arabian travel news - june 2010

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01 June 2010 – Arabian Travel Newswww.hoteliermiddleeast.com

News

03 NewsDMCs slam airport ‘meet and greet’ ban; Travel agent business grows faster than online says Ted Teng; other carriers to cash in over BA strikes, DTCM rolls out new classifi cation system; SNTTA sees travel sales rebound this summer.

04 News analysis DMCs call for more support in the face of new Dubai Airport regula-tion banning them meeting tour groups at the airport.

08 CruiseCall for ‘cruise association’ to be set up, RAK to welcome cruises by 2011, Costa targets Arab market.

10 Tourism BoardsTourism to Thailand plummets, ADTA to host kids summer camp.

12 Airlines Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Air-ways have all launched fl ights to Tokyo - how do they measure up?

Awards Special Feature

19 Arabian Travel News Awards We reveal the winners of the fi rst ever Arabian Travel News Awards .

24 Winners Exclusive In interviews with all our win-ners, they reveal their career high-lights, secrets for success and tips for the top. .

Contents

ATM Report

37 Arabian Travel MarketKenya welcomes UAE Nationals; Seychelles reports major increases from the Gulf; Yemen invests in tourism; new Korean comedy show; Onyx expands across Thai-land with new brands.

42 Party People Were you snapped by our photog-raphers at an ATM party?

5219Ask the expert

34 Hemant Gupta, AXAHemant Gupta from AXA Insur-ance reveals the secrets to selling travel insurance to your clients.

How to sell

44 Ramadan destinationsWith Ramadan arriving in peak summer season this year we look at the best destinations to travel to, to experience the holy month.

DEBI Report

52 Britain & IrelandATN reports from Destination Britain and Ireland to fi nd out what the destination has to offer visitors from the Gulf.

Q&A

54 A friendly British welcomeWe chat to Sandie Dawe , CEO Visit Britain about putting the ‘fun’ into the British welcome.

Agent Action

56 Caught on Camera Agents got stuck into the action at the Emirates Holidays World event

44

56

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03 June 2010 – Arabian Travel Newswww.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel

News

DMCs slam airport ‘meet and greet’ ban Hotels and tour operators must pay a fee to Marhaba to meet their customers

Teng: Travel agent business growing faster than online

NEW RULE

TRAVEL AGENTS

The Leading Hotels of the World President and CEO Theodore Teng said bookings made through travel agents were “thriving” this year, and had overtaken bookings made online.

“Travel agent business is growing this year faster than online business,” said Teng. He put this down to custom-ers being put off by the over-load of information available on the web, and said people booking luxury holidays were willing to spend more to book through an agent.

“Some people will say

News

Destination Management Companies (DMCs) in Dubai have spoken out against a new ruling from Dubai Air-port which states that they can no longer meet and assist their own clients at the air-port, but must pay a fee to Marhaba - part of the Emir-ates Group - to carry out the service on their behalf.

The new ruling was intro-duced on 1 April, and DMCs say it is the latest regulation to be brought in to severely dent their already squeezed profi t margins.

“There are some funny laws coming out right now – for example we cannot meet and greet our own custom-ers at the airport,” said Ali Helmi, CEO, Net Tours. “We are forced and obliged to sign a contract with Marhaba. We have no choice but to pay the

which are getting more and more from year to year. It’s not good for the tourism.”

As well as the cost, DMCs argued that the new rule meant they could not pro-vide the service they prom-ised to their clients.

“From the service side, when we are not able to be there for our clients to pro-vide them with the meet and assist it’s diffi cult. This is a challenge,” said Hakim Al Budoor, chairman, Net Tours. “This is very impor-tant because when I go over-seas with what I promise to the tour operators it has to be the same people who receive them at the airport with the same commitment.”

“We can’t go to the airport and meet and greet our own clients - someone has to do it on our behalf,” added Helmi. “I have to make sure my cli-ents are supervised and be

DMCs must pay Marhaba to meet their clients at Dubai airport.

Ted Teng, president and CEO, Leading Hotels of the World

there somehow - but there should not be any monopoly on this. It should not be only Marhaba that can meet and assist on behalf of all the tour operators.”

