TravTalk Middleeast

A DDP PUBLICATION Pages: 16Vol. VIII No. 9; September 2012

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UAE’s 1st domestic flight ......................................................................................06Europeans top in limit stay in Dubai ....................................................................10‘Hotel classification’ in Sharjah ............................................................................12

As per Subodh KantSahai, Union Ministerfor Tourism, India,

the country has enormouspossibilities to offer to the wellness seekers from the Middle East.

Sharing the feedbackreceived during the roadshowconducted by the Ministry ofTourism, India in Dubai onJune 28 he said, “The Indiansystem of healing is worldrenowned and can easilyattract tourists from MiddleEast, who are theconnoisseurs of wellnessproducts and have a goodpurchasing power. Hence, thewellness potential of Indiashould be fully nurtured inthese source markets toharness the true potential ofIndia as a wellnessdestination,” said Sahai.

Echoing similar views,Sultan Ahmed, Minister ofState for Tourism, India whohad earlier led a businessdelegation for similarroadshows in Middle East,also spoke on the merits ofpromoting Wellness Tourismin Middle East at the sidelinesof the recently held SAARCTour Operators conference in New Delhi.

“Middle East countriesoffer great potential topromote Wellness Tourism.India has always been knownfor its rich heritage ofwellness traditions and hasenormous possibilities tooffer to wellness seekers inthis region,” said Ahmed.

Lately, the Ministry ofTourism has identifiedWellness Tourism among theniche tourism sectors thatoffer great potential; once thestandards of service are laiddown to ensure uniformity ofexperience. Also, in line with the objective of realisingthe true potential of WellnessTourism in India, the MOThas decided to support Global Spa & WellnessSummit 2013.

India’s wellness in Dubai

VI V E K SE T H I

Highlighting variousunique aspects ofIndia’s Tourism

overall and its medicalprospective, a MedicalTourism-based exhibition -‘Med Health and WellnessExhibition’ – will be held inMuscat, from September 25to 27. Various hospitals and medical facilities from Indiawill also be present in theSultanate.

With an existingencouraging potential fromOman for India, IndiaTourism will also organisea special trade show, ‘IND-EXPO’ in Muscat fromSeptember 4 to 6.

India is poised tobecome a hub for MedicalTourism with excellenthospitals, latest medicaltechnology, highly skilledIndian physicians, lowercost of treatment and lesswaiting time for patients.

In every month of thecalendar year, startingfrom June 2012 till June2013, there are roadshowsplanned worldwide.

“We will beorganising a roadshow inMuscat on October 7where we have planned tobring some medicalhospitals, facilities and spato create overallawareness besidesworking with variousairlines. The nextroadshow, led by SubodhKant Sahai, UnionMinister for Tourism, Indiawill be held in Istanbul, Turkey onOctober 9 and thereafteron October 11 in Ankara,Turkey, focussing a lot onMedical Tourism, asnumber of tour operators

from India will be flying to the country,”informed Vikas Rustagi,Regional Director - IndiaTourism, Dubai.

The first ‘IncredibleIndia Tourism’ roadshow inthis fiscal year was held inAmman on June 27. It wasthe first ever India Tourismroadshow in Jordan.

“Nowadays, manyIndians are travelling toJordan and hence Jordanhas huge potential forleisure and luxury, wildlife,spa and Ayurveda of India and the probability is increasing gradually due to better awareness,”added Rustagi.

India Tourism is all geared up toestablish India as a MedicalTourism hub in the Middle East.

India takes MedicalTourism to Muscat

SUSMITA GHOSH

Contd. on page 8

Very rarely, the HolyMonth of Ramadancomes in between

the extended summer holi-days, which has happenedthis year and most of theUAE Nationals preferred tostay with families, even

though expatriate commu-nities travelled around.

“Such travels startsfrom June-end till the daybefore Ramadan starts andthen again they start theirplanned travel after EID tillthe Summer Holidays end. Such a disconnected

holiday (even though at astretch) discourages most ofthe regular travellers to trav-el. And, hence, plays againstthe travel trade as we makemoney and enhance our busi-ness on longer holidays, eventhough, we saw an increaseof 20 per cent in 2012 com-pared to last year,” expressed

Jamal Abdulnazar, GeneralManager, Cozmo Travels.

“The coming monthlooks brighter and is likelyto pick up, as the exhibitionseason starts everywhereand the temperature goesdown,” he further added.

Contd. on page 8

Throughout UAE, the travel companies and airlines offer specialdiscounts and packages for those who step out during Ramadan.

SUSMITA GHOSH

India is known for its rich heritage of healing and wellness. Lately, theMinistry of Tourism of India has identified Wellness Tourism, among theniche tourism sectors that offer great potential in the Middle East.

The wellness potential ofIndia should be fullynurtured in the ME marketsto harness the truepotential of the destination

India’s USP to ME

India is knownfor its richheritage ofwellnesstraditions andhas enormouspossibilities tooffer to thewellnessseekers in this region

The Indiansystem of healingcan easily attracttourists from MEas they are theconnoisseurs ofwellnessproducts andhave a goodpurchasingpower

Subodh Kant SahaiUnion Minister for TourismIndia

Sultan AhmedMinister of State for TourismIndia

We will organisea roadshow inMuscat onOctober 7where we planto bring medicalhospitals,facilities and spato create overallawareness

Vikas RustagiRegional Director - India TourismDubai

Travel trade hopes high

NEWS

Lama Group in associationwith IndiGo Airlines,

Hyatt Hotels in Dubai andDubai Department ofTourism and CommerceMarketing (DTCM) launched‘LAMA flight to Dubai’.

Further to this initiative,more such flights are beingplanned during Diwali, postDiwali and during DubaiShopping Festival (DSF).

“It’s nothing more thana misconception that Dubaishuts down during the holymonth of Ramadan, whichbackfires and limits thetourist arrivals. Practicallyspeaking, it’s the best time tovisit Dubai, as enviableincentives and discounts areavailable on shopping, hotels,travel attractions to relish theDubai experience,” said

Kulwant Singh, ManagingDirector, Lama.

“With the objective ofspurring tourist inflow fromIndia, which is a very strategicmarket for us, we are takingthe first pilot ‘Lama flight toDubai’. It’s a FAM flight beingworked out for 100 of ourstrategic B2B partners basedout of North India in associa-tion with IndiGo Airlines andHyatt in Dubai. The agentswill get a first-hand experi-ence of various spectacularpossibilities in Dubai duringRamadan and help us to comeout with the best possible itin-eraries,” he added.

When asked about hiscompany’s growth rate,Singh said that Lama Tourshas consistently grown at 25per cent over the years. “Ourbusiness from the Indian

‘LAMA flight to Dubai’

TT BU R E AU

This innovative maiden flight brought in over 100 travel agents and touroperators from North India to Dubai to showcase various possibilities during the Holy Month of Ramadan on August 11 – 13, 2012.

‘Definitely Dubai’ during Ramadan

Contd. on page 9

The Govt istaking a biginitiative inpromotingDubai duringthe HolyMonth

The agents willget a first-handexperience ofvariouspossibilities inDubai duringRamadan

Kulwant SinghManaging DirectorLama Tours

John BeveridgeArea Manager and General ManagerHyatt Hotels – Dubai

FOREIGN EXCHANGEDIRHAM VALUE

(Subject to variation) (As on 18-08-2012)

Country Currency CN Buy CN Sell

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

UK ............................GBP ..............5.6591............5.8783

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

Euro ..........................EUR ..............4.4255............4.6085

Canada......................CAD ..............3.6601............3.7896

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

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

Kuwait ......................KWD............12.7821..........13.2399

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

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

Australia ..................AUD ..............3.7855............3.8911

Japan ........................JPY................0.0453............0.0476

Philippines ................PHP ..............0.0851............0.0882

Singapore..................SGD ..............2.8805............3.0066

India ........................INR................0.0639............0.0669

Pakistan ....................PKR ..............0.0382............0.0399

Bangladesh ..............BDT ..............0.0439............0.0457

Sri Lanka ..................LKR ..............0.0273............0.0283

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

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

Switzerland ..............CHF ..............3.6847............3.8400

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

GUEST COLUMN

EDITORIAL‘Environment’ on the agenda

In an effort to highlight the sustainableinitiatives and dedication to the

environment, cluster of hotels arecommitted to several activities to ensuretheir work and operations are ‘clean’ and‘environmental-friendly’. In lieu of thistrend, the importance of ‘green status’,prevails far and wide.

For the same, InterContinental HotelsGroup (IHG) in Jordan is carrying outactivities and procedures to reduce theconsumption of electricity and water.They are also planning to replace thenormal lights with light-emitting diode(LED) light bulbs in InterContinentalAqaba Resort. At Crowne Plaza Amman,besides energy-saving LED light bulbs,water saving fitting has been installedto save more than 10% of waterconsumption. The old diesel boilerburners have been replaced with newones that increases 5% efficiency andreduce the fuel consumption and gasemissions. Holiday Inn Resort, Dead Seatakes care of recycling all waste andused material while energy consumptionmonitoring is done on a regular basis.

The Green Economy for SustainableDevelopment Initiative, the Dubaigovernment’s first green building is fasttaking shape on Shaikh Zayed Road.With a total space of around 3,40,000 sqft, it is Dubai’s first green building thatis built by the Government. To cut downenergy consumption significantly andgenerate 600kW of electricity using solarpower is its impetus.

