastparticipates in ATM every

year and receives excellentfeedback from the clients,business partners and indus-try professionals. In ATM2012, the Group is organisinga press conference for mediaand travel agencies to updatethem with the recent informa-tion of Golden Tulip Al Barsha,selected as the ‘Hotel of theYear 2011’ and about the newopenings within the MiddleEast and North Africa. GoldenTulip International partici-pates in all major travel eventsaround the world - ATM, ITB,WTB to name a few.

“Due to the excellentarrangement and controlover the travel business inDubai, the business marketfor travel agency is wellorganised. Hence the atmos-phere of success is alwaysthere. The 2011 businessfrom travel trade was about60 per cent to our hotel busi-ness and we expect it toincrease up to 75 per cent

during 2012, 2013, 2014,”informed Tarek Lotfy,General Manager, GoldenTulip Hotel, Al Barsha.

The political unrest inthe Mediterranean MiddleEast countries have affectednegatively especially forleisure and MICE business-es. But due to the UAE polit-ical stability and high stan-dard of security along with the country’s open policy, have supportedtourism strongly boosting

the travellers confident tovisit the Country.

“We are working close-ly with Dubai TourismAuthority to stay updatedwith all the new plans of the country regarding theoverall travel industry,”added Lotfy.

Golden Tulip, Al Barshais working on reducing energy and the operationsthat increase carbon dioxide by participating inall programmes and activi-ties organised by DubaiTourism Authority to reduce the negative impactalong with more plans thatcreate oxygen to the environment.

Golden Tulip Al Barsha is adding interesting summer packages for every traveller of the region while also hosting 2 major sports event.

Hotspot for sports event

David BrownGeneral ManagerFraser Suites Dubai

Golden Tulip Al Barsha,selected as the ‘Hotel of theYear 2011’

New openings within theMiddle East and North Africa

Olympic Games London andEuro Cup in 2012

Spreading Wings

Tarek LotfyGeneral ManagerGolden Tulip Hotel, Al Barsha

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait andQatar are among the mostproductive source marketsin the region

Strong support from UK,USA and many South EastAsian countries is alsoenjoyed

Source Market

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“In tune with today’stravellers, we are on

the perfect track with thestrategy of the Capital intro-ducing our brand in essen-tial corners, renewing ourefforts to promote our prop-erty and the UAE as a desti-nation,” says RuprechtSchmitz, General Manager,Millennium Hotel AbuDhabi. “To continue spread-ing awareness, Millennium’sparticipation in ATM pro-vides a perfect tool for us tosupport the tourism indus-try and Abu Dhabi, which isplentiful of touristic attrac-tions with cultural land-marks, natural beauty,archeological sites and richhistory,” he elaborated whiletalking about the hotel andthe destination.

“Such an event is animportant medium for theHotel where it not only pro-vides an unique chance to

showcase the brand, but alsoto meet the counterparts,industry leaders, stakehold-ers, etc. Millennium AbuDhabi’s participation in ATMin the past years has beenextremely successful as it

achieved substantial mileagewith respect to the promotionof the hotel due to high brandvisibility,” he said.

Unsurprisingly theMillennium brand is gener-

ating plenty of growth in thehospitality industry andATM will help to envisageand push its plans to grow quickly through net-working, liasing with part-ners, sales efforts, identify-ing new opportunities inmaking new contacts withowners and investors.

“Moreover, we seek todevelop new revenuestreams through developingexisting contacts and work-ing on the new ones. Allthis is in partnership with ADTA and Etihad who are the key contributorsto the advancement oftourism in Abu Dhabi,”added Schmitz.

“Celebrating its tenth year, it is exciting to see our efforts beingrecognised positively by the society, which createsthe right image and the best impression,”expressed Schmitz.

The Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi consistently participates in ATM every year to present and enhanceits strong presence in the travel and tourism industry.

Celebrating its tenth year

ATM possesses positiveimpact as it has intro-

duced and marketed theproperty to the tour opera-tors, companies, tournamentsand online web engines bothlocally and internationally,receiving business proposi-tions for long or short periodof time along with marketingthrough sms and e-mails.

“The strategy to projectour hotel this year will almostbe the same but will includethe tailor-made activities weoffer and the newly openedexecutive suites,” said ImranA Siddiqui, General Manager,Emirates Springs HotelApartments – Fujairah.

“We have planned topromote Fujairah with itstourist activities offered alongwith its surroundingEmirates, to enhance UAE asthe leading tourist destina-tion on the whole. We offerour guests, desert safaris,

dhow cruises, city and coastaltours, shopping trips, use ofprivate beach facilities, fish-ing, scuba diving, bird watch-ing and visit of heritageplaces,” he added.

Due to the politicalunrest in the surroundingcountries, substantialtourists are pouring intoUAE. New hotels startedmushrooming across thecountry including Fujairah.Hence, there is tough

competition to attract guest arrivals, yet the property is constantlyenhancing its facilities andservices for them.

“The travel agents playa vital role in generatingextensive business for us and with all the efforts put together, we are opti-mistic, that they will be able to introduce our hoteland the services we offer. We also put forward attrac-tive rates for the potentialvisitors especially for longstay or group booking,”informed Siddiqui.

Emirates Springs Hotel Apartments, Fujairah is lookingahead to attend ATM 2012 as before. Besides promotingthe hotel, it is eager to promote Fujairah as a destination.

Promoting Fujairah

Imran A Siddiqui,General Manager, Emirates Springs HotelApartments – Fujairah

Ruprecht SchmitzGeneral ManagerMillennium Hotel Abu Dhabi

The Exhibitors Diary ofATM 2012 showcases

some of the finest and diversebrands coming together,including accommodation,tourism attractions and other benefits.

“Our main objective is tobe aggressive and elaboratemarketing. With the increasingcompetitors around the city,we want to aim on being moreservice oriented. Unique andniche service is the key todiversify our product. ATM willbe the right medium to do so,”expressed Wael EL Behi,Executive Assistant Manager,Ramada Downtown.