One DMC, who did not wish to be named admitted that it had been a “privilege” to meet clients before immi-gration, but said the new law was “not helpful” to DMCs. “In most airports in the world you are not allowed to go inside, you can’t meet people before immigration, so at the end of the day it’s a privilege we had in Dubai. But why take it away I’m not so sure. I don’t think it’s helpful. I don’t see it as an advantage to kick us out.”

When contacted about the new rule, Marbaha explained that access for “tour oper-ators and hotels had been removed so that the airport didn’t become too crowded.”

travel agencies are dying. Maybe they are for certain other segments, but for the luxury segment they are absolutely thriving because their clients are saying, ‘help me’. There is too much infor-mation on the internet.”

“Saving a few dollars is nice but it is not the most impor-tant criteria,” he added. “Peo-ple are looking for service, they are looking for knowl-edge, they are looking for the confi dence that somebody knows about this area, this region, this hotel and a travel agent can add the most value.

“If you’re going to a desti-nation you haven’t been to

Franca Jatzlau, contract-ing executive, Orient Tours said of the new rule: “Costs are increasing in every aspect for us. It’s not a good thing. On the one hand Dubai wants to have a lot of tourists com-ing into their country; on the other hand they’re having these rules and regulations

fees to them.” The standard ‘meet and

assist’ service provided by Marhaba costs AED 90 per person, while the premium or ‘diamond service’ costs AED 150 per person. Mar-haba offers a discount for a group of over 10 people of AED 70 per person.

before, several time zones away and you don’t speak the local language – that’s where the travel agent adds value to the consumer.”

Teng said Leading Hotels worked closely with travel agents to educate them about their properties. He added: “I think sometimes too much is talked about in terms of a small part of the business that’s changing rapidly but we don’t talk about the core business anymore. The per-ception is who would go to a travel agent? Here most peo-ple go to a travel agent, to manage their travel in the luxury end.”

04 Arabian Travel News – June 2010 www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel

REGIONAL NEWSNews analysis

Banned from meeting their tour groups at the airport, DMCs say its time the government started working with them, not against them to support tourism to Dubai

estination Management Com-panies (DMCs) in Dubai say the recent ruling banning them from providing their own meet and assist services to incoming tour

groups at Dubai Airport is just the latest in a string of rules and regula-

tions imposed by various government bod-ies, which is putting immense pressure on their already squeezed profi t margins.

They have called on the government to help support the inbound tourism industry and work with them to achieve their joint goals of increasing tourism to Dubai.

“It’s not a good thing – on the one hand Dubai wants to have a lot of tourists coming into their country, and on the other hand they’re having these rules and regulations which are getting more and more each year. It’s not good for tourism,” says Franca Jat-zlau, contracting executive, Orient Tours.

A major frustration among tour operators is that there is no single authority responsi-ble for dishing out the rules and regulations that they that are expected to follow.

One DMC told ATN: “With the RTA, DTCM and police you get three sets of regulations when it comes to tourism. You have to go to each body, and the rules can change over-night. Can’t they talk together and tell us: this is what the regulations are and this is what they will be for the next two years?”

Rajesh Nair, assistant manager, group res-ervations, Orient Tours agrees: “Depending on which issue you have, you need to go to a different department. For example, DTCM says you need to have a logo on the tourism vehicle, but then you need to have a license from RTA to keep the logo. It would help us if they liaised with each other and just fi xed one fee for this.”

DMCs:“We are the ambassadors oDMCs in Dubai are calling on the government to support them in developing the tourism industry in Dubai.

On the one hand Dubai wants to have a lot of tourists coming into their country, and on the other hand they’re having these rules and regulations which are getting more and more from year to year. It’s not good for tourism. ”

A ‘JUNGLE’ IN THE MARKETThe DMCs say that while they are forced to battle with increasing red tape, fees, licenses and permits in order to carry out their operations to the letter - in terms of clamping down on the industry the govern-ment should be looking elsewhere. In recent years the inbound tour opera-tor market has spiralled exponentially from just a small number of companies to include hundreds of operators - many of which lack experience, facilities or qualifi cations.

These ‘fl y-by-night’ operators are under-cutting the bigger players, putting pressure on their prices, not to mention potentially damaging Dubai’s reputation.

“Right now Dubai is facing a major prob-lem,” says Ali Helmi, CEO, Net Tours.

“The competition that came to the mar-ket in the last 11 or 12 years was not a healthy competition. Nowadays it is like a jungle in the market,” he adds.

