Category: Middle East

Passengers travelling to India to reunite with relatives for Diwali can enjoy competitive fares on Economy Class to Mumbai starting at AED 1,205, Delhi starting at AED 1,265, Hyderabad starting at 1,105, and Ahmedabad starting at AED 1,165. Business Class passengers can enjoy fares to Mumbai starting at AED 3,605, Delhi starting at AED 3,705, Hyderabad starting at AED 3,395, and Ahmedabad starting at AED 4,775. Emirates will be offering passengers onboard special Diwali delicacies from 7 November to 10 November 2018. The special treats will be available for customers in all classes on all flights to India from Dubai. ... Read more

Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider in the Middle East, received two prestigious honours at the Aviation Business Awards 2018 held in Dubai on October 9, 2018. The ‘Unsung Hero of the Year’ and ‘Engineering Innovation of the Year’ awards recognise the company’s achievements in the past 12 months, by a panel of aviation industry experts. ‘Unsung Hero of the Year’ was awarded to Etihad Airways Engineering’s Technical Sales, which recognised the multi-cultural team for playing a key role in enabling the UAE’s vision to become a global aerospace hub and Customer Service ... Read more

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), to coordinate efforts to position Abu Dhabi as a world-class medical tourism destination, with the MTA’s annual World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress event now being hosted in Abu Dhabi a major part of the agreement. This globally recognized event brings together experts and organizations from more than 100 countries worldwide and regularly attracts more than 10,000 visitors, approximately 200 exhibitors and sponsors, and up to 100 hosted VIP buyers. The MoU agreement, which was ... Read more

Oman’s Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has commenced its multi-city roadshow on October 7, beginning with Qatar’s capital Doha. The Tourism Ministry is also conducting mobile promotional workshops during the five-city roadshow. The workshops, set to take place in Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai as well. The roadshows and workshops will be attended by Omani tourism companies including Oman Air and SalamAir. The ministry has coordinated with its representative offices to invite about 100 tourist companies and institutions, in addition to the local media in the host countries. Introductory and promotional presentations will be made about tourism potential, services and products in the ... Read more

The first edition of Indian Food Festival held at the Tea Garden restaurant in The InterContinental Hotel Jeddah will conclude on October 10, 2018. “The festival will further help strengthen the bonds of ties between India and Saudi Arabia. Indian Cuisine reflects on 8000 years history of various groups and cultures in directing with the Indian Sub continent leading to diversity of flavors and regional cuisines found in Modern day India. Indian Cuisine consists of a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisine native to the Indian subcontinent. These cuisines vary substantially from each other and use locally available spices, ... Read more

Dubai is all ready to host a massive yoga festival at the Dubai Internet City Amphitheatre from November 15-17, 2018. The event comes with a jam-packed schedule of free-to-attend yoga sessions, meditation circles and yoga-related activities for fans of all ages. The festival begins on Thursday evening in the meditation tent, and continues with two full days of sessions led by some of Dubai’s best-known yoga and meditation practitioners along with visiting guest teachers. Healthy food and exciting retail spaces round out this holistic weekend festival. “Yogafest is about connecting you to nature, to yourself and to like minded people in ... Read more

Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), the largest shopping and entertainment extravaganza, is starting on 26th Dec 2018 and will last for one month long. Last day of the festival is 26th Jan 2019 There will be retail sales, deals and discounts from top global brands, and there will be mega prizes up for grabs, from luxury cars, gold and cash. Aside from opportunities to save money and win prizes, DSF organizers have also lined up activities to up the stake in entertainment during the month-long festival, further reiterating the event as a global attraction. Details of the exclusive offers will be ... Read more

Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) recently announced the launch of the development and redesigning project of Khorfakkan Beach. The project aligns with Shurooq’s strategy to integrate tourism and family destinations across the emirate of Sharjah. The project includes the establishment of service facilities and world-class hospitality amenities to host recreational activities. This adds to the tourism appeal of Khorfakkan city and the east coast in general, which enjoys a list of natural landscapes, mountains and climate. Due ... Read more

Abdali, Jordan The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) is organizing a cultural walk – ‘Walk Through Time’- on October 13 to commemorate World Tourism Day (WTD). People from the old Jabal Luweibdeh to the modern Abdali district will participate in the event. The event is initiated by Lina Annab, the Tourism minister.  Tourism sector employees and residents of Amman will take part in the walk, in order to boost the walking rout and its exposure to international travellers. Jabal Al Weibdeh, Jordan The new walking route will link modern and traditional parts of the Kingdom’s capital, starting from the ... Read more

Emaar Entertainment, the pioneer of innovative entertainment, leisure and retail concepts, and a business of global developer Emaar Properties, is redefining the luxury cinema experience with its Reel Cinemas in Dubai. Reel Cinemas has brought never-before-seen experiences to the world by elevating its cinemas to the next level of operational excellence, technology innovation, luxurious amenities and the highest standards of service. These are also driven by several global-first partnerships including with Dolby Cinema, ScreenX and its association with international restaurateur Guy Fieri. Recently, the all-new Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall, located in the world’s most visited retail and leisure ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: CNN Residents and those who visit UAE are warned not wear inappropriate dress in public places like malls and cafes, otherwise face three years’ imprisonment and deportation for ‘harming the country’s public morals’, as reported by local news agency. The instruction came following a viral video on Twitter of an Arab woman who spoke about how she reported a “woman who was dressed inappropriately” to a mall security in Dubai. The security then provided the woman with an ‘abaya’ to cover up. “There are no context or law that regulates or controls clothing limits or set penalties for ... Read more

Site of Amaala Project (Photo Courtesy: Saudi Gazette) Saudi Arabia is planning to build a luxurious tourism center with international standards. It is in addition to the two mega projects in the banks of the red sea. The project cost will be mainly spent from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (Public Investment Fund) of Saudi. Public Investment Fund has announced that they will bear the initial costs of the project, which is named as Amaala. The project will spread on 3,800 square meters will be developed on the concepts of Wellness, Healthy Living and Meditation. Other than the PIF Funding, lots ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism in Oman has decided to offer free Wi-Fi services on the go at five castles. Through a strategic partnership with “Omantel”, free Wi-Fi services will be installed in five castles. This application is designed with the characteristics and features that will attract tourists. The Ministry of Tourism has also signed a strategic partnership agreement with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) on the infrastructure for the telecommunications sector and information services and broadband services for mobile internet and value-added services technology. The agreement comes within the framework of strengthening cooperation between the public and private sectors to support the Oman ... Read more

Crown Prince Camel Festival has entered the Guinness World Records as the largest camel sports festival in the world. This year’s festival saw the participation of a record 11,186 camels, which competed in 787 rounds of competition over more than 40 days from August 11 to September 22. The world record came at a time when Saudi was celebrating its 88th National Day celebrated on September 23 every year. Prince Fahd Bin Jalawi Bin Abdulaziz Bin Musaed, president of the Saudi Arabian Camel Federation, accepted the official certificate confirming the festival’s accomplishment from Guinness representative Ahmad Jamal Al-Din. Prince Abdulaziz Bin ... Read more

The inaugural Dubai China Conference organized by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) saw a huge attendance of 900 local dignitaries, stakeholders and Chinese partners. The two-day event, held at Atlantis The Palm, is a major innovation that brings together industry players to share insights from the China market, whilst outlining Dubai Tourism’s ongoing collaborations to reconfirm its continued focus on one of the most important global source markets. The close relationship between China and Dubai is evident in the willingness of the emirate to become fully “China-Ready”. Large-scale initiatives, in collaboration with key strategic partners such as Alipay ... Read more