The year 2012 appearsto be promising in terms of revenue and occupancy

for Ramada Downtown. It forecasts more guest interactions, more presenceonline and redecorating interms of ambience.

The recent launch of thehotel’s Arabic website willhelp reach out a wide rangeof guests in and around UAEand GCC. Another active proj-ect is the Social Media whichwill take the hotel to a wholenew platform of visibility andinteraction with the guests.This will include branding ofthe hotel on Facebook, Twitterand Youtube.

“We are also creating adetailed virtual tour of eachand every section of the Hotel

which will display our roomsand its amenities,” Behiinformed. The Hotel receivesguests from GCC and is nowentering into the Russian andGerman market as well as inEuropean and Asian market.

Ramada Downtown hasan extremely transparentand open-end communica-tion with the travel trade.The Hotel has been active inorganising regular Fam trips and site inspections.Regular updates are given toall travel agents about pro-motions, rates and otherrelated information. About30 per cent of the business,arrived from the travelagents, over the years 2011and 2012 till date.

“The expectations ofevery guest are high, meet-ing them and creating theperfect ambience is constantand an on-going effort. Highdemand during key periods isslightly a challenge as we aremostly running a full houseduring New Years, Eid andother festive seasons.However, we are constantlystriving to deliver the best ofour services to each guest,”concluded Behi.

Ramada Downtown is participating in Arabian Travel Market 2012 for the second year as an exhibitor with DTCM and the Wyndham Group.

Striving to deliver the best

Wael EL BehiExecutive Assistant ManagerRamada Downtown

The recent launch of thehotel’s Arabic website willhelp reach out a wide rangeof guests in and around UAE and GCC

Another active project is theSocial Media which will takethe hotel to a whole new platform of visibility andinteraction with the guests

Actively Involved

It has started improving onits eco-management by pre-serving energy like switch-ing off unnecessary lightsand air conditioning duringwinters and following properair conditioning maintenancein the summers

Eco Management

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The property seeks eco-nomic accommodation

solutions that maintain highlevels of service, convenienceand hospitality offerings.

“The key objective totake part in ATM 2012 is toreintroduce the property tonew and established partnersas Dubai’s first Mercure GoldHotel. We are excited aboutnew business opportunitiesand to provide client solu-

tions to international buyersand business partnersregarding bookings, expand-ed sales network. We also want to work on greaterclient awareness and understanding the Mercurebrand,” informed Yohan DeZilya, General Manager,Mercure Hotel.

Renewed live entertain-ment options will be intro-duced at F&B outlets. VariousF&B promotions will be

held throughout the year for both in-house guests andvisitors alike.

“We have extendedsales network and promotion-al reach of the property, especially among theEuropean market while our clientele largely origi-nates from Europe andIndia,” Zilya stated.

Various site inspections,educational training andawareness programmes areconducted by the sales andmarketing team continuouslyboth at the property andthrough visits to the traveltrade directly. Given therebranding; orientation andawareness campaigns will becarried throughout the yearahead. The travel trade partners interested in these programmes areencouraged to contact direct-ly to acquire greater under-standing of working togetheron mutual benefit.

Mercure Gold Hotel Al Mina Road Dubai is taking partfor the first time in ATM 2012 since the property’srebranding. The Hotel foresees an increase in demandfor business and individual business travellers this year.

Mercure dons a new look

Jumeirah Port Soller Resort& Spa, the first European

resort will open in April-endin the Spanish island ofMallorca. The launch ofJumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotelin Baku, Azerbaijan,Jumeirah Creekside in Dubaiand Jumeirah Messilah BeachHotel in Kuwait will followthereafter. Several hotels inChina are in advanced stagesof development and some willopen in 2013-2014.

“ATM 2012 will have astronger presence than ATM2011. We intend to maximiseour interactions with cus-tomers and focus on the pro-motion of Jumeirah’s newhotels, resorts and residencesas well. The Event is a greatopportunity to catch up withkey clients, partners, stake-holders and even colleaguesfrom other Jumeirah interna-tional sales offices,”expressed Christian Pertl,Vice President - Sales andMarketing of Jumeirah Hotelsand Resorts Dubai.

“The Arts & Cultureplatform is now incarnated in various ways throughout ourhotels, resorts and residencesand is enshrined in our brandpromise of ‘Stay Different’,whereby we offer a culturalexperience to all our guests,”he further said.

In 2009, JumeirahHotels & Resorts in Dubaiparticipated actively in ‘KeepDiscovering Dubai’ promo-tional campaign along withEmirates Airlines, DTCM andother hoteliers from Dubai.

“Within three monthsthe partners have invited and hosted thousands of travel agents and media professionals to come, discover or rediscover Dubai. The tour operatorsand travel agents are veryimportant for the Group and are initiated or partici-pated regularly in Fam trips,”he explained.

The Campaign was fol-lowed by the ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion over thesummer months, involvingthe same partners.

Since the beginning of 2011, Jumeirah Group observedmassive growth by opening 9 new hotels across3 continents. The most recent being in Frankfurt, theMaldives, Shanghai, Rome, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi.

Nine hotels in one year

Yohan De ZilyaGeneral ManagerMercure Hotel

Majority of the hotelbookings arrive from thetravel agents, provingparticipation of the tradeas the key aspect to thecurrent and future successof the Mercure Gold HotelDubai, either based in UAEor internationally asDMCs.

Success Story

Christian PertlVice President - Sales and MarketingJumeirah Hotels and Resorts Dubai

Jumeirah Por t SollerResor t & Spa, the first European resor t will open in April-end in the Spanish island ofMallorca

The launch of JumeirahBilgah Beach Hotel inBaku, Azerbaijan,Jumeirah Creekside inDubai and JumeirahMessilah Beach Hotel inKuwait will followthereafter

Expansion Plans

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DFW is participating inArabian Travel Market

2012. Through increasedbilateral relations with DFW,Dubai Airport FreezoneAuthority (DAFZ) hopes totake benefit of the businessopportunities available in theAirport region.