Frederic Bardin, senior vice president, Arabian Adventures fully agrees that the



there needs to be a clampdown on the num-ber of unqualifi ed tour operators working in Dubai.

“To me there is not enough regulation of the industry,” he says. “Look at the DTCM website. Look how many tour operators there are. You will fi nd something like 200 companies on there.”

“How many of those can be serious? Half of our would-be competitors are not even serious about the training of their staff, or their insurance. They take on the local beach boy because he’s got a four wheel drive to conduct a safari – with no insur-ance, no training, and he hardly speaks Eng-lish. And he’s got his radio music blasting through the car the whole afternoon.”

“It proves there is not enough regulation,” says Bardin.

Bardin is adamant the framework of rules must be reinforced in the correct way - which means clamping down on operators who are “endangering the lives of clients, damaging Dubai’s image and Dubai’s repu-tation” and not the operators who “don’t put a sticker on the car straight.”

s of Dubai and we need support” He adds: “There are people out there

doing safaris and guests come back and say ‘we were bashed around on the dunes for two hours, the guy didn’t say a word, we were afraid in the car because he was speed-ing, the car was making funny noises it didn’t seem to be safe’… these are the peo-ple we should be looking at. We need the police to enforce the rules that are there and tighten them in a meaningful way and say this is what is expected from an inbound tourism company.”

WORKING TOGETHER FOR TOURISMWith Dubai’s DMCs and the Dubai Govern-ment ultimately working towards the same goal – bringing tourism to the country - DMCs say it is time the authorities stepped in and started to work with them rather than against them towards achieving this goal.

“We need the government to step in and help to standardise the industry,” says Hakim Al Budoor, chairman, Net Tours.

He suggests the introduction of a ‘star-rating’ system for DMCs - something akin to hotel star ratings - so that established DMCs who have invested in providing the proper service, operations and facilities can high-light this to their clients.

Al Budoor is also keen for the govern-ment to improve the situation regarding desert safari camps which by law currently have to be built in one allocated area of the desert. It means the increasing number of tour groups in Dubai end up congregating en masse practically on top of one another. “What I see in Dubai is that you cannot pro-vide the quality here. The camps are next to each other, all in one place. It has become so lousy, with so much competition, and it’s not really where the tourists like to go. It’s a

fun programme, but not a real desert expe-rience when they’re sitting in the dunes and they see the electric power lines overhead and hundreds of groups around them, and you can hear the next door camp.

“At Net Tours we want to provide for the top quality tourist but this is not the way. To match these standards we need govern-ment support for this.”

CALL FOR TOURISM DEPARTMENT With all these concerns in mind, not to men-tion the many rules and regulations that have to be navigated - the fi rst step could be to set up a dedicated ‘tourism department’ suggests Nair, from Orient Tours. “A tour-ism department could be a one-stop offi ce who could liaise with all the other licensing departments on our behalf.

“For example if we have a problem with the airport, the department could intervene and talk with the concerned authorities. Then we don’t need to approach so many people.”

He added: “We are here to do business for the country so we will take all the pain. But if there was one step – one department – that would make our life easier.”

Helmi, from Net Tours agrees that this would be a major step towards helping the industry to work together more.

“We have to work together because at the end of the day it’s our destination – we are not blaming anyone for the problems we’ve been facing, we are just trying to do some-thing about it and we hope the government will do something too.

“We just need support. We need a solu-tion. We are here as ambassadors of this country and we would like to bring the best to this country.”

Right now Dubai is facing a major problem. The competition that came to the market in the last 11 or 12 years was not a healthy competition. Nowadays it is like a jungle in the market. ”


NewsNews

Emirates, Virgin to cash in over BA strikesAgents say they won’t recommend BA until the strike situation has been resolved

STRIKES

Dubai hotels get new starsCLASSIFICATION

DTCM will roll out a brand new hotel classifi cation sys-tem later this year.

The system will include new categories such as ‘business’, ‘beach’ and ‘des-ert’, and the fi ve-star rating will feature three catagories: Platinum, Gold and Silver.

Majid Sager Al Marri, director, Hotel Classifi ca-tion Department said that the new system would pro-

vide much needed clarity in the luxury hotel sector, as there is currently too much disparity between ‘fi ve-star’ hotels in Dubai.

