Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) hosted its largest ever group of travel trade professionals from Africa, during a six-day familiarisation trip aimed at positioning Dubai as a leading destination of choice. The familiarisation trip, which ends today, has given over 300 senior management executives from 12 African countries – South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Mauritius, Uganda, Tanzania and Cote D’Ivoire – first-hand insights into the array of unique experiences, attractions and activities that Dubai offers, with the spotlight falling on the city’s upcoming summer calendar, starting with the cultural activities during the holy month of Ramadan, followed by the Eid in Dubai celebrations and the Dubai Summer Surprises. In addition to visiting a number of key attractions across the city, the delegation also attended the  Dubai Tourism Conference and Workshop on 3 June, which provided an overview of Dubai’s tourism offerings and the kind of support that is being offered to the African travel trade to promote Dubai in their continent. Presentations were also made by officials from the different agencies and divisions of Dubai Tourism such as Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE),  the organiser of major festivals in Dubai, digital and marketing communications and Dubai Calendar.

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) hosted a group of 100 top travel agents and a TV crew from Ukraine, who were flown in by Air Arabia to spend four days in the Emirate of Sharjah. The local tourism stakeholders were given an opportunity to meet the group and present their products and services at a workshop in the Radisson Blu Sharjah. The workshop aimed to highlight the diverse tourism experience offered by the emirate for Ukrainian visitors. “Sharjah has successfully positioned itself as a family destination, which is supported by the safe welcoming environment, beautiful beaches and realistically priced attractions. As the cultural capital of the Arab region, Sharjah offers an authentic Arabian atmosphere through a diverse tourism product that ranges from culture and heritage to beautiful nature, entertainment and shopping. The emirate offers a safe and secure family friendly atmosphere. Recent strategic research shows that the outbound Ukrainian tourism is continuing to grow steadily suggesting a market opportunity. With Air Arabia flying direct from there and bulk airline seat sales with TPG, one of the largest outbound operators, we felt that there was substantial opportunity to leverage,” said His Excellency Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA. During the workshop, Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer, COO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), offered an overview of major tourist locations developed by Shurooq such as Al Noor Island, Mleiha Archaeological and Eco-tourism project, Kalba Eco-tourism project, Al Majaz Waterfront, Heart of Sharjah, and Al Qasba. Khulood Al Hooli, Manager of Al Hisn Museum, spoke about the facilities provided by museums in Sharjah. Maitha Al Balooshi from Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) gave a briefing on six learning …

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Chairman of the Executive Council, issued a decree announcing the launch of an Events Licensing System (ELS) to be implemented by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), a standardised and unified online platform that streamlines the official registration of all events administered, organised and managed across Abu Dhabi emirate. The new online licensing system will support Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector, providing the necessary resources to achieve sustainability and growth services include an expanded database on performance, enhanced quality of touristic events and measured success indicators. HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of TCA Abu Dhabi, will form a committee to oversee the implementation of strategies and policies surrounding the coordination of events in Abu Dhabi between the relevant authorities, by providing support for necessary services and facilities, while enhancing the contribution of government, private sector, and relevant stakeholders when organising events in the emirate. The introduction of the ELS will drive tourism industry growth within the emirate through improving event planning, and by developing industry best practice in line with Abu Dhabi Vision 2030.

Bollywood Parks Dubai, the first of its kind Bollywood themed park in the world, and a part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, set to be the region’s largest integrated theme park destination on its opening in October 2016, presented an exclusive preview and tour of the upcoming park at a press conference held at Taj Dubai, Business Bay. Hosting the event was Thomas Jellum, General Manager of Bollywood Parks Dubai along with senior management from Dubai Parks and Resorts. Based on popular films featuring the biggest names of Bollywood including Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and more, the mega-entertainment project unveiled details of all its major rides and attractions that will appeal to families and children alike and immerse visitors into the grand and explosive world of Hindi Cinema. Jellum commented: “We cannot wait to welcome people into Bollywood Parks™ Dubai this October! Each show and each ride has all been carefully developed to completely transport our guests into the world of Bollywood, whether they are chasing Don, flying with Krrish, being saved by Chulbul Pandey or playing cricket with Bhuvan and today we have highlighted our biggest attractions. Bollywood is cherished and adored not just by people in the region, but by a large global audience and we are positive that the park will be the hottest destination in Dubai this year.” Highlights of the press conference were a special never seen before video preview of the park featuring clips of the intellectual properties as well as the first look of the new Pre-launch brand campaign featuring 2 characters created specially for Bollywood Parks™ Dubai. Several interactive displays were also presented to the guests …

Consulate General of the United Republic of Tanzania in partnership with Holidays and Incentives and Regency Travels conducted a road show at the Hyatt Regency in Creek. Some of the leading travel agents in the UAE attended the event whilst four of the most luxurious properties in Zanzibar made their presentations. From Zanzibar the four properties  included The Residence, Melia, Park Hyatt and Elewana. The travel agents were given quite an opportunity to learn about the destination and the exclusive properties available for their clientele. Lastly was the presentation by the Tanzania tourism office where the spokesperson explained from traditional source markets Italy remains on top with over 65% traffic to the destination with other countries such as UK, France, Germany, Kenya, South Africa and North America  and the emerging countries are India, China, Russia and Middle East.

The Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) has wrapped up a successful roadshow in Europe held from May 16 to 20, returning with encouraging feedback from the European tourism and travel market. More than 500 representatives from leading travel and tourism companies attended the UAE Destination presentations held in the cities of Prague in Czech Republic, followed by Warsaw in Poland and concluded in Budapest, Hungary. The roadshow focused on the UAE as a destination and promoted the emirate of Ajman as a unique destination offering a variety of activities, events, attractions and accommodations to leisure and business travelers. During their first stop in Prague, the delegation was welcomed by UAE Ambassador to Czech Republic H.E. Mohamed Hamad Al Shamsi who praised Ajman Tourism for spearheading such promotional tours in major capitals and cities in Europe to promote the UAE.

A Green Key Workshop was organised by Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority to promote sustainable practices in hospitality sector. Green Key certification will be a priority area for Sharjah in developing the emirate’s hospitality sector and enhancing its position as a leading tourism destination in the region, said His Excellency Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). Addressing a Green Key Workshop organised by the Authority in Sharjah, HE Al Midfa said: “The UN World Tourism Organisation forecasts 1.6 billion tourists by the year 2020. In order to minimise the negative impacts of this growth and harness its power to help make positive change, sustainable tourism must become a reality for all tourism stakeholders.” HE Al Midfa called upon the hospitality industry to enhance awareness among hotel staff for the successful implementation of sustainable practices across the industry. “We must work together to create tools and training to boost sustainable practices and meet the demand for sustainable tourism products and services,” he added.The Green Key Workshop was organised to spread awareness about the most efficient methods of sustainable hospitality and waste and energy management practices in Sharjah. The workshop demonstrated the emirate’s commitment to promoting sustainable tourism and green economic growth. The workshop highlighted the economic and socio-cultural benefits of sustainable practices to the over 50 staff and clients from the tourism and leisure industry. Calling on the industry for efforts to prevent climate change by facilitating sustainable economic growth, the workshop pointed out that responsible energy usage, and waste and resource management will enable the industry to reduce operational costs. The participants were given a step by step approach to engage hoteliers and staff for a …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and Airbnb, the community-driven hospitality company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help promote responsible hosting and help grow and diversify tourism in the emirate. It follows the introduction of enhanced regulations last month that make obtaining a ‘holiday home’ license more streamlined for individual tenants and homeowners who want to rent their homes to guests.The MoU will bolster collaboration between the two parties and help enhance and diversify the emirate’s holiday home sector, boosting competition through a safe and transparent holiday home segment. Under the agreement, Airbnb will cooperate with Dubai Tourism on preventing breaches of the regulation by informing all host members of the Dubai Tourism regulations via its website and through email reminders of the rules. The two parties will also explore joint marketing and promotional activations for Dubai as a tourism destination. The MoU agreement states Dubai Tourism and Airbnb will work together to help grow and diversify tourism in Dubai, and promote innovative forms of tourism; Airbnb will raise awareness on the positive impacts of the Airbnb community by sharing aggregated, anonymised data about short term rental hosts; Airbnb will help promote responsible sharing of holiday homes by creating a “Hosting Page” on its platform, informing hosts of the rules and linking to official information and Airbnb will send regular reminders to its hosts in Dubai to remind them of the rules around responsible home sharing Airbnb is an increasingly popular way for guests from around the world to experience Dubai by staying with local hosts. There are almost 3,500 Airbnb listings in Dubai. This number and the number of guests choosing Airbnb when …

The Kingdom of Bahrain has launched its new tourism identity under the slogan of ‘Ours. Yours’, a step to further develop the tourism sector as a main contributor to the national economy. The new identity was unveiled by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority to the regional market at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) held in Dubai, United Arab of Emirates. The Kingdom plans to revamp its access points for foreign visitors including the modernisation program for the Bahrain International Airport which will result in increasing the capacity to 14 million visitors annually and port facilities for yachts that arrive in Bahrain from other countries. The tourism sector’s direct contribution to the GDP in the Kingdom of Bahrain is around $700 million – around 3.6 per cent – according to the statistics published for the year 2015, an increase of up to 9 per cent when compared to 2014. It is also expected that the tourism sector revenues will increase to $1 billion by 2020. The industry currently provides more than 31.5 thousand jobs, accounting for 4 per cent of the total workforce in Bahrain. The total investment in the travel and tourism sector in the Kingdom last year amounted to 280 million.

In a bid to boost tourism, during the second half of the year The Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) will embark on a one week roadshow to three European countries starting 16th May 2016. Officials of ATDD headed by HE Faisal Al Nuaimi, General Manager, and Yamina Aoucher, Director of Tourism Development & Marketing Department, will be joined by representatives from Kempinski Ajman, Ajman Saray, and the Ramada Ajman in visiting Prague in the Czech Republic on 16th May, followed by Warsaw in Poland on 18th May and Budapest in Hungary on 20th May. The delegation will meet with potential partners and network with industry stakeholders to present the emirate of Ajman as a safe family, business and leisure destination. The group will highlight the many activities, events, attractions and accommodations that are available in Ajman to both business and leisure travellers from the continent.