Formalising the estab-lishment of a Free Trade ZoneAlliance between the twoparties and outlining theframework of exchangingexpertise and benefittingfrom business opportunitiesin the global markets, DAFZ and DFW signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) onMarch 18.

In the presence ofSheikh Ahmed bin Saeed AlMaktoum, Chairman, DubaiAirport Freezone, the MoUwas signed by Mohammed AlZarooni, Director General,Dubai Airport Freezone and

Jeffery P Fegan, CEO,Dallas/Fort WorthInternational Airport. MikeRawlings, Mayor of the Cityof Dallas and other seniorofficials from both DAFZ and DFW were present on the occasion.

Al Zarooni stated, “Thesigning of the agreementwith DFW marks one of themost important initiatives bythe Freezone during 2012and we feel privileged to beassociated with them.Through this alliance, we aimto create a platform to con-

duct joint promotional activ-ities to capture all opportuni-ties to achieve our sharedgoals. We foresee vast poten-tial in the future through theMoU,” he added.

While commenting onthe alliance Fegan said, “Welook forward to work togetherand connect two of theworld’s most successful freetrade zones in Dallas/Fort Worth and Dubai. Boththe Free Zones are strategi-cally located with excellentoperations providing out-standing services.

The non-stop direct flight services between Dubai andDallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) provideda major boost to the trade relations between the two cities.

Dubai & Dallas ink pact

“Both operationally and financially, 2011

was the most successful year ever for Royal Jet,” said Shane O’Hare, Presidentand Chief Executive

Officer, Royal Jet. “We have focussed on deliveringbetter VIP customer service, further raising the benchmark worldwide,”he stated.

Royal Jet’s MedicalEvacuation Service, with its state-of-the-art equip-ment and highly-qualifiedmedical professionals has its own fleet of aircraft which can be converted into air ambulances based on requirements from the market.

“Royal Jet continues to be the most successful Medevac operatorwith 65 per centincrease in revenuefrom 192 missionsinvolving 309patients,” he added.

While most of RoyalJet’s Medevac missions beginor end in the UAE, it has alsocarried out missions acrossthe Middle East, Europe,

Africa, America, Iraq andAfghanistan.

Royal Jet has alsorecorded significant improve-ments on its brokerage, air-craft management and FixedBase Operations (FBO) busi-ness units. The brokerageteam recorded an increase ingross revenue by 53 per cent.

Its fast-growing fleet ofjets includes six BoeingBusiness Jets, which makesthe Airline, the world’slargest single BBJ operator. It has commissioned US$ 9million upgrade for one of itssix-strong fleet of BBJs.

Royal Jet’s business and VIP service enhancement resulted in net profit increase by 226% in 2011, out ofthe total revenue, that increased by 31.2% over 2010.

Royal Jet expands its fleet

Al Maktoum and Rawlings witness Al Zarooni and Fegan signing the MoU

Royal Jet’s fast-growing fleetof jets includes six BoeingBusiness Jets, which makesthe Airline the world’s largestsingle BBJ operator

It has commissioned US$ 9million upgrade for one of itssix-strong fleet of BBJs

Upgrading Fleet

Shane O’HarePresident and Chief Executive OfficerRoyal Jet

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The Airline is planning toincrease its Abu Dhabi

frequency from 4 to dailyflights while opening somenew destinations from thecapital through Istanbul.

The travel between UAEand Turkey has observed a stable ascend over the last few years. In addition to both the destinations beingattractive tourist spots, busi-ness between the two coun-tries has seen a strong rise inthe last decade.

“To promote AbuDhabi as a leisure destina-tion is one of the key aims ofTurkish Airlines. Havingexcellent relation with dif-ferent hotels, DestinationManagement companies, aptsupport from Abu DhabiTourism Board, we arrangeinternational famtrips toAbu Dhabi. We will beorganising fam trips to AbuDhabi from Spain in Mayand from Germany inOctober 2012 to promote

the capital,” informed SSamil Karakas, GeneralManager, Turkish Airlines,Abu Dhabi, Al Ain.

To impart proper edu-cation and create awarenessabout the destination amongthe travel trade, the Airlineorganises three fam trips toIstanbul in a month andaround 10 in a year. Thethree trips in a month com-prise General Managers ofdifferent companies, fol-lowed by women membersof varied agencies andthereafter with the mixed trade. To encouragetheir performances, theAirline also arranges anAnnual Award ceremony forthe trade.

“To promote Abu Dhabias a new leisure destinationwe expect to increase morein summer, during EID andduring year-end. We will participate in ATM 2012 as usual every year,” Karakas concluded.

With wider seat and configuration capacity, Turkish Airlines has added Airbus A321 dual cabin aircraft to its fleet flying from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul.

Increasing flight frequency

Emirates launched a newglobal brand platform and

direction, themed ‘HelloTomorrow’, which positionsthe global airline as theenabler of global connectivityand meaningful experiences.The new brand campaigncaptures the passion for con-necting people’s hopes,dreams and aspirations.

Designed for the age ofconsumer engagement andempowerment, ‘HelloTomorrow’ is about inspiringpeople to greet tomorrow’sunlimited potential. ‘Hello’ isa greeting, an invitation to aperson, a place or an experi-ence. While, ‘Tomorrow’ is atime, a place, a state of mindand the unlimited possibilityof the future. The Airline istrying the unfamiliar, createnew ideas and form new visions way. The theme encapsulates life’spotential while embracing

the future with all the possi-bilities it holds.

“Our new corporateimage and global marketingcampaign both underline theconfidence we have in ourexisting products and servic-es and the vision we have forthe future growth of theAirline,” said MauriceFlanagan, Executive ViceChairman, Emirates Airlineand Group. “Emirates is notjust offering a way to connect

people from point A to pointB but is also playing the role of a catalyst to connectpeople’s hopes, dreams andaspirations.” “Emirates isconnecting people and cultures creating relevantand meaningful experiencesthat are shaping the world,”he added.