“That’s why we are intro-ducing this system,” he said. “You cannot compare one very luxury fi ve-star with another fi ve-star hotel. For example, you cannot catagorise the Burj Al Arab with Emirates Towers. Both are currently fi ve-star with no distinction, it doesn’t make sense.”

Al Marri added that under the new classifi cation sys-tem some hotels might have to be downgraded to a lower star rating if they didn’t meet the new required stan-dards introduced by DTCM, but that all hotels would be “given time to be upgraded to a new category”.

SNTTA sees travel sales rebound for summer season UAE based travel company SNTTA has reported a 15 percent increase in bookings for air tickets and holiday packages, at the start of the summer.

The most popular destinations this summer so far are Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, UK and Germany.

Zafar Imam, managing director, SNTTA Travel, UAE said: “Current trends show a healthy 15 percent increase in bookings compared to the corresponding period last year. This upswing in outbound travel is the result of increased consumer confi dence this season.”

On May 1 SNTTA launched its ‘Fly Free Anywhere’ summer campaign, giving retail customers the opportunity to win back their entire ticket amount. The promotion runs until the end of July. “All-round interest in outbound travel this summer appears to be quite high, as witnessed in our travel offi ces,” said Merwyn Patrao, general manager, SNTTA Travel, Sharjah and Northern Emirates. “Our summer campaign has given a

further boost to sales and we expect to fi nish the season on a robust note.”

“We see a new trend in which expatriate families are combining annual holidays to their home countries with short-duration holiday packages to other destinations. Bookings from Emirati families are also on the rise and most are travelling earlier than usual to return before Ramadan in mid-August,” added Sai Rattan, general manager, SNTTA Travel, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

SNTTA has plans to expand its network of 18 outlets to 25 by the end of 2011.

Travel agents say that until the disruption caused by striking cabin crew at BA is over, they will recommend that their clients fl y with other airlines. At the time of going to press Unite, the trade union representing cabin crew announced its intention to proceed with strikes on 24 - 28 May, 30 May – 3 June and 5 – 9 June leading to thousands of fl ight can-cellations including fl ights from London Heathrow to Bahrain, Doha and Dubai. Sunil D’souza, coun-try manager UAE & Oman, Kanoo Travel said: “Given

tition on the most popular route from Dubai to London has paved the way for Virgin Atlantic to offer their current promos. And Emirates - even with a 10 percent increase in their fares last week is surely benefi tting from this ordeal. More and more clients are choosing these two airlines over BA for this period.”

However agents also felt that BA had “strong cus-tomer loyalty” in the Gulf which would help the air-line to bounce back once the ordeal was over. “BA has been servicing this region for many years now and they have strong customer loyalty in this market,” said

SNTTA will expand to 25 outlets by 2011.

Majid Sager Al Marri, DTCM

BA cabin crew have announced strikes over the half term holiday.

Raj. “The current situation is causing them huge losses from the market share for now but they will eventu-ally bounce back due to their marketing strategies, attrac-tive fares, offers and ability to keep customers booking with them.”

D’souza added that BA was a “good airline and we still recommend our clients to fl y with them once their schedules are scaled back to normalcy.”

A spokesperson from BA said the airline had found the Middle East travel trade to be “immensely support-ive of our efforts” during the strike action.

the current scenario, we are diverting our clients booked on BA to other airlines to protect their travel plans.”

Rajshree Raj, supervi-sor, Alshamel International agreed: “We do not recom-

mend BA at this weak stage to our customers due to sched-ule changes and irregulari-ties.” She added that airlines such as Emirates and Virgin would be able to cash in on the situation: “The compe-

Call for ‘cruise association’ to be set upGulf cruise industry has potential to ‘rival Caribbean’ only if the region works together

DEBATE

VISAS

“Every year between seven and 10 ships are introduced in the cruise industry and the opportunity for sailing in the winter is fairly limited,” Beck-pointed out.

“This region has a real opportunity to establish itself as a competitor to the Carib-bean, but it has to be done properly,” she added.

Beck encouragd the for-mation of one industry body. “We [cruise liners] would enjoy having a single point of contact to work with. I encourage all the destina-tions around the Gulf to work together and form an organi-sation. That would be funda-mental to the regions success as a cruise destination.”

Cruise industry heads stated the need for a regional ‘cruise association’ during a debate at last month’s ATM show.