In Abu Dhabi, environmental-conscious residents can soon identifygreen products in the market, with anew label; ‘Trustmark for EnvironmentalPerformance’ issued by the Abu DhabiQuality and Conformity Council (QCC).

The World Travel & TourismCouncil’s (WTTC) prestigious ‘TourismFor Tomorrow Awards’ which recognisesbest practice in Sustainable Tourismwithin the Travel & Tourism industryworldwide, will be presented in AbuDhabi in 2013.

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The Tourism Authority ofThailand (TAT) is the

official sponsor of the 13th

Annual World GourmetFestival. The festival isorganised by the FourSeasons Hotel, Bangkok andis going to take place fromSeptember 3 to 9, 2012.

Since its inception, theFestival has grown inprominence to feature anextraordinary line-up of someof the best chefs and foodexperts from across the globe.The event is a week-longcelebration of various andunique regional cuisines. And,it is a view worth cherishing,world-class culinary delightsall under one roof.

The Middle East markethas been an increasinglyimportant source market ofvisitors to Thailand over thelast couple of years and wesee positive signs to suggestthat this trend will continue.

The reasons for thepositive outlook regardingincreased visitor numbers toThailand includes, theTourism Authority ofThailand’s strategy ofengagement with theregional travel trade, airlinesand agents. Thailand’scontinuous success inoffering value-for-money asleisure and businessdestination, variety oftourism products on offer andthe Thai hospitality is wellreceived by all from theMiddle East.

In the coming year, theTAT Middle East Office willcontinue to reinforce theThailand brand ‘AmazingThailand Always Amazes

You’, with a core focus onauthenticity, value for moneyand hospitality.

According to theseventh annual ‘FutureBrandCountry Brand Index 2011-2012’, Thailand rankednumber 7 in terms of tourismbrand image, whilemaintaining its Number 1position in terms of ‘Value forMoney’. The destination alsoranked among the top 10 forkey attributes like food,beaches, nightlife, shoppingand accommodation.

Highlighting a sig-nificant strategic shift awayfrom its traditional massmarketing, TAT announced itwill now focus its marketingefforts on niche marketstargetted at specific customer segments inspecific countries.

For the Middle Eastmarket, TAT is focussing onNiche Tourism products suchas Health and Wellness,Wedding and Honeymoon,Green Tourism and Golf, allhighlighted with a focus onthe excellent and comparativevalue-for-money.

Improvements on theexisting infrastructure are alsopresently being undertaken

with the expansion of thePhuket International Airport.Green building, environment-friendly materials and energy-saving technologies are beingupgraded and will becompleted by 2014. All thiswill help the airport to handle12.5 passengers every year.

The year 2012 isexpected to be an auspicioustime to visit Thailand due tosome royal occasions plannedfor the coming year includingthe celebration of the King’s84th birthday on December 5and the Queen’s 80th birthdayon August 12.

Thailand Travel MartPlus 2012 (TTM+ 2012) hadfocussed on Golf, Ecotourism,Weddings & Honeymoons andHealth & Wellness. ThaiTourism products and servicesin these categories haveexperienced tremendousgrowth over the past fewyears and this trend isexpected to continue,especially among repeatvisitors who account for about60 per cent of all internationalarrivals to Thailand.

A broad-based des-tination image research studyconducted across 14countries by TAT hasprovided clear pointers tosharpen the imagery andmessage of the country’supcoming ‘Thainess’ tourismcampaigns. All the categoriesof the new upcomingcampaign lend themselves topowerful imagery, due towhich, the research studywas designed to identify thetrigger points that willconvince the potentialvisitors to move from‘Looking’ to ‘Booking’. Thecountries included areMalaysia, Japan, Taiwan,Hong Kong, US, UAE,

Australia, China, SouthKorea, India, Russia,Germany, Sweden and Italy.A total of 3,000 travellerswere surveyed including bothfirst time and repeat visitors.The study used bothsecondary and primary dataand quantitative andqualitative surveys. Theinterviews that wereconducted included a broadcross-section of stakeholders,including Thais andforeigners, working both inand out of the industry.

Altogether, it has beenan interesting andchallenging exercise. Ithelped us in becoming moreaware of how the world ischanging and the constantneed to keep up with thechanges in order to maintainthe visitor flow.

The growth in totalnumber of visitors is beingmatched by the increasedaverage length of stay andaverage daily expenditure.This further underscores therole of tourism as one of themost important economicsector and contributor to jobcreation and nationwideincome distribution.

According to theMinistry, Thailand recorded19.23 million internationalvisitors in 2011, up by 20.67per cent over 2010. With anaverage length of stay of 9.64days and an average dailyspend of 4,187.12 baht (US$ 137) per person, the ThaiTourism industry generated776 billion baht in earnings.

Wisoot Buachoom Director

Tourism Authority ofThailand

The Middle East market has been an increasingly important source marketof visitors to Thailand over the last couple of years. Hence, the TourismAuthority of Thailand (TAT) expects travel from the GCC to increase byanother 10 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011 visitor figures.

For the ME market, TAT is focussingon Niche Tourism products such asHealth and Wellness, Wedding and Honeymoon Tourism with afocus on the excellent andcomparative value-for-money.

Wisoot BuachoomDirector, Tourism Authority of Thailand

Wellness on TAT’s radar for ME

AVIATION

As an introductory offer,the airline will be

offering a return fare of AED734 on all new flights in boththe sectors.

“Kochi holds a lot of promise for us atIndiGo and indeed is a key market forus. Expandingoperations in Kochiis in line with ourgrowth strategyoutlined for South India.

There are millions ofIndians from Kerala andother south Indian cities whowork in Middle East andhave requirements of lowfares by an Indian airline andwe are absolutely delightedto announce new daily andnon-stop flights betweenKochi-Dubai, Hyderabad-Dubai and Chennai-Dubai.The launch of these new

flights further strengthensour position in the India-Middle East market. We feelwith IndiGo’s service on theroute, more and more peoplewill be able to take theadvantage of its affordablefares and great service. The new service will alsohelp nearby markets to offerlow fare flights on theroute,” said Aditya Ghosh,President, IndiGo.

With business rising andtourism stemming from thesouthern hubs, the airline isdetermined to provide the

best travel experience to allthose who wish to fly to Dubai from thesedestinations.

Ghosh further added, “Itis our constant endeavour toprovide the best travelexperience with moreflexibility of choice for ourcustomers and affordableflying experience. We hope toprovide the much neededavenue for countless Indiansto explore wider horizons andat the same time open up thedoors to more and moreoverseas travellers toexperience India.”

IndiGo launched new flights on Dubai-Hyderabad routefrom August 7, 2012 while doubling frequency on theDelhi-Dubai sector. It also launched its new daily flightsfrom Kochi and Chennai to Dubai on August 25.

Now, Dubai closer to India

TT BU R E AU

Aditya GhoshPresidentIndiGo

In addition, Jet Airways willalso be resuming its

services to Kuwait andBahrain from Kochi.

The introduction ofthese flights will furtherstrengthen Jet Airways’ pres-ence in the Gulf where it hasemerged as one of the lead-ing carriers to and from Indiain a relatively short period oftime. Guests from the aboveGulf destinations will nowenjoy seamless connectivitywith the airlines’ pan-Indiadomestic network, as also theFar East and SAARC coun-tries, through the airline'sinternational hub in Mumbai.

Sudheer Raghavan,Chief Commercial Officer, JetAirways, said “With thegrowing demand from our guests for seamlessconnections between the Gulfand India, as well as onwardsvia our international hub inMumbai, Jet Airways isdelighted to enhance its

services on the India-Gulfsector in the winter schedule.

Having emerged asamong the leadingairlines on the highlycompetitive Indo-Gulf sector in arelatively shortperiod of time, weare confident that thenew services willprove popular withour guests.”

The new daily returnservice (9W558 / 557) will bethe sixth daily servicebetween Mumbai and the

UAE, in addition to the exist-ing four daily services toDubai and one daily serviceto Abu Dhabi. The airline’sreturn services on the Kochi-Kuwait sector (9W576 /575) will operate four times aweek; Mondays, Thursdays,Saturdays and Sundaysrespectively.

The Kochi-Bahrainreturn services (9W594 /593) will operate three daysa week; on Tuesdays,Wednesdays and Fridaysrespectively.

Effective October 18, 2012, Jet Airways, is set toenhance connectivity to the Gulf with the launch of itsnew Mumbai-Sharjah service. This new route will bethe airline’s sixth daily flight to the UAE from Mumbai.

Jet links Mumbai-Sharjah

TT BU R E AU

Sudheer RaghavanChief Commercial OfficerJet Airways

Air Arabia startstwice-daily flights to thecapital of India; Delhi.

The airline currentlyoffers seven weeklyflights to Delhi and start-ing September 1, the car-rier will offer 14 flightsper week, departingSharjah InternationalAirport daily at 07:45 AMand 23:20 PM. The returnflights will depart DelhiInternational Airport dailyat 13:05 PM and 04:40AM (local time).

“India has alwaysbeen a market offocus for AirArabia and wecurrently serve13 cities acrossIndia fromSharjah

and this number reflectsthe ever growing appealfor Air Arabia flightsbetween the two countriesand we are looking forwardto offer more customersour value for money airtravel. The rapidly expand-ing Aviation sector in Indiais also one of the country’smajor economic drivers,”said Adel Ali, Group ChiefExecutive Officer, AirArabia.

A big number of students and families flyregularly between Delhiand Sharjah benefittingfrom Air Arabia’s widenetwork across the GCC,Europe and Asia.