As the world becomesmore interconnected, bordersare being blurred and people are becoming more mobile and globallyfocussed than ever before. Emirates representsthese global individuals as ‘globalistas’.

Globalistas representindividuals who are lookingand living for new experi-ences. They are well travelledor have aspirations to join theranks of the well-travelled.

The campaign was created with Emirates lead communications partnerStrawberry Frog.

Emirates is embarking on a new campaign with a new brand promise as the Company continues its evolution from a travel brand to a global lifestyle brand.

Say ‘Hello Tomorrow’

Maurice FlanaganExecutive Vice ChairmanEmirates Airline and Group

Samil KarakasGeneral Manager Turkish Airlines, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain

Around 60% of thebusiness comes in fromthe travel trade and the restcomes through onlineusing different GDSs indifferent areas

The load factor hasincreased by 9% withbusiness and leisure travelon equal equation

Business Coverage

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TECHNOLOGY

Amarket leader in mostGCC countries, Sabre

signed partnership agree-

ments with all major MiddleEastern travel agenciesincluding AlshamelInternational, dnata, KanooTravel and Fursan Travel andTourism.

In May, Sabre opened anew office in Kuwait, high-lighting the importance of themarket and its commitment

to serve the Kuwaiti travelindustry. Sabre also opened asecond office in Egypt, basedin Alexandria, to meet thecontinued growth in travel

demand through the ArabSpring.

Daniel Naoumovitch,CEO, STNME said thatagainst all odds, it’s beenanother exceptional year forSabre. “We enjoyed anotherhealthy year of growth,renewing agreements withsome of the biggest names in

the travel industry includingKanoo, Alshamel, Fursan and dnata while expandingour presence in new countries around the region,”said Naoumovitch.

As a sign of its ongoingcommitment to the region,Sabre doubled its regionalheadquarters in Bahrain to accommodate its growing workforce. It is the only GDS with a regionalheadquarter in the regionwith the Bahrain office supporting its 21 offices in 11 countries in the GCC, Africa and the Levant to accommodate its growing workforce.

Last year also saw thelaunch of Sabre Red and SabreRed Workspace, which wasspecifically launched to helpagents in the ME to shop, bookand manage travel in lowbandwidth areas. The subse-quent launch of Sabre RedGraphical View and its socialmedia solution AgentStream,both ‘firsts’ for the region,confirmed Sabre as the most innovative technologyprovider in the region.

Sabre Travel Network Middle East (STNME) experienced a strong growth across all Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets in 2011.

Expanding its network

The new contracts includean exclusive agreement

with Al Jaraf Travel andTourism that will see a fullmigration to Travelport’sGalileo platform across itsagency network in AbuDhabi. At the same time, AlAin-based Skyline Travels hassigned an exclusive agree-ment to establish Galileo asits exclusive GDS, while IrenaTravel has inked a deal thatwill integrate the GDS for thefirst time into the agency’sAbu Dhabi operations.

All are growing traveland tourism companies withmultiple retail outlets andplans to support their growthefforts by leveraging onTravelport’s offering, whichincludes a local office that pro-vides Abu Dhabi and Al Aintravel agency customers withfully-equipped sales, trainingand help desk support. A com-prehensive training pro-gramme has already beenlaunched to bring each

agency’s employees up tospeed on the latest Galileoproducts and functionalities.

Representatives fromTravelport, Irena, Al Jarafand Skyline all met recentlyto officially seal the agree-ments, paving the way forlong-term partnerships.Rabih Saab, President &Managing Director - MiddleEast and Africa, Travelportwas in attendance, along withGhulam Al Balooshi, Director- Lower GCC, Travelport;Amir Thayyil, GeneralManager, Irena Travel;Mahmood Butt, GeneralManager, Al Jaraf Travel and Tourism and Hamsa

K M, General Manager,Skyline Travels.

“Thanks to our excep-tional technology and dedi-cated local resources,Travelport has been able tobuild great momentum inAbu Dhabi and Al Ain and ultimately gain the trust of such high-calibretravel agencies,” said AlBalooshi. “We are proud tobe affiliated with such rep-utable, fast-growing travelagencies and look forward toworking closely with themsupporting their dynamicbusinesses with the bestGDS offering in the UAE,”he stated.

Travelport signed multi-year GDS deals with 3 majortravel agencies in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain – Irena Travel, Skyline Travels and Al Jaraf Travel and Tourism.

‘Trio’ bag GDS deals

(L-R): Naoumovitch; Harald Eisenacher, Senior VP, Europe, ME & Africa (EMEA)and Dean Bibb, VP, EMEA from Sabre at the Bahrain office opening

(L-R): Thayyil, KM, Saab, Butt and Al Balooshi

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Being a member of theRais Hussain Saadi

Group, Trident Travel, established in 1991, is a comprehensive corporate and leisure travel manage-ment company.

“We aim to increaseMihin Lanka’s customerawareness market share byaggressively targetting cor-porate houses, travel agents and leisure travellerswho have the potential business for Mihin Lanka’sdestinations,” expressedGulshan Shaideen, Manager,Trident Travel.

Being an AccreditedIATA agent, Trident has alsoexpanded its reach to global

markets by forging partner-ships with reputed and estab-lished companies worldwide.

“Our business hasincreased by 25 per cent in2012 over 2011 and expectsanother 12 to 14 per cent forthe remaining year. We areoffering Holiday packageswith special rates that havebeen negotiated with sometour operators for Sri Lanka

and Maldives. We are alsowell connected with the SriLankan Embassy, Desertclubs Cricket Academy, SriLanka travel trade club andwith the overall Sri Lankancommunity in the UAE,”Shaideen informed.

Trident Travel has been appointed as the first GSA for Mihin Lanka Airlines in Dubai and NorthernEmirates on April 1. The Company functions as a ‘one-stop travel shop’ offering a range of travel solutions.

First GSA for Mihin Lanka

“We have planned tolaunch an outbound

Holiday brochure at ATM2012 and will inaugurate ourB2C and B2E online portal forthe customer and corporateclients by Q2-Q3 2012,” con-firmed Anil Chandirani, CEO,Satguru Travel & Tourism.