The aim of the association would be to work together to promote the Middle East as a cruise destination to the international cruise industry, as well as to improve stan-dards of operation for cruise liners in the region.

Helen Beck, regional direc-tor, Royal Caribbean Cruises said that if the region as a whole worked together to bring in the cruise indus-try, the Middle East had the potential to “rival the Carib-bean” as a destination.

Ahmed al-Nuaimi, chair-man, Qatar Tourism Author-ity called for a common visa to be introduced in order to boost the region’s cruise industry, at last month’s Seatrade forum held in Bah-rain. “It is clear that we need to work together to pro-mote the region as an ideal cruise destination,” he said. “We will benefi t from more passenger arrivals than if we each focus as individual countries.” Sheikh Faisal promised that RAK will offer “something different” to other cruise destinations in the Gulf.

Helen Beck, Hamad Bin Mejren, DTCM and Sheikh Faisal join the cruise debate at last month’s ATM.

Ahmed al-Nuaimi, chairman, QTA


Cruise

Rak will welcome fi rst cruise ships in 2011NEW DESTINATION

Ras Al Khaimah is investing in its cruise terminal and should be ready to welcome its fi rst cruise ships by 2011, said Sheikh Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi chairman of the RAK Finance Department at ATM last month.

Sheikh Faisal said that RAK would offer “something different” to other destina-tions in the Gulf, with the location of its cruise termi-nal right on the beach.

“We are developing something different. It’s not an industrial port at all with ugly scenery, that’s what makes it so interesting. Our ports are right on the beach. It’s something unique. Peo-ple will be able to come off the boats and stay directly on the beach,” he said.

QTA calls for a cruise visa

09 June 2010 – Arabian Travel Newswww.hoteliermiddleeast.com

Costa sets its sights on Arab market Italian cruise liner opens new offi ce in Dubai and fi ts out ships with prayer rooms

INVESTMENT

looking to heavily target the local Arab and expat mar-kets. “Our target comprises both local customers and the numerous expatriates who live and work in these countries.”

In order to appeal more to the local market, Costa’s two ships in Dubai, Costa Deliz-iosa and Costa Luminosa will offer dedicated facilities for Arab guests including

Italian cruise liner Costa Cruises is making major investments into the Middle East cruise tourism indus-try by opening a new rep-resentative offi ce in Dubai, as well as adding dedicated facilities for Arab customers to all its ships sailing out of Dubai port.

“Following the huge success of the inaugura-tion in February this year in Dubai of the Costa Del-iziosa - the fi rst cruise ship ever to be inaugurated in an Arab country, our objec-tive is to invest in Dubai, the Arabian Gulf and the Mid-dle East not only as a reg-ular destination for our ships, which we were the fi rst in the world to do back in 2006, but also as a sourc-ing area so as to increase the number of cruisers choos-ing us for their vacations,” said Gianni Onorato, presi-dent, Costa Cruises.

Onorato said Costa was

Costa Luminosa docked at Dubai port. The ship will have prayer rooms, Arabic TV and Arabic staff.

Beck said Royal Caribbean would like to bring a Voyager to the Gulf.

from local and expat com-munities.

Costa’s ships recorded 140,000 passenger move-ments in Dubai in win-ter 2009/10, up 40 percent compared to 2008/09, with a total of 32 port calls.

According to Costa Cruises this traffi c gener-ated revenue for the local economy estimated at around US $17.3 million in 2009/10. This was derived from direct spending by Costa passengers, shoreside excursions, transport, port fees and expenditure on food and beverage. In win-ter 2010/2011, 31 port calls are forecast and 150,000 passenger movements.

Royal Carribbean looks at bringing bigger ships to GulfCAPACITY

After a fully booked fi rst sea-son in the Middle East with Brilliance of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is now exam-ining regional port capac-ity with a view to bringing a 3,114 passenger ship into the market.

“We are still exploring the possibilities but eventually we are thinking of bringing bigger ships like our Voy-ager class to the region,”

US$ 17.3 mRevenue brought to the local economy by Costa Cruises

passengers in 2009

the Middle East. Costa said it will mainly target families, couples and honeymooners

said Helen Beck, regional director, Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Beck said that before this could happen; the right visa requirements and infra-structure would need to be in place. “This has to be evaluated because the infra-structure has to be in place to handle such a capacity of passengers. Equally the