The airline flew atotal of 4,77,839 passen-gers in the month of July2012. Nearly 10 per centgrowth was witnessedcompared to the samemonth last year.

Air Arabia’s secondquarter turnover of thisyear, reaches 729 million,up by 23 per cent com-pared to the same periodin 2011. While 1.3 millionpassengers flew onboardthe airline in Q2 2012, upby 15 per cent from pre-vious year. It’s averageseat load factor stood at85 per cent, up by 3 percent from last year.

DoublingDelhifrequency

The airline will deploy itsstate-of-the-art Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offeringPremiere and Economyconfigurations to itstravellers

Aircraft on New Route

IndiGo to fly from Delhi toMuscat and Kathmandu,Dubai, Singapore andBangkok to Mumbai andDubai

The airline is offering ticketson the two new flights at avery competitive rate for one-way travel whichexcludes airport andregulatory charges and taxes

New Routes & Offers

Adel AliGroup Chief Executive Officer Air Arabia

AVIATION6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2

“Dubai Internationalwill be running out of

capacity soon and we are already experiencingclogging. Hence, airlinesmoving to DWC would be an option,” informed Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports.

“The addition ofConcourse-3 duringthe first quarter of2013 is well-timedto boost ourcapacity upbeat onour already highlevels of customerservice,” he further said.

Dubai Internationalrecorded the busiest in itsfirst half of 2012 in its history

with 27.9 million passengersup by 13.7 per cent from 24.5in the corresponding periodof 2011.

“We are on track tomeet the annual projectedtraffic of 56.5 million passen-gers, which will bring us veryclose to Dubai International’soperational capacity of 60million passengers perannum,” added Griffiths.

Airports have announ-ced a US$ 7.8 billion expansion programme whichwill enhance capacity atDubai International from 60million to 90 million passen-gers per year by 2018. India,Saudi Arabia, the UK,Pakistan and the US had the greatest passenger volumes in terms of top destinations served by Dubai International.

Due to the rapid growth of Airlines, Dubai Airportswitnesses a towering international traffic over the lastfew years. And, hence, is all geared up for the newterminal to provide additional support to the airport.

New terminal on its course

TT BU R E AU

Paul GriffithsCEO Dubai Airports

Dubai Airports possessboth Dubai International andDubai World Central (DWC)

Dubai Internationalrecorded the busiest in itsfirst half of 2012 in itshistory with 27.9 millionpassengers up by 13.7 per cent from 24.5 in the correspondingperiod last year

Getting Busier

Now, travellers will beable to reach Abu Dhabi

from RAK in just 45 minutesas against more than 3 hoursthat presently takes to coverthe 250-km distance by road under normal traffic conditions.

“With the launch ofthe inaugural flightto Abu Dhabi, weare offeringresidents of Ras AlKhaimah andNorthern Emirates,an alternativemode of connectingRas Al Khaimahwith the capital,”

informed John Brayford,Acting CEO, RAK Airways.

“There has been a sig-nificant domestic trafficbetween RAK and Abu Dhabiwith lot of people from up inthe north commuting to thecapital daily and weekly. Forthe same, we already have abus service operating on the

said route. Abu Dhabi is agrowing market and a keysource of revenue for our network, hence the idea ofconnecting directly RAK tothe capital will help us builda network out of RAK,” added Brayford.

Comparing taxi charges,which are AED 300 one way,the flight rates are reasonablypriced as AED 230 one wayand return fare AED 410 allincluding taxes.

RAK Airways havechanged their reservationsystem very recently to getconnected with the outerworld, through airlines and

Global Distribution Systems.“We have already signed aninterline agreement withEtihad to interlink the airlinesin Abu Dhabi from RAK,” he further said.

RAK Airways has filled250,000 seats in 2011 and isgradually expanding its network to Africa, Middle Eastand Asia. The airline is con-stantly working on plans toincrease passenger traffic thatled to 58.5 per cent rise in pas-senger footfall at the RAKInternational in Q1 2012.

Connecting Ras AlKhaimah with Abu Dhabi is astrategic step, whicheventually would help,strengthening its foothold in the regional civil aviation market.

RAK Airways is set to launch UAE’s first domestic flight,connecting Ras Al Khaimah with Abu Dhabi from October3, 2012. This new initiative will reduce a stretched 3-hour road journey to a mere 45-minute flight.

UAE’s 1st domestic flight

TT BU R E AU

John BrayfordActing CEORAK Airways

The growth in passengervolume is in total

consonance with similargrowth in terms of aircraftmovements, cargo tonnageand retail.

“This growth is theresult of acombination ofcarefully thoughtcollaborativeteamwork,consistent supplychain, attractiveprices, productinnovation andcontinuous energyand focus on our customer’sneeds andrequirements.

We complement the otherwell-established airports inthe UAE by offering ourunique blend of services andvalues. We work with ourclients in true partnership,providing individual atten-tion, but ensuring we areapproachable and easy to do business with,” said Andrew Gower, CEO, RAKInternational Airport.

RAK InternationalAirport is expecting arepetition of the last winteras a large number of tourists,particularly from the Western Europe.

“New flights will beoperating from the RussianFederation in the winter 2012and onwards. Certainly theemerging markets of CIS andEastern Europe will continueto grow and we will readilywelcome them as they usethe airport gateway to get to the resorts in the wider Emirate,” he further added.

RAK International Airport continues its growth inpassenger footfall by 78.3 per cent in Q2 2012 while theoverall growth in the first six months of the year stoodat 67.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2011

RAK up by 78.3% in Q2

TT BU R E AU

Comparing taxi charges,which are AED 300 one way, the flight ratesare reasonably priced as AED 230 one way and return fare AED 410all including taxes

Price Comparison

Growth in passengerfootfall by 78.3% in Q22012

Overall growth in the firstsix months stood at 67.2%

Counting Numbers

Andrew GowerCEO RAK International Airport

Etihad Airways andAlitalia have announceddirect Rome-Abu Dhabiflights to start fromDecember 1, 2012. Theflights are already on sale,from August 23, 2012.

James Hogan,President and ChiefExecutive Officer, EtihadAirways said,

“The keyobjective is toprovide ourpassengers with adirect service toRome.”

The new route willopen the doors to excep-tional business and touristdestinations around theworld on Etihad Airways’network.

From AbuDhabi toRome

James HoganPresident and Chief Executive Officer Etihad Airways

This new development is anew step to cater to the

growing need of business andleisure travellers betweenMiddle East and Africa.

The aircraft landed at Bole Addis AbabaInternational Airport onAugust 16. Earlier Ethiopianbecame the first airline outsideJapan to receive the ultra-modern Dreamliner aircraft.

“We are the firstairline outsideJapan to receivethis ultra-modernaircraft.

This is an affirmation ofour continuous pioneeringrole in African aviation.

It is also a testimony of our commitment to giveour passengers the bestpossible travel experience,with the best industryproducts and services,” said Tewolde Gebremariam,CEO, Ethiopian Airlines.

The aircraft is fittedwith unique feature including 24 Cloud NineBusiness Class seats besides243 Economy Class seats. It is also equipped with many other first-of-its-kindfeatures like higher humidity, bigger storage foron-board luggage, 60 per cent smaller noise footprint than peerairplanes, biggest windows inthe sky and unique andadaptable lighting to the environment.

Ethiopian Airlines created history bybecoming the first airline to land theBoeing 787 Dreamliner at the DubaiInternational Airport on August 19.

First Dreamlinerlands in Dubai

TT BU R E AU

CRUISES S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 7

Celebrity Cruises, presentlyconsists of 10 ships in its

fleet and with this newaddition, the company aimsto make significant changesin 3 main areas; the LawnClub, Michael’s Club andTeam Earth.

The cruise brand will beadding 42 Suites to CelebrityReflection, including 34 AquaSpa Suites (the first cabins oftheir kind) and eight SkySuites. Nestled in the ship’s14th deck the Reflection Suiteis going to be situated, adja-cent to the brand’s five new‘Signature Suites’.

The essence of modernluxury in Celebrity Reflectionwill present an enhancedAqua Spa allowing guests tocreate their own circuit ofsensory experiences as theymove from room to room,

experiencing hot and cold,wet and dry, peace and tran-quility throughout.

A two-bedroomReflection suite will also be available with an all-glassshower stall that extends outover the edge of the ship for aspine-tingling experience.Reflection will also have anadditional 19 Concierge-classcabins and 11 inside cabins.

Lakshmi Durai,Executive Director, RoyalCaribbean International,Celebrity Cruises andAzamara Club Cruises -Middle East is completely‘transparent’ about how thebrand will preserve the pri-

vacy of guests using theunique glass shower.

“We have made a biginvestment, ensuring

our cruise loverscan now enjoy theshower entirelyconcern free ofbeing visible. Theycan enjoy sea viewswhile showeringcourtesy; specialreflective glass.

But, if they seek evenfurther privacy, the showeralso features ‘smart glass’,”she explained.

Itinerary-wise, CelebrityReflection will debut with anine-night Northern Europeinaugural cruise, followed bya pair of two-weekMediterranean voyages. Theship will then sail fromBarcelona to its Miami home-port on a 13-night transat-lantic voyage. Once in Miami,Reflection will sail a three-night teaser cruise beforekicking into its premier sea-son of week-long EasternCaribbean cruises.

Celebrity Cruises is growing its fleet with the newaddition of a Solstice Class ship; Celebrity Reflectionthat is scheduled to join in October 2012.