Offering comprehensiveand extensive services thatdeliver strategic value, inno-vative technology and truetravel consulting, theCompany has a turnover ofUS$ 600 million, rated as

Number One TravelManagement Company inWest, East, Central Africa andMiddle East. It does joint pro-motions with many of thetourism boards like Thailand,Singapore, Malaysia, India,Visit Britain to name few.

New technology is beingintroduced everyday and theclients keep expecting betterservices with minimal cost.Commenting on the role of

traditional and Online TravelAgency, Chandirani speaks,“We see lots of growth forOTA. The traditional travelagencies need to be innova-tive to stay abreast in today’scompetitive world. Keepingthis in mind we have launchedour portal, Toptraveltrip.

“We are the online GSAfor Kenya Airways, Ethiopian,ASky Airlines, Air Burkina,Air Uganda, Hahn Air, EgyptAir, Mauritania Airlines. Weare also the Passenger SalesAgents (PSA) of Emirates, JetAirways and ASky in selectedregions,” he added.

Despite tough competi-tion, if the traditional travelagent offers a competitiveprice and good services theclients will prefer to buy fromthem as they will receivemore options like airline tick-ets, hotel accommodation,travel insurances, holidaypackages and car rentals.

Satguru Travel & Tourism has grown to be the largestTravel Management Company in Africa. In Q1 2012,it launched a B2B online portal for agents, where onecan book airline tickets, hotel accommodation, etc.

Growing by leaps & bounds

Anil ChandiraniCEO, Satguru Travel & Tourism

Gulshan ShaideenManager, Trident Travel

Besides being appointedfor selling Ponant Cruisesfrom February 1, 2012,Griffin – Trident marinetravel is a joint venturebetween Trident Travelsand Griffin Marine Travel

Company Facts

The Company had aturnover of US$ 600million, rated as NumberOne Travel ManagementCompany in West, East,Central Africa and ME

‘Numero Uno’

Connect World Travel &Tourism holds direct con-

tract with 332 hotels and resort in Dubai from 5-star luxury properties to 3-star categories. With a young and experiencedteam with hospitality background, Connect World has merged with oneof the top seller for iconicproperties like Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Group,Atlantis the Palm & other luxury properties.

To meet the growingdemands of the guests andprovide accurate informationand assistance; a 24-hourdedicated Concierge serviceis now functional to all

Connect World guests thatvisit Dubai.

Meeting the growingdemands of business fromCIS destinations, theCompany opened theirbranch office in Russia which is fully operational at present.

The Company partici-pates in roadshows alongwith Dubai Tourism &Commerce Marketing(DTCM) which has helped inachieving a significant busi-ness growth. India and China are booming and hasmade a great impact onDubai’s tourism.

Connect World provides travel solutions to bothinbound and outbound from tickets to hotels and packages among others. The Company will be officially launching its B2B portal in ATM 2012.

‘Connecting the world’

Team Connect World

Celebrating thelaunch of RavizKollam in IndiaRavi Pillai, Chairman, RavizInternational HospitalityManagement withBollywood icon ShahrukhKhan at the opening ofRaviz Kollam in India

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Supported by Reed Travel Exhibitions and Abu Dhabi, GIBTM attracts a wide range of local, regional and international organisations. Itindicates the importance of the event as the only proven platform in the Middle East to access the growing Meetings industry. Newbusiness partnership and latest innovations marked GIBTM 2012. The event was held on March 26-28, 2012 at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi.

Discovering future trends for the trade

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GIBTM 2012 explores MICE sector

Universally described as a business-focussed

event, GIBTM 2012, wit-nessed an increase in senior exhibitors and buyersfrom the Middle East, Asia and Saudi Arabia com-pared to 2011.

Carried out by ReedTravel Exhibitions, the eventorganisers for GIBTM andsupported by the latestGlobal Meetings IndustryResearch report for the Gulf, Middle East and North Africa, the growthwithin the region emerged asa prominent theme through-out the event.

The highly anticipatedreport revealed that UAE(Abu Dhabi and Dubai) is onthe top ten lists of countriesthat Middle East and global buyers hold events in.Based on the report, theevent organisers haveplanned to increase the vol-ume of events and theirbudgets, for the region.

Increasingly popularsessions continued through-

out the show with GIBTM’sfirst ever Arabic sessiondelivered by Ali Al Saloom ofAsk-Ali.com. Seminars held by leading associationslike The Association ofCorporate Travel Executives(ACTE) attracted several professionals along withsome sessions adopting a‘standing only’ policy to con-tain maximum capacity.

A record-breaking num-ber of hosted buyers andtrade visitors attended ahighly targetted educationprogramme exceeding figuresfrom last year by 48 per cent.

Such a considerableincrease in the number ofseminar attendees is a testa-ment to the growing promi-nence of the incentives, busi-ness travel and meetingsindustry within the GCC asprofessionals are eager tolearn about best practices,future trends and how tomaximise their potential.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman, AbuDhabi Tourism and CultureAuthority (ADTCA), GIBTM2012’s distinguished industry partners includeADTCA, ADNEC, AskAli.com,Etihad Airways and The Vision DestinationManagement Companyamongst many others.

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More than 270 Hosted Buyers attended this year’s showand 7,672 pre-scheduled appointments took placeresulting in an increase of over 8 per cent from 2011.

Rising eminence of GIBTM

Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al NahyanChairman, ADTCA

Airport Show 2012

“The role of the aviationsector in Dubai’s

economy will grow further inthe coming years due to themassive expansion pro-grammes of airports,” saidJamal Al Hai, ExecutiveSenior Vice President,Communications andInternational Affairs, DubaiAirports during his meetingwith Frederic Theux,President and CEO, ReedExhibitions Middle East and

Mohamad Bader-Eddin,Show Director, Airport Show.

The meeting addressedmany issues related to theairport industry and coveredthe preparations for the 2012edition of Airport.