New ‘guest’ on Celebrity

TT BU R E AU

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

A two-bedroom Reflectionsuite will also be availablewith an all-glass showerstall that extends out overthe edge of the ship for aspine-tingling experience

Spine-tingling Feature

Q. Does Royal Caribbean International (RCI)have any special summer itineraries?

A. Guests can enjoy the final months of thesummer cruising season with popularMediterranean itineraries. The seven-nightand longer European sailing options areavailable till October/November in Spain,Italy and France. It also has sailings inAlaska and Northern Europe for thesummer till September.

Q. What are the add-on facilities RCI offersto cruise lovers that are different fromother cruise lines?

A. We have an excellent international productline. RCI offers a host of unique on-boardactivities, like rock-climbing wall, mini golf,ice skating, surf simulator, zipline. Ourcruise ships are floating resorts with all thechoices that fine resorts have to offer, onlybetter; they also take you to different places.

Q. What on-board activities can be purchasedprior to sailing?

A. Most of RCI’s on-board activities are alreadyincluded in the cruise price and guests havethe option to book some of these online,prior to sailing. Shore excursions, however,they can be pre-purchased up to five daysbefore sailing as well.

Q. What are the guidelines for children on RCIcruise lines?

A. Two children under 11 years can share thecabin with adults while sailing for free onselected European and Middle East cruises.Children need to pay only taxes, fees and gratuities.

Lakshmi DuraiExecutive Director – Middle EastRoyal Caribbean Cruises

After the upgradation andrefurbishment, Port Rashid

resumed its passenger ferryservices to regional destinations.The port connects Dubai with allthe port cities across the Gulfregion and is all set to becomethe new beehive for CruiseTourism. The ferry Hormuz-12arrived this week carrying 190

passengers from the Port ofBandar Lengeh in Iran. It wasaccorded a warm welcome at thededicated terminal byMohammed Al Muallem, SeniorVice President and ManagingDirector, DP World, UAE Region,Mohammed Ali Ahmed, ChiefOperating Officer, DP World,UAE Region and Mohammed AlMannaei, Director – Port Rashid.

The newly refurbished PortRashid Passenger Terminal is

equipped with up-to-date facili-ties to efficiently manage pas-senger arrivals and departures,including new luggage belts anddeparture and arrival gates.

“For 40 years, Port Rashidhas played a central role in con-necting Dubai to the region and the rest of the world.

We have developedthe largest cruiseterminal in the region here. We are,now, delighted towelcome regionalferry passengers tothe Port’s PassengerTerminal,” informedMohammed AlMuallem, Senior Vice President and ManagingDirector – UAERegion, DP World.

Port Rashid resumed its passenger ferry services to regionaldestinations after its refurbishment and is all set to becomethe new beehive for Cruise Tourism.

Ferry services are back

TT BU R E AU

Mohammed Al MuallemSenior Vice President and ManagingDirector – UAE Region, DP World

The ferry Hormuz-12 arrivedthis week carrying 190passengers from the Port ofBandar Lengeh in Iran

The vessel later departed onits return voyage with 250passengers on-board. Theferry service will run to BadarLengeh once every 3 days andthe 7-hour ferry journey costsAED 250 for one-way ticket,less than half the price of anairline ticket to Tehran

The Comeback Story

DP World, UAE Region,had arranged daily Iftarbuffets for workers inJebel Ali port, wherearound 700 staff membersgathered to break theirfast during the HolyMonth of Ramadan.

Daily Iftar meals werebeing offered to portworkers in a custom-builtRamadan tent locatedconveniently within the port area.

Mohammed Sharaf,Group CEO, DP World,Mohammed Al Muallem,Senior Vice President and Managing Director,UAE Region and other senior officials of DP World, UAE Region,joined the staff to break their fast at Jebel Ali Port.

Reaching out to itspeople and communitywith Iftar buffets is along-established practicefor DP World under its corporate responsibil-ity initiatives.

OfferingdailyIftars

COVER STORY8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2

“Travel agents fromIndia went to Jordan andhad interactions with otheragents from the region dur-ing the B2B sessions. In fact,to create a ‘Tourism Forum’,a line of meetings have beenplanned in Amman duringmid-September,” he furtherinformed.

“In this ‘TourismForum’, there would be theAmbassador of India, mem-bers from airlines, travelagents, tour operators andimportant opinion makers.Such a huge participationwill help us seek their advice

and guidance on how to pro-mote India further andundertake promotionalactivities to further promotethe Brand Incredible India inthe Middle East,” he stated.

With the participationof medical representatives,roadshows will take place inJanuary 2013 in SaudiArabia and in Kuwait inFebruary 2013.

Contd. from page 1

In today’s world,clients have lot of optionsavailable and therefore, thetravel agents should not waitfor the traveller to call. Infact, they should rather beprepared with fabulousoffers for the up-coming hol-iday’s everytime so that theydo not loose on business.

“This will not only helpthe traveller to save moneybut, also enjoy the ‘BestDeals’ available which we asagents will provide. It’simportant to be in touchwith our previous clientsand maintain healthy rela-tionships with them,” sug-gested Manju Manchanda,Manager, Akbar Holidays.

Commenting on thebusiness comparison in 2012different from 2011,Manchanda explained,“Economic downturn is nevergood for business, but if usedcorrectly, it can provide travelagents and suppliers time tore-evaluate their strategies.Exposure to the customers,reminding them of the valueand providing them with thebest possible expertise as pertheir needs are some of thebasic key ingredients for agood business. Staff commu-nication is also very impor-tant and every individualshould be trained to delivertheir 110 per cent.” With fair-ly simple and easy visa pro-cedure, Turkey remains apopular destination for theUAE residents with travelcompanies like Sharaf Traveloffering special Ramadanpackages to the country.

“Lot of familiesmanaged to combine theirEID breaks and holidays todestinations like, in andaround Gulf, Muscat,

Jordan, some parts ofEurope, India andThailand,” informedPremjit Bangara, TravelManager, Sharaf Travel.“We achieved a decentprofit and also met ourclient’s expectations, assome people booked their travel in advancewhile some waited for a week before witnessing a satisfying season,” he added.

Sri Lanka, India,Thailand, Cyprus andEurope surprisingly haspicked up this year, where-as, Czech Republic, Viennaand Kiev have improved inproviding good packages tothe travellers.

“With the increasedknowledge of a travellerregarding packages, airfare and the ability tocompare best deals; we asagents have also learnthow to move with time and trends of the business. Allin all, the general percep-tion has changed and got-ten more tech-savvy withthe increasing numbers ofonline travel agencies,”informed Bangara.

This Ramadan, eventhe airlines such as,Emirates lured customerswith attractive airfares.Etihad Airways and QatarAirways, too, have nowbecome more active in the‘best deals’ race.

Darina Holidays mainlyfocusses on the GCC marketand has observed 80 percent growth in 2012 so farover 2011. They also haveplans to expand their busi-ness in Latin America and tothe European market.Around 43,000 passengershave poured in 2011 and60,000 more are expectedthroughout 2012.

“As far as the respons-es from the travellers areconcerned, the Holy Monthof Ramadan is a slow sea-son, but it started improv-ing from the last week ofthe festival and will extendtill December-end. Wehave seen the bookingsgetting better and witness-

ing the CIS and theEuropean markets comingup. We deal with tour oper-ators and are indulged invarious expansion plans.We are shortly going to buy a new fleet and move to a new office inBusiness Bay in October2012,” explained RamiAsaad, Managing Director,Darina Holidays.

Comparing Ramadan2011 with 2012, the touristmovement was not thatfavourable due to the break-ing summer holidays as TheHoly month came inbetween. “People look for along, stretched out, contin-uous holidays. Visa process-ing gets cumbersome, hence

inbound and outbound trav-el gets better afterRamadan,” asserted HassanAli Abdelal, GeneralManager, Bin Majid Tours.

For inbound, Ramadanwould have been popular ifthey had provided specialrates when the auspicioustime started but, the hotelsintroduced attractive rateslater on. Unfortunately, bythat time most of the trav-ellers had already startedtravelling and planned tocome back after Ramadan.“We are looking more fromCIS, Europe and GCC mar-kets and are coming up with 2 new hotels in AbuDhabi in November 2012,”Abdelal asserted.

We as agentshave learnthow to movewith time andtrends of thebusiness andwe havegotten moretech-savvy

Economicdownturn isnot good forbusiness, butit can alsoprovide timeto re-evaluatebusinessstrategies

Such adisconnected holidaydiscouragestravel plansand, hence,plays againstthe traveltrade

Jamal AbdulnazarGeneral ManagerCozmo Travels

Manju ManchandaManagerAkbar Holidays

Premjit BangaraTravel ManagerSharaf Travel

The Visaprocess iscumbersomein case ofsuch holidayshence travelgets betteronly afterRamadan

Ramadan is aslow seasonbut it startedimproving from the lastweek of thefestival and willextend tillDecember-end

Rami AsaadManaging DirectorDarina Holidays

Hassan Ali AbdelalGeneral ManagerBin Majid Tours

Bookings get better after RamadanContd. from page 1

In January 2013 - Jeddah,Dammam and Riyadh ofSaudi Arabia and inFebruary 2013 - Kuwait

Future Roadshow Dates

An ode to ‘art’

Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi recently organised an ar t exhibition‘Colours from South Africa’. The event was inaugurated by YacoobAbba Omar, Ambassador of South Africa along with RuprechtSchmitz, General Manager of the hotel.

The Egyptian government witnessed a rise of 23per cent in the number of tourists visiting thecountry in the first half of 2012 with 5.08 million.

Egypt saw 23% rise in Q1

Atlantis, The Palm celebrates ‘Indian-theme Family Fun Day at TheLost Chambers’ on September 7. Children’s entry was free with eachpaying adult. Guests tried traditional Indian sweets, heared Indianfolklore and met Indian marine species such as the rare Giant DevilCatfish, native to the Indian Great Kali River.

Indian-Theme Fun Day@The Lost Chambers

‘Tourism Forum’ topromote India

AGENTS S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 9

Indian agents on LAMA flight to Dubai

market increased by 34 percent in 2011 and we aim toclock at least 60-70 per centgrowth in 2012 by enhancingour network in Tier-II cities.Even though our major busi-ness comes from the metros,still the Tier-II cities in Indiahave opened new avenuesfor tour operators,” he fur-ther explained.

Abdullah Bin Suwaidan,Deputy Director - OverseesPromotions and InwardMissions, DTCM said,“Ramadan is a month of fes-tival and I am glad that LamaTour have taken such a biginitiative to bring this newflight in such auspicious timeto showcase Dubai as a year-round destination. India is avery important market for usand such initiative surelywould enhance the growth ofthis market.”

John Beveridge, AreaManager and GeneralManager, Hyatt Hotels -Dubai said, “TheGovernment is taking a biginitiative in promoting Dubaias a leading destination.During the Holy Month, peo-ple can come and experiencethe true Arabian culture.”

This unique flight hasmarked a milestone in Lama

Tours’ fifteen years of operation and has made itone of the largest inboundtour operating companies in Dubai.

Ramadan is a non-peakseason and the primaryobjective of this fam trip wasto highlight the remunerativeoption for the travel agentsduring the Holy Month.

Remunerative options Contd. from page 2

India is a veryimportantmarket for us.Such initiativewill enhancethe growth ofthis market

Abdullah Bin SuwaidanDeputy Director - OverseesPromotions and Inward MissionsDTCM

As part of its networkexpansion, the Travel

Management Company hasplans to start 7 more outletsin all major gateways of Saudi Arabia.

“Only the ticketfare to Istanbulshows AED 3,500everywhere, butour total packagecombined withaccommodationand Air ticket isavailable at AED3,000 and this iswhere we standdifferent,” informed Jamal Abdulnazar,General Manager, CozmoTravels.

Cozmo Travels is thefirst Middle East travelagency to sign up

for Travelport UniversalDesktop. Through this newstep, Cozmo has access to advanced desktopfunctionality including theability to seamlesslycombine all components ofthe travel itinerary andcentrally manage profile andpolicy information, allwithin the highlyconfigurable desktop.

“The technology willhelp us in crucial times torespond to the clients’ needs

and requirement with arange of competitively pricedproducts and services,”further said Abdulnazar.

The Company hasinaugurated and is operatingoutlets in 14 locations acrossthe GCC. To fulfill its aim,Cozmo Holidays, thesubsidiary company of CozmoTravels is launching affordableholiday packages like‘Companion-Goes-Free’ and‘Eid Al Adha’ packages, bothon sale from September 1.

Cozmo Travels has already opened new branches inSharjah, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in August2012. Following that, they have plans to open officesin Fujairah on September 1 and in Dubai in October.

Cozmo expands its reach

SUSMITA GHOSH

Jamal AbdulnazarGeneral ManagerCozmo Travels

The ‘Companion-Goes-Free’ package will offeroutbound travel to selectivedestinations as a 3-nightpackage and is valid fortravel between September15-October 15

The ‘Eid Al Adha’package to Istanbul willbe valid to travel fromOctober 25 to 29, 2012

Cozmo Packages

Lama Group in association with IndiGo Airlines, Hyatt Hotels in Dubai and Dubai Department ofTourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) had launched ‘LAMA flight to Dubai’ during August 11– 13, 2012. This maiden flight brought in over 100 travel agents and tour operators from North India.

Emirates airline passen-gers can receive exclusivesavings at premium hotelsin Dubai while booking viawww.emirates.com beforeSeptember 10, 2012. It ishence applicable for gueststravelling between nowuntil October 15, 2012, the discount welcomesEmirates passengers to stayin luxury in Dubai.

In addition to Dubai’siconic Atlantis The PalmJumeirah, the upscaleDubai playground for allages, the discount appliesto four exceptional Emaarproperties across Dubai;The Address DowntownDubai, The Address DubaiMall, The Address DubaiMarina and The AddressMontgomerie Dubai. As afurther bonus, guests atEmaar properties will alsoreceive a complimentarypass to the DubaiAquarium & UnderwaterZoo at Dubai Mall duringtheir stay.

Emirates Airline fliesto 126 destinations in 74countries and operates180 wide-body Airbus andBoeing aircraft. The airlinehas orders for an addition-al 220 aircraft.

Book andsave

STATISTICS1 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2

Europeans stayed on anaverage of 7.2 per cent in

standard hotel apartmentsand 6.6 per cent in deluxehotel apartments respectivelythroughout 2011.

On the other hand,guests from American coun-tries had average length ofstay of 6.8 per cent for stan-dard and 5.8 per cent indeluxe while other Arabcountries constitute 5.2 percent length of stay in stan-

dard and 6.1 in deluxe hotelapartments respectively.Following Nationality andClassification Category forDubai throughout 2011, it’sobserved that guests fromEuropean countries occupied83,72,595 residence nights

in hotels and 21,83,284guests stand highest fromAsian and African countries.As per ClassificationCategory of Dubai, 2011there was an average occu-pancy of 72,62,730 guests in387 hotels.

According to Dubai Hotel Establishment 2011, 72,62,730 guests stayed inhotels and 18,32,840 in hotel apartments from January to December 2011.

Europeans top in limit stay in Dubai TT BU R E AU

5.2

2.9

4.7

6.1 5.7 5.8 5.66.6

5.0

4.1 3.7

5.2 5.1

7.2 6.8

5.0

United ArabEmirates

Other A.G.C.CCountries

Other ArabCountries

Asian and AfricanCountries

EuropeanCountries

AmericanCountries

Oceanian Total

4.1

5.5 5.55.46.9

6.25.1 5.2

Source: Department Of Tourism & Commerce Marketing

(Length In Days)

1JANUARYHotel Class

HOTELS647,919

HOTEL APARTMENTS161,163TOTAL

809,082

2FEBRUARYHotel Class

HOTELS618,200


812,502

3MARCHHotel Class

HOTELS582,152


759,877

4APRILHotel Class

HOTELS628,464


799,682

5MAYHotel Class

HOTELS567,967


690,392

6JUNEHotel Class

HOTELS582,258


713,484

7JULYHotel Class

HOTELS674,053


839,668

8AUGUSTHotel Class

HOTELS408,365


497,363

9SEPTEMBERHotel Class

HOTELS587,869


719,026

10OCTOBERHotel Class

HOTELS633,528


783,744

11NOVEMBERHotel Class

HOTELS666,547


839,433

12DECEMBERHotel Class

HOTELS665,408


831,317

HOTEL CLASS HOTELS HOTEL APARTMENTS TOTALTOTAL 7,262,730 1,832,840 9,095,570

TITLE LISTED STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR TOTAL

Number of Hotels 17 120 50 61 76 63 387

Number of Rooms 443 4,498 5,198 8,387 14,568 20,734 53,828

Rooms Occupied 275 3,149 3,950 6,290 10,780 15,551 39,833

Number of Beds 897 9,054 7,750 13,921 21,386 30,074 83,082

Beds Occupied 466 5,161 5,890 10,023 16,681 24,661 63,142

Number of Guests 50,470 668,428 757,324 1,371,265 1,828,696 2,586,547 7,262,730

Residence Nights 169,216 1,839,617 2,316,425 3,725,666 5,945,838 9,270,112 23,266,874

Average Length of stay for Hotel Apartments Guests by Nationalityand Classification 2011

RESIDENCE NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE

NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE

NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE

NIGHTS GUESTS RESIDENCE NIGHTS GUESTS

TITLELISTED TOTALSTAR STAR STAR STAR STAR

United ArabEmirates

Other A.G.C.C.Countries

Other ArabCountries

Asian andAfrican Countries

EuropeanCountries

AmericanCountries

Oceanian

Total

Guests and Residence Nights at Hotels by Nationality andClassification Category - Emirate of Dubai (2011)

Hotels and Occupancy Average of Rooms and Beds, Guests andResidence Nights by Classification Category- Emirate of Dubai 2011

Number of Dubai Hotel EstablishmentGuests by Month Jan-Dec 2011

Standard Deluxe Total

260 193 9,023 6,629 91,599 50,862 163,527 94,557 513,540 190,825 862,532 365,849 1,640,481 708,915

11,375 6,843 250,334 150,160 306,654 129,418 442,827 176,187 899,462 283,602 1,262,992 377,387 3,173,644 1,123,597

18,251 5,207 234,432 79,197 246,003 80,646 276,382 102,181 431,633 131,310 478,659 146,628 1,685,360 545,169

122,691 33,328 1,116,258 363,872 782,389 244,556 1,453,729 559,276 1,752,383 544,871 1,332,650 437,381 6,560,100 2,183,284

13,054 3,559 193,958 56,100 741,221 185,673 1,108,915 291,168 1,814,559 479,483 4,500,888 980,463 8,372,595 1,996,446

2,059 736 25,566 9,053 119,696 53,684 193,864 91,109 389,607 143,046 655,552 218,555 1,386,344 516,183

1,525 604 10,046 3,417 28,863 12,485 86,422 56,787 144,654 55,559 176,840 60,284 448,350 189,136

169,215 50,470 1,839,617 668,428 2,316,425 757,324 3,725,666 1,371,265 5,945,838 1,828,696 9,270,113 2,586,547 23,266,874 7,262,730

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

The Hotel Managementutilised the summer

period to upgrade the property.The upgradation includes,newly added facilities of twoexecutive floors to cater topnotch corporate and MICEsegments with its state-of -the-art facilities.