Al Hai said, “Dubai isthe leading air transportindustry hub in the regionand has the capacity and

capability of hosting exhibi-tions and conferences for theaviation industry successful-ly. This was supported by theachievements of the DubaiAirshow and our high expec-tations of success for theAirport Show, which will beheld in May 2012.”

Theux praised the sup-port being provided by

Dubai Airports, DubaiAviation City Corporationand Dubai World Central.With over 160 internationalcompanies participating inthe previous edition of theAirport Show, ReedExhibitions, the exhibitionorganising company, expectsan increase of 15% to 20% inthe number of exhibitors forthe next upcoming edition.

The 2012 edition will betaking place at a time whenbillions of dollar will beinvested in the expansion ofairports in the UAE, theseinclude US$ 8 billion for theDubai International develop-ment and AED 25 billion forAbu Dhabi Airport. In addi-tion, billions of dollars have been invested in expan-sion programmes of airportsin GCC states and other partsof the Middle East.

Held under the patron-age of Sheikh Ahmed BinSaeed Al Maktoum,President, Dubai CivilAviation Authority, Chairmanof Dubai Airports andChairman & Chief Executiveof Emirates Airline andGroup, the Airport Show is supported by leading international industry associations and local government authorities.

The Airport Show 2012 will be held at the Dubai International Convention and ExhibitionCenter from May 22-24, 2012. The Event is expected to attract over 5,000 trade visitorsfrom 65 countries, while offering the travel trade an access to the ME aerospace market.

Witnessing 20% increase in participants

Jamal Al HaiExecutive Senior VP, Communicationsand International Affairs, Dubai Airports

Frederic TheuxPresident and CEOReed Exhibitions Middle East

Mohamad Bader-EddinShow DirectorAirport Show

ADNEC (Abu DhabiNational ExhibitionCentre) welcomed 64events during the firstquarter of the year withexhibitions, conferences,

meetings and weddings atthe venue, attracting morethan 1,25,000 visitors.

Humaid Al Dhaheri,Chief Sales & MarketingOfficer, ADNEC comment-ed, “Last year proved tobe quiet a success forADNEC as we hosted 231events. This year appearsto be equally promisingtaking into considerationthe numbers reportedduring Q1. The differenttypes of events takingplace at ADNEC are in line with the ‘Abu Dhabi2030 Vision’.”

1,25,000 visitors in Q1 2012

The Airport Show, whichis now biennial, has firmlyestablished itself as one ofthe world's leading eventsdevoted exclusively toairpor t construction,operations, technologyand services

About Us

Humaid Al DhaheriChief Sales & MarketingOfficer, ADNEC

More than 270 HostedBuyers attended this year’s show and 7,672 pre-scheduled appointmentstook place resulting inincrease of over 8 per centfrom 2011

Upbeat View

The Summit was heldunder the Patronage of

General Sheikh Mohammedbin Zayed Al Nahyan, CrownPrince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy SupremeCommander of the UAEArmed Forces.

The Event incorporated3 themes; aerospace, aviationand space, which was com-plemented by closed door dis-cussions, a private procure-ment meeting programme,field trips to aerospace andaviation facilities and acareers programme target-ting vocational and profes-sional development.

The Abu Dhabi AviationGroup has led the way

towards achieving the AbuDhabi Economic Vision 2030.Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) is also a majority equitystakeholder in Royal Jet and Maximus Air. Togetherthey have already helpedestablish Abu Dhabi’s repu-tation as one of the world’stop aviation hubs.

“Success helps breedsuccess and while all threecompanies delivered verystrong financial and opera-tional performances in 2011contributing to this overallprofit, what is more satisfyingare each’ s plans for futuregrowth,” said Nadir AlHammadi, Chairman, AbuDhabi Aviation.

Shane O’Hare,President and CEO, Royal Jet

stated, “The year 2011 saw anumber of challenges on aglobal scale, but for us,achieving simple year-on-year growth counted as acreditable performance. Wetake pride in our role in help-ing to deliver the strategicvision for Abu Dhabi and wehave a number of new initia-tives planned for 2012.”

Fathi Hilal Buhazza,President and CEO, MaximusAir said, “We are lookingwest to the fast growingregions of the MiddleEast/North Africa and east toChina and other Asian tigereconomies along with India.With Abu Dhabi as our base,we are ideally located toserve these markets on acommercial basis.”

Abu Dhabi Aviation, Maximus Air and Royal Jet jointlysponsored the inaugural Global Aerospace Summit 2012.The Event took place in Abu Dhabi from April 16-19.

Global Aerospace Summit

India has maintained itsranking as the second-largest international sourcemarket for Abu Dhabi'shotels after the UK, a newdata has revealed. Hotelguests from India to the UAE

capital registered a 45 percent rise to 10,924, deliver-ing 37,559 guest nights,which was up by 17 per centmonth-on-month, accordingto the latest figures releasedby the Abu Dhabi Tourism &

Culture Authority. The num-ber of guests at Abu Dhabi's127 hotels, hotel apartmentsand resorts rose 29 per centin January this year com-pared to the same monthlast year, the report said.

India maintains its rank as the 2nd best tourist market

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“We are in the processof understanding

every minute detail of thetourism industry from ourneighbouring Emirates. Beingat the strategic location ofUAE, in the middle of otherEmirates and based on theinformation and services provided by others, we needto understand what all wecan provide to complete thecycle of tourism,” expressedFaisal Al Nuaimi, GeneralManager, Ajman TourismDevelopment Department.

“As Oman has recentlybeen declared as the Capitalof Arab Tourism and geo-graphically has similaritywith Ajman, we hadexchange of information andtried to develop interrelationwith the country. We are try-ing to bring in business

tourism to enhance invest-ment in Ajman. We have alsotravelled to Lebanon andQatar to get a feel of theinternational tourist attrac-tion,” he further stated.

There are 5 componentsto make a destination a prop-er tourist destination – inter-national transportation, localtransportation, accommoda-tion, food, beverages andentertainment.