Iftikhar Hamdani,General Manger, RamadaAjman said,

“We are excited toopen the newlyrefurbished wing tooffer quality roomsto our corporate and leisure segmentin the comingwinter season.

Catering to all types ofmarket, 168 newly refur-bished rooms will fulfillevery need alongwith our execu-tive floors that’srequired forgovernmentand corporatesegment.”

Predominantly on sus-tainable measures to improvethe bottom line and to take a Corporate SocialResponsibility by involving inenvironmental support,

Ramada Ajman engages itselfwith many activities roundthe year.

To name a few such asBeach cleaning, regular blooddonations camp at the hotel,Earth Hour celebration, edu-cation to the guest for theenvironment support, visitsto the elderly home Ajmanand special need childrenat Sharjah are some

among themany initia-tives thatthe hotelinvolvesitself.

HOTELS S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 1 1

The summer camp at thehotel proved to be both

educational and experiential

immersion in the living ofgreen values for a childestablishing a pattern of life.The camp mirrors the

sustainable practicesfamilies wish to follow athome like encouraging kidsto healthy eating or recycleor make use of old objectsinstead of throwing them.

Ruprecht Schmitz,General Manager,Millennium Hotel AbuDhabi, expressed, “We wantto build the pathway to turngreat kids into great leadersand build both their and ourplanet’s future on thewhole.

All our games,activities andprogrammes arefocussed on thebetterment of theenvironment

that will provide the kids afirm foundation to build the

rest of their lives,” com-mented Schmitz.

Millennium Hotel AbuDhabi is constantly strivingfor perfection for over thepast few years. The atten-tion to detail plays a majorrole in the hotel’s continu-ous success. This hard workwas translated to a very pos-itive feedback by the valuedguests of the property.

“We always believe inraising our standard of quality to reach new heightsof achievement. We do notjust look at the entire picture from outside, but digdeeper to perfect the minordetails that makes all the difference, as we are thriving to exceedexpectations,” explainedSchmitz while discussingthe hotels value.

The Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi continues its journeytowards a green earth by engaging children with itseco-activities throughout its two months summer campthat started from July 1 in the hotel premises.

TT BU R E AU

Ruprecht SchmitzGeneral ManagerMillennium Hotel Abu Dhabi

Upgradation includes,newly added facilities oftwo executive floors tocater top notch corporateand MICE segments withits state-of-the-art facilities

Catering to all types of market, 168 newlyrefurbished rooms willfulfill every need along withour executive floors that’srequired for governmentand corporate segment

Tower 2 Features

Ramada Ajman is a landmark in itself with three blacktowers. After its full refurbishment within 3 months,the hotel is re-opening its doors of Tower 2 onSeptember 1.

TT BU R E AU

Iftikhar HamdaniGeneral MangerRamada Ajman

New look for Black Tower 2

Given a local ‘four-star’rating, the hotel is

situated on ExhibitionAvenue, close to BahrainInternational Airport. Itfeatures a 24-hour self-service business centre, freehigh speed internet

connection, gym, restaurantand 24-hour kiosk.

Pascal Gauvin, ChiefOperating Officer - India,Middle East and Africa, IHGinformed, “Holiday InnExpress is going fromstrength to strength acrossAsia and the Middle East.

Following ourrecent brandlaunch in Thailand,we’re thrilled tosee the brand openup in Bahrain, justshortly before welaunch in Indialater this year.”

With a unique operatingmodel, Holiday Inn ExpressBahrain will address theneeds of the price-conscious

business and leisure travellerseeking quality accommoda-tion at affordable rates.

Owned by DubaiInternational Capital, IshraqGulf Real Estate HoldingCompany is a developer. TheBahrain hotel will be operatedby its subsidiary firm, IshraqHospitality Management andemploy 70 staff.

Ishraq Gulf Real Estate and InterContential HotelsGroup (IHG) jointly opens the first budget Holiday InnExpress hotel in Bahrain. The 274-room property,marks the debut of the brand in Bahrain.

TT BU R E AU

First budget ‘Inn’ in Bahrain

Cruise-theme team building event

Iberotel Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort, an upmarket Moroccan-style property in the heart of Fujairah,recently organised a cruise-theme, team-building event. Around 100 staff participated in this notable andfun-filled event dressed in complete sailor uniforms, imbibing the thrills and bliss of a sea voyage.

‘Ultimate Summer Escape’ sales blitz

Tilal Liwa Hotel recently concluded a series of sales blitz for the ‘Ultimate Summer Escapes’ campaign.During the 2-month campaign, the sales team targetted corporate companies, embassies, hospitals andgovernment organisations and covered a total of 17 days sales blitz, conducted on weekly basis in differentregions and cities.

Pascal GauvinChief Operating Officer - India, MiddleEast and Africa, IHG

Spreading ‘Green Tourism’

NTO1 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2

R as Al Khaimah is strivingto strengthen its position

on the international tourismmap as leisure, adventureand an affordable luxurydestination and this newachievement boosts thenation’s tourism pride.

A total of seven Awardswere presented to BanyanTree Al Wadi and its sister

resort, Banyan Tree Ras AlKhaimah Beach, the HiltonRas Al Khaimah Resort & Spa.DoubleTree by Hilton receivedfive accolades including com-

munity care and social respon-sibility recognition, where BinMajid Beach Hotel receivedone regional award.

Commenting on thehotels’ awards, Victor Louis,Chief Operating Officer, RasAl Khaimah Tourism andDevelopment Authority said,“I congratulate the winninghotels and resorts for achiev-ing these prestigious awards.

These awardsendorse the aims ofRas Al KhaimahTourism andDevelopmentAuthority inpromoting theregion as a globalaffordable luxurydestination forleisure andadventure travel.”

At the recent 2012World Travel Awards (WTA),The Banyan Tree Al Wadi andBanyan Tree Ras Al KhaimahBeach walked away with fiveawards; Ras Al KhaimahLeading Resort; UAE Leading

Villa Resort; Middle EastLeading Desert Spa Resortand Middle East Leading Villafor Al Rimal Deluxe Villa.

As for the 2012 MENATravel Awards, Banyan TreeRas Al Khaimah Beach wasawarded with the UAELeading Beach Resort; theBanyan Tree Al Wadi won aSilver Award for Best 5-StarLeisure Hotel and thePlatinum Award for Best Spa.

Two of Hilton Worldwidebrands in RAK were honouredwith five international awardsincluding Holiday CheckAward 2012. This propertyreceived two internal awards- 2011 MEA Hilton BrandAward of Excellence and theMEA Q4 Blue Energy Award.

Doubletree by HiltonRas Al Khaimah had won twoawards, including 2011Crystal Cookie CommunityCare Award and the Care Cupheading over 300 hotelsworldwide. Bin Majid BeachHotel had also won thePlatinum Award for Best 4Star Leisure Hotel at 2012MENA Travel Awards, for thesecond time after 2004.

Ras Al Khaimah and its international hotel brands wererecently honoured with regional and internationalawards. These accolades are the testament to the hardeffort attributed by each of the hotels’ team members.

Accolades for RAK

TT BU R E AU

Victor LouisChief Operating OfficerRas Al Khaimah Tourism andDevelopment Authority

Saudi Arabia is theemirate’s 5th largest

international source market.Abu Dhabi Tourism andCulture Authority (TCA AbuDhabi) recorded an

encouraging 17 per centincrease of overall hotel guestarrivals in June 2012. Amongwhich 6,661 Saudi ArabianNationals checked-in at AbuDhabi’s hotels and hotelapartments. This was astaggering 57 per cent jumpcompared to June 2011.

“Geographic proximityis one of Abu Dhabi’s sellingpoints, among many others toSaudi tourists. The capitalhas become a home-away-

from-home for thousands ofSaudis eyeing short leisurebreaks, cultural excursionsand business trips in a famil-iar environment,” expressedMubarak Al Shamisi,Country Manager - TCA AbuDhabi, Saudi Arabia.

The roadshows wereheld in Jeddah (August 26),Riyadh (August 27) andDammam (August 28)

respectively. More than 20stakeholders from AbuDhabi’s tourism sectorincluding airlines, hotels,attractions, tour operatorsand Destination ManagementCompanies (DMCs) partici-pated in the 3-city event.They highlighted the emi-rates multi-faceted leisure-business-cultural proposi-tions to the three Saudi cities.

“Besides large numberof Saudi nationals tradition-ally opting to travel by road,Abu Dhabi is also well-con-nected with various Saudicities through air as well.Etihad Airways operates 42weekly services between AbuDhabi and the three Saudicities. Saudi Airlines operatesdaily services to Abu Dhabifrom both Jeddah andRiyadh, while NAS Air oper-ates daily flight fromJeddah,” added Al Shamisi.

TCA Abu Dhabi updatedtrade representatives on therecent additions to the emi-rate’s tourism propositionthrough a tailored presentationincluding details of new hotelsand resorts and various otherupcoming attractions.

TCA Abu Dhabi held a 3-city roadshow in Saudi Arabiain August. The idea was to attract greater number oftourists from the region looking for leisure breaks, culturalexcursions and business trips in a familiar environment.

Abu Dhabi in Saudi Arabia

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Sharjah in its bid to boosttourist inflow has put

onus on upgrading andimproving the qualitystandards in the emirate’shospitality sector.

“The proposed normsare aimed at improving theexperience of the growingnumber of internationalvisitors to Sharjah, offeringthe travellers better qualityservices and greater numberof choices.

This will help,create newinvestmentopportunities andattract new tourismmarket segments,”

said Mohamed Ali AlNoman Al Noman, Chairman,

SCTDA at a meeting withselected audience of morethan 60 leaders andrepresentatives of the hotel industry.

The two-day meetingdiscussed the 2008 Sharjah’sHotel Classification andLicensing Law along with the latest updates termingthe hospitality sector as the

most crucial pillar of thetourism industry.

The Board hopes, thatgreater cooperation, betweenthe Authority and hotelindustry will eventuallybenefit and lead to thestrengthening of thehospitality sector.

“Providing betterquality services and facilitiesto tourists will in turnenhance the standard of thetourism sector and boost the

tourist flow to the emirate,”said Al Noman.

SCTDA hopes that thenew classification normswhich are in tune with thelatest trends anddevelopments in globaltourism markets will benefitthe domestic market of the emirate.

Hotel industry leadershave welcomed the newinitiatives for hotelclassification scheme. Theirrepresentatives promised toextend all the possible helpand cooperate with theAuthority to boost thetourism sector in the emirate,which has been witnessing aboom of late.

Tourism industry inSharjah is witnessing asteady growth particularly interms of hotel occupancyrates and number of inboundinternational visitors.

With an aim to boost the tourist inflow, Sharjah Commerce and TourismDevelopment Authority (SCTDA) plans to launch a new hotel classificationcriteria. The Tourism Board have started dialogues with variousstakeholders to elicit their views and suggestions on the said hotel scheme.

‘Hotel classification’ in Sharjah

As a pilot project, it haspicked up 16 priority

destinations out of 80locations to create tourism asone of the nation’s economy.Improving tourist locations isthe biggest challenge if thereis no collaboration with thelocal government.

“Our endeavour isnot only to increasethe number oftourists visiting ourcountry but to inspiregood quality tourismand make them stayhere longer,”

informed Nour Aridi, CountryManager, Visit IndonesiaTourism Office, Middle EastRepresentation Office.

The 16 destinationsinclude Lake Toba,Pangandaran, Borobudur,Bromo – Tengger, Semeru,Lombok, Rinjani, Flores,Wakatobi, Toraja, Derawan,Pulau Weh, Togean islands,Thousand Islands and OldBatavia and Bali’s southernand northern coasts as wellas around Mount Batur.

The Indonesia Government hasidentified 200 tourist attractionsand 80 national tourism strategiclocations to be developed by 2025.

Identifying 200tourist spots

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Mohamed Ali Al NomanChairman SCTDA

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Hotel industry leaders havewelcomed the newinitiatives for hotelclassification scheme. Theirrepresentatives promised toextend all the possible helpand cooperate with theAuthority

Welcoming theInitiatives

Nour AridiCountry Manager, Visit Indonesia TourismOffice, Middle East Representation Office

During January-June 2012some 36,430 SaudiArabians checked-in at AbuDhabi’s hotels and hotelapartments registering a36% rise on the equivalenthalf-year in 2011

Surprising Figures

The capital has seen a boom inSaudi arrivals for short leisurebreaks, cultural excursions andbusiness trips

Mubarak Al Shamisi

TECHNOLOGY S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 1 3

In addition, new contenthas recently been added

from leading hotelaggregators, Hotelzon andTourico Holidays.

To deliver a completeintegrated hotel booking plat-form, the booking engine

combines meta-search func-tionality from Sprice.com,acquired by Travelport inMay 2010 with Travelport’score B2B expertise. It is nowavailable in over 70 countriesand in six different languages

(English, French, German,Italian, Spanish and Polish).

Niklas Andreen, GVPHospitality and PartnerMarketing, Travelport, said,“Developing ‘TravelportRooms and More’ was astrong one as it complementsour GDS hotel offering andbenefits everyone in the sup-ply chain. Importantly,

it negates the need for leisuretravel agents tosearch for hoteloffers on multiplewebsites. Instead it allows them to access and bookcommissionableaccommodationoffers through one quick and easy process.

With agents in over 70countries now usingTravelport Rooms and More,we are also offering leisurehotel suppliers an additional

platform through which theycan market their content.”

Hotelzon and TouricoHolidays added 14 otherleading hotel content suppli-ers on the portal, includingBooking.com, Agoda,Hotels.com and LateRooms.The tool also containsTravelport’s extensive GDShotel content.

Hotelzon, an online B2Bhotel booking technologyprovider, adds more than1,00,000 additional hotelproperty offers. With 37,000exclusive hotels that cannotbe found through other dis-tribution channels, Hotelzonoffers a comprehensiveEuropean inventory that con-tinues to grow organically.

‘Travelport Rooms and More’, the hotel booking engine,is already witnessing a triple growth on the fastgrowing hospitality sector with over 7,00,000 supplieroffers on more than 3,40,000 hotel properties.

Tripling the scores

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Niklas AndreenGVP Hospitality and Partner MarketingTravelport

The analysis report sees thegrowth figures of the

Kingdom reaching 15 per centin 2011, keeping Saudi Arabiaamongst the top 5 countriesshowing highest percentagegrowth in passengers between

2010 and 2011. Securing aplace in the top 15 fastest-growing countries, the UAEachieved 10 per cent growthin visitor departures in 2011.Traffic between Asia andEurope and between Asia andNorth America, grew by 9 percent while between Asia andthe Middle East, it grew by 6

per cent reaching 38 milliontravellers in 2011.

“With the fast increas-ing tourism potential of theregion, the Middle East con-firms its prime position,becoming one of the most prominent travel hubsin the world.

This is mainly due to itsinfrastructure, its strategic location and strong commitmentand vision by theregion's rulers,” asserted Antoine Medawar,Vice President, Middle East and North Africa,Amadeus.

“We, at Amadeus willcontinue supporting thetravel sector growth in thispart of the world andbeyond. Analysing and shar-ing key trends is a seriousstep for us to ensure thatprovided technology solu-tions meet the industryneeds and enable its players

to gain competitive edge,”added Medawar.

In the Middle East,inspite of the smaller volumes, certain trends can be highlighted. Thegrowing traffic, in the Middle Eastern inter-cityroutes, rose predominantlybetween Dubai and Jeddah, followed by Dubaiand Doha.

More so, busiest routeswith other regions areLondon-Dubai and Bombay-Dubai. Increased traffic toand from Jeddah with otherregions was also registered,a growth supported byreligious travel.

As per Amadeus Total Demand analysis report, Asialeads the world’s growth in travel and holds seven outof the ten busiest inter-city routes. Regionally, SaudiArabia confirms its prime position followed by UAE.

Saudi Arabia among top-5

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Antoine MedawarVice President, Middle East andNorth AfricaAmadeus

Tourico Holidays, a TravelHoldings company is a leadingglobal travel brokerage companyheadquartered in Orlando,Florida. With a worldwide hotelnetwork exceeding 37,000individual properties across4,500 destinations is thecompany's core asset

Add-onsAmadeus Total Demandprovides detailed demanddata for any origin anddestination pair in the world. Data is mined from a largenumber of sources includingcommercial and governmentairline and airpor t trafficstatistics and major GDSs as well

Market IntelligenceSolution Analysis

Wizie.com provides vastdomain knowledge and

proven expertise inTechnology, Consulting, Salesand Marketing solutions to thetravel and hospitality industry.

Middle Eastexplored further on the com-pany’s decision of spreadingits footprints across theMiddle East. “Middle East isa virgin market as far asTravel Technology is con-cerned. There are not toomany OTAs. Since there is aboom in the travel similar toother markets, there is defi-nitely a lot of scope for tech-nology,” explained MoondeepAggarwal, Chief OperatingOfficer and Vice President –Operations, Wizie.com.

Wizie sees the MiddleEast market as a rich market, for all services the

company provides, startingfrom Online Booking Engine Solutions, AutomationSolutions to Fare ManagementSolutions.

When asked about thecompany’s future prospectin the Middle East market, Aggarwal replied,“Wizie is just penetratinginto the Middle East market.But, being a popular tech-nology company (betweentravel agents and GDS) inNorth America and withsome presence in Syria,Europe and India, we arequite confident that we will soon penetrate andincrease our market share inthe region.”

“Travel Industry global-ly is going through turbulent times and travelagents in the ME region are definitely affected by this as well.

Technology isgradually becomingthe universal key forreducing cost andincreasing sales.Such a scenario is aperfect platform forWizie to establishrelations with agentsacross ME.

Also with the vastknowledge, experience andproducts/solutions, we defi-nitely have something tooffer to every agent/airline inME,” he further added.

The company is alreadydriving its marketing plansaggressively. “We havestarted some marketing andare also meeting with cus-tomers. We are further plan-ning to be a part of variousindustry events and eventu-

ally plan to establish astrategic location in ME tocater to the local cus-tomers,” he said.

Wizie.com has the expertise to streamline critical business processes,optimise revenue streams, reduce costs and earn higher profit of marginsto enhance customer service operations. The company aims to strengthenits ties with the ME agents and the region to further expand its footprints.