“At this stage, to provideairport facilities, we can signagreement with SharjahInternational Airport whichis 15 minutes away or RAKAirport, which is a little far-

ther. Buses and taxis, as localtransportation, are abundant,but the quality standardneeds to be raised by provid-ing maps, proper services andsecurities,” he explained.

Regarding Accommo-dation, there are 23 hotels inthe Emirate presently, whilemore are coming up withinnext 2 years, he informed.

“Our strategic plan will be designed and implemented based on next5 years but we will keepimproving based on the feed-back we will receive on a monthly basis,”informed Al Nuaimi.

Tourists are not thedirect users but travel agents,hotels, restaurants, trans-portation are termed as thedirect users who serve thetourists. There are 105 travelagents operating in Ajman.The Tourism Board hasplanned to organise traveltrade roadshows and work-shops in May and trainingsessions to understand whatthe trade expects and updatethe expectation of theTourism Board.

It is indeed creditable for the Ajman TourismDevelopment Department to participate in ATM 2012 at such an infant stage considering the fact that it has been operational only since January 2012.

Ajman Tourism steps in

Faisal Al NuaimiGeneral ManagerAjman Tourism Development Department

International transportationLocal transportationAccommodationF&BEntertainment

Five Components

some major MICE eventshappening in the region.

ATM 2012 will be thefirst year of participation for Dallas Fort Worth Airport. This follows the recent launch of theEmirates non-stop directdaily flight to Dallas FortWorth in February 2012.

“We are here at ATM tosupport the flight and buildcorporate, passenger andtravel trade awareness of thebenefits for choosing DallasFort Worth as a convenient,cost and time effective hub for travel throughoutNorth and Latin America.Dallas Fort Worth Airport iskeen to establish strongbusiness and personal bondswith the Middle Eastern,Indian and African traveltrade,” informed JefferyFegan, CEO, Dallas FortWorth Airport.

“The key messages weintend to convey for theAirport are its excellent con-nectivity, five world class ter-minals, gourmet experiences,convenient inter-terminal

access, Diamond Award win-ning hotel inside Terminal D

and it’s extremely tech-savvyfeatures,” he further said.

Honouring the travel trade

We are here atATM to supportthe flights andbuild corporate,passenger andtravel tradeawareness ofthe benefits forchoosing DFW

Dubai is taking ‘morevolume out of thedestinationand moreprofit out ofthe situation’

Manel KhemiriDeputy General ManagerBin Majid Tours & Travel

Jeffery FeganCEODallas Fort Worth Airport

Elaf Group recently spon-sored the ‘Saudi Travel

and Tourism InvestmentForum 2012’ which was inaugurated by Sattam bin Abdul Aziz,Governor of Riyadh andorganised by the SaudiCommission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) at the Riyadh InternationalExhibition Center from April 2 to 5, 2012. The Forum hosted 23 technical sessions to discussthe major issues related to the tourism experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Event attractedwide participation from vari-ous government entities,including Ministry ofMunicipal and Rural Affairs,Ministry of Culture andInformation, SaudiCommission for Wildlife

Conservation andDevelopment (NCWCD),Ministry of the Interior,Ministry of Industry andTrade, Saudi Arabian GeneralInvestment Authority(SAGIA), Arab TourismOrganisation, NationalTourism Committee, advisorycommittees, tour operators,in addition to travel andtourism companies from theprivate sector.

Commenting on thetourism development in theregion, Ziyad Bin Mahfouz,President, Elaf Group ofCompanies and a member ofthe tourism developmentcouncil for the Makkahregion under the chairman-ship of Khalid Al Faisal,Emir of Makkah and theTourism DevelopmentCouncil in Jeddah under thechairmanship of Mishal binMajed bin Abdulaziz,Governor of Jeddah, pointedout that the forum plays avital role in highlighting the tourism potential in Saudi Arabia. He under-lined the significance of theevent, emphasising that ithosted a series of sessionsand workshops aimed athighlighting the interest inthe cultural dimension oftourism and the effectivetools to develop and pro-mote the growth of tourismin Saudi Arabia.

SCTA recently organised the ‘Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Forum 2012’ that was sponsoredby Elaf Group. The forum was held at the RiyadhInternational Exhibition Center from April 2 to 5, 2012.

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Cultural dimension

Ziyad Bin MahfouzPresidentElaf Group of Companies

Contd. from page 8

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Holidays, Inbound andUmrah tours are the

main focus of the presentdevelopment plan and otherareas are on MICE business,an emerging market.

“We will soon conduct leisure trip with family groups and education-al tours focussing on cruisesegment. Besides these wewill have three fliers (standard, local and cruisesegments) and would explorethe sub agent’s networkextensively to market theseproducts,” informed SaleemMogral, General Manager, AlMulla Travels and Tourism.“In mid-September 2011, westarted our environment spe-cial ‘Go Green’ tours with aneducational point of view.”

Al Mulla Travels hadlaunched an online travel

portal during October-end2011. This B2B bookingengine was launched tobridge the gap between theindustry partners. A login IDand password is issued to thetravel agents, to help themsell holiday packages to theirclients. The agents will alsoenjoy a 7 per cent commis-sion on each package tailor-made by the team. “It’s anendeavour to strengthen ourhold in the industry and bringour counterparts closer,”Mogral added.

Al Mulla works closelywith some tourism boards,

creating best value-for-money packages and is tiedup with key corporate andevent management compa-nies to bring in some remark-able changes. Though thechallenges are immense, AlMulla continues to work at asame pace possibly due tohaving the right team inplace, wishing all the tradepartners the very best.

Al Mulla Travels and Tourism has grown significantlysince inception and has been spreading its wings to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Company is looking forward to ATM 2012.

On an expansion spree

Saleem MogralGeneral ManagerAl Mulla Travels and Tourism

Launched in 2005 by ATM,‘The New Frontiers

Award’ was created to recog-nise outstanding contribu-tions to tourism developmentin the face of overwhelmingadversity, helping the chosendestination by donating exhi-bition space at the event tothe value of US$ 10,000.

Making the shortlist for2012 are Australia, Brazil and Japan, all of which suffered devastating naturalcatastrophes over the last 12 months, said Mark Walsh,Portfolio Director, ArabianTravel Market – Reed Travel Exhibitions.

“Natural disastersoccurred on an unprecedent-ed scale across the globe in 2011, causing billions of dollars of damage, signifi-cant loss of life and economic

challenges impacting every sector, with thetourism industry a majorcasualty,” he said. “Some ofthe world’s most popular des-tinations have seen InboundTourism grind to a halt, with tourism receipts as well as the livelihoods of industry professionalsadversely affected at everylevel,” he explained.

“These devastatedregions have to not onlyclean up and rebuild theircommunities, but also re-evaluate their strategies andfunding while embarking on comprehensive interna-tional marketing campaignsto re-establish market con-fidence and drive touristtraffic,” said Walsh whileadding, “The New FrontiersAward is our contribution toaccelerate that recoveryprocess while highlightingthe ongoing efforts torebuild this vital sector of the economy to industry peers during theevent week.”

Last year, Chile receivedthe New Frontiers Award inrecognition of its efforts torebuild its shattered post-2010 earthquake tourismindustry, which saw 80% ofthe population, as well as theentire economy, affected.

Arabian Travel Market has released the names of destinations nominated for this year’s New Frontiers Award, the results of which will be revealedat a special ceremony at this year’s event in Dubai.

And the nominees are...

Mark WalshPortfolio Director, Arabian Travel Market –Reed Travel Exhibitions

Will conduct leisure tripsLaunched a B2B onlineportal7% commission to agentson each package tailor-made by the team

Tapping the Market

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Nayef H Al Fayez, Jordan Minister of Tourism & Antiquities, hosted a graduation ceremony for tour guides and tourist police officers that have completed a sign language course. The Event was organised by the Jordan Tourism Board, in cooperationwith Ali Bin Al Hussein Club for the Deaf and Mute in Zarqa and with the Jordan Applied University College for Hospitality and Tourism Education. This sign language course is the first of its kind in the Arab world and is considered the first step in theJordan Tourism Board’s direction to target deaf and mute travellers from around the world. The Board also plans on producing a promotional film in sign language to promote Jordan as a destination that can cater to the needs of these travellers.

Jordan Tourism Board’s special efforts for differently-abled

Sabre Travel Network EMEALondonFrank Bachér has been appointed as the Vice President forOnline Segment in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He

will star t with his new appointment withSabre on June 1, 2012. Bachér joinsSabre from the InteractiveMedia groupat Deutsche Telekom AG, where heserved as Managing Director, Sales andMarketing. Prior to that, he was theChairman of the Board and Managing

Director for eBay Advertising Group.

Etihad Airways GermanyPhilip Lewin has been appointed as the new General Manager for Germany for Etihad Airways German Sales and

Marketing Operations. Lewin hasalmost twenty year of experienceworking in the aviation industry and joins the UAE flag carrier from American Airlines, where hehas recently held the position ofCountry Manager India.

IBN Batuta Gate DubaiDubaiYasmine Hidalgo has been appointed as the new PublicRelations Manager for Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel. Originally from The

Philippines, Hidalgo brings more than adecade of international public relationsand marketing experience to the rolewith professional exposure across anumber of industry sectors, includingmedia channels and FMCG brands.With an MA in Communications andJournalism, she is fluent in Englishand Spanish and has lived andworked in nine countries.

Golden Tulip Al BarshaDubaiHani Shahwan joins Golden Tulip Al Barsha as the new Directorof Sales. Shahwan previously held the same position for GoldenTulip Khatt Springs, Dibba and Khasab.He held various roles and positionswhile working with Rotana Hotels and Millennium & Copthorne Group. He gained his 12 yearsexperience working with hotels in UAE and Greece.

Tilal Liwa HotelAbu Dhabi Ayman Ashor has been appointed as the General Manager forTilal Liwa Hotel, located in Abu Dhabi Western Region managedby Danat Hotels & Resorts. Ashor isa Dutch national and anaccomplished Hotelier with over 19years experience in the industry.Prior to this, he was with ConcordeHotel & Spa Fujairah where he hasbeen the opening Hotel Managersince February 2010.

HyattSaudi Arabia Anas Abdullah is the newly appointed Director of World WideSales for Saudi Arabia. His new appointment will fur therconsolidate Hyatt’s growing brandrecognition and presence in the country.He comes with more than 10 years ofexperience in the hotel industry.Abdullah was with Hyatt for nearly 8years. He began with Grand HyattAmman in 2004 and was promoted toAssociate Director of Sales at ParkHyatt Jeddah in 2009.

Ramada Downtown Dubai DubaiKhaled Rageh is the new Front Office Manager for Ramada Downtown Dubai. Rageh brings over 10 years of

hospitality experience and has worked in several prestigious hospitality brands.Prior to his employment in Dubai, heassumed several hospitality positionsin Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. In his new role, he will be in charge of

supervising all front desk services andpersonnel to ensure that the guest

receives prompt, efficient andpersonalised service.

Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates DubaiJardine Ong joins Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates asTraining Manager within the hotel’s Human Resources team. Priorto this, she was working with AzadeaGroup, where she served as a trainingmanager since 2009. During her fiveyears in the UAE, she has worked ontraining consultancy programmes fora number of high-profile clients withcomplex training requirements from various industries such asaviation, banking and finance as well as retail among others.

Jumeirah Group DubaiShaf Butt is the new Director of Marketing for the DubaiCommercial Team. A British national, Butt has been with theJumeirah Group since 2007, initiallyresponsible for Rooms Marketing atMadinat Jumeirah – The ArabianResort. In 2009 he was promotedto Director of Marketing - Rooms forthe Dubai hotels. Before joiningJumeirah, he held key marketingpositions for companies such asCarphone Warehouse in London, UKand Axiom Telecom in the Middle East.