Wizie bonding with ME agents

Moondeep AggarwalChief Operating Officer and Vice President – OperationsWizie.com

Apart from ME / Africawizie’s other top sourcemarkets are USA, Canada,Australia, Europe, India andthe rest of the Asia

Top Source Markets

RA I N A MA N DA L

First Crowne Plazaopens in Qatar

Ramada Downtown Dubai, participated in the China Workshop 2012,organised by the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing(DTCM) to maximise the business potential in the Chinese market.The workshop was conducted to create awareness about Dubai.

Maximising businesswith China

InterContinental Hotels Group and Trans Orient Establishmentcelebrated the opening of the first Crowne Plaze Doha - The BusinessPark on August 21. The new property offers unparalleled meetingand conference facilities and new restaurants for the booming Dohamarket. The hotel, the first in the region, which has launched underthe new Crowne Plaza branding, is set to appeal international visitorsand Qatari residents alike.

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roadshows in Jordan Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Minister for Tourism, India along with India Tourism Dubai office held a roadshow event in Amman, Jordan highlightingthe charm and diversity of India to the travel trade of the region. Many tour operators, travel agents, hotels and airlines showcased Indian touristattractions at the event. The roadshow was held on June 27, 2012.

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Ramada Downtown Dubai DubaiWael El Behi has been appointed as the new General Managerfor Ramada Downtown Dubai. In his present role, he will beresponsible for promoting the hotel’sreputation. With nearly two decades ofexperience in the industry, El Behi hasextensive knowledge in sales,marketing and operations in luxury hotelbrands. Before moving to RamadaDowntown Dubai, he was with CoralHotels & Resor ts where he heldseveral managerial positions. Hehas joined the hotel in June2011 as Executive AssistantManager.

Airberlin BerlinStella Warmuth has been appointed as the new AreaManager - Middle East, Asia Pacific & Africa for airberlin. Inher present profile, she will beresponsible for sales in these markets.Warmuth has been working forairberlin since June 2008 and wasinitially an International SalesManager responsible for themarkets in Great Britain andFrance. In April 2011, she tookover as Head of InternationalSales Planning &Coordination.

Cristal Hotel Abu Dhabi & Cristal Salam Hotel Abu DhabiSid Sattanathan joins as the newCluster General Manager of Cristal HotelAbu Dhabi on Zayed the 1st Street andCristal Salam Hotel located in theTourist Club Area. He has over 25years of hospitality experience.Sattanathan began his career in theFront office and branched intoDistribution and RevenueManagement, which led toRegional Corporate roles inSingapore, Sydney andAmsterdam.

Connect World New DelhiRajiv Verma joins Connect World as the new BusinessHead - Sales and Marketing in India. He comes with more

than 20 years of professionalexperience in diverse aspects ofSales and Marketing in Airlines,Hospitality, Holidays, Travel andTourism & Destination Management

Companies. In this new profile, Vermawill be responsible to promote the

Brand’s growing por tfolio in Indiaand Dubai. He will be based inthe company’s India office andwould be repor ting to thecorporate office in Dubai.

Centro Sharjah & Sharjah Rotana SharjahTarek Abdel Dayem has been appointed as the ClusterDirector of Sales for Centro Sharjah and Sharjah Rotana.

Originally from Egypt, Dayem brings withhim more than 17 years of experience inthe hospitality industry. After pursuingBachelor’s Degree (1994) in Tourism& Hotel Management from Cairo

University, he started his career in theFront Office Department with Marriot

Hotels and Radisson Bly in Egypt. He speaksEnglish, Arabic andItalian fluently.

Bin Majid Beach Resort Ras Al KhaimahJavier Cid is appointed as the Director of Operations for Bin Majid Beach Resort. A Spanishnational, Cid has more than 10 yearsof extensive experience in theinternational hospitality industry.Prior to this, he was working as ahospitality consultant for a hotelopening project placed in Bilbao,Spain. In his present role, he willoversee and direct all aspectsof the hotel operationaldepar tments. He holds anMBA degree in Tourism inMalaga and Madrid, Spain.

Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel DubaiSandeep Kumar is the new Business Development Manager– Corporate of Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel in Dubai. He is multi-lingual and has experience both in Indiaand in the Arabian Gulf. He joins thehotel from the Sheraton Khalidiya,Abu Dhabi. An Indian national, Kumarholds an MBA degree in hospitalitymanagement and internationalmarketing management apart fromseveral other qualifications inhospitality management, BusinessAdministration, sales andmarketing and internationalbusiness management.

Jumeirah Emirates Towers DubaiImran Changezi is appointed as the new Hotel Managerof Jumeirah Emirates Towers. He has over 19 years ofhospitality and leisure experiencecovering both Rooms Division andSales & Marketing functions, workingacross Europe, Middle East and Asia.Changezi joined Jumeirah Group in2000 as a member of the SalesDepar tment for Jumeirah EmiratesTowers. He was recently appointed aspre-opening Hotel Manager atJumeirah Bilgah BeachHotel, opening soon inAzerbaijan.

Hilton Al Hamra Golf & Beach Resort Ras Al KhaimahRiad Alsaad joins the Hilton AlHamra Golf & Beach Resort as thenew Sous Chef. In this new profile,he will oversee and manage an all-electric kitchen with several cooksand six dining outlets. In hisprevious roles, Alsaad served as aSous Chef for the Hilton Ras AlKhaimah Resor t & Spa and Chef toPartie for Hilton Worldwide in SydneyAustralia.

Suite 201, 202, 203, 204 Al Sayegh Building, Bur Dubai, P.O. Box 20808 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Tel: +971 4 334 4330 / 335 7676 | Fax: +971 4 334 4232 / 335 7111E-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.lama.ae

The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in Dubai, as part of its ‘Dubai Expert Programme’, organised a mega famtrip and iftar banquet for agents from 100 German tourist companies. It is the firsttime for the website of the ‘Dubai Expert Online Programme’ to see this big number of registrations and visitors. Hundreds of expert companies in marketing Dubai overseas have participated in the e-learning course. The100 participants successfully completed the online course for marketing Dubai in Germany. During the visit, the German delegates also visited the Burj Khalifa.

DTCM’s mega fam trip for 100 German agents

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Thrifty UAE lead the wayin generating the concept

of renting cars in shoppingmalls and consequently

instigated its shopping mallstrategy in 2006. Since then,the car rental organisationstarted expanding its services

in most of the leading mallsof the country.

Intentionally movingcloser to a developing com-munity in Dubai, visitors andresidents now, have a moreconvenient access to carrentals with a fleet of morethan 17,500 vehicles tochoose from.

“Our businesses inshopping malls haveincreased by 700 per centover the last five years. Webelieve it will increase morewith the onset of summer,this year as well, attractingboth tourists and residents inMirdif City Centre and othermalls locations,” said RahulSingh, General Manager,Thrifty Car Rental.

“As the travel marketcontinues to improve, Thriftysees remarkable opportunityin the UAE.

The increasednumber ofdiscounted deals inhotel stays andtourist activities hasled to a rise in theinbound touristtraffic, resulting inincreased businessactivity for ThriftyCar Rental,” hefurther adds.

Thrifty Car Rental, UAE, launches its newest car rentallocation at Mirdif City Centre recently. Besides 10 otherexisting shopping malls, Thrifty also provides cost-effective services to airports, free zones and hotels.

Thrifty now in Mirdif City

Rahul SinghGeneral ManagerThrifty Car Rental

Thrifty continues to keepthe UAE moving byservicing customers inmore than 40 full-serviceoutlets in Dubai, Abu Dhabi,Sharjah, Fujairah, Al Ain,Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah

Thrifty Car Rental inUnited Arab Emirates

The Royal Plus memberswill now get special deals

at best rates. There will bespecial rewards including,500 Royal Plus miles for eachbooking and all the benefitsof global car rental at Hertzlocations across all 59 sectorscovered by Royal Jordanian.

Royal Plus membershenceforth would collect1,000 miles if they book carsfrom Hertz PrestigeCollection that includesluxury brands like Mercedes,BMW and Porsche instead ofthe 500 miles they get forbooking just their air tickets.

“We are happy to haveestablished a partnership withRoyal Jordanian. We view thisas an opportunity to build alasting working relationshipbased on strong businesssynergies,” informed Michel

Taride, President - HertzInternational and ExecutiveVice President - HertzCorporation.

“We are bothcommitted to ensure thatour customers benefit fromthe latest innovations,developments andenhancements in travelservice, comfort and ease of access.

Hertz looks forwardto provide RoyalPlus members andmany other RoyalJordanianpassengers withmany attractive carrental offers andgreat servicesaround the world,”Taride added.

The tie-up will comehandy for both business andleisure travellers needingtheir own transport formeetings and sightseeing aswell as to embark on holiday road trips.

Hertz and Royal Jordanian entered into a new tie-up.This association will provide a one-stop travellingsolution and preferential rates to its frequent flyerswho book their flights online.

Tie-up for one-stop travel

Michel TaridePresident - Hertz International andExecutive VP, Hertz Corporation

Celebrating Iftar with the travel tradeTravelport hosted a fast-breaking occasion, Iftar, for a huge gathering of over 500 travel agents and their families to celebrate the Holy Monthof Ramadan. The event took place at Park Hyatt in Dubai. The get together was organised to strengthen ties among the travel trade as well asfor enhancing business relationships.

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Hertz has 11 Hertzfranchisees and a total of 66locations in the Middle East

Presence in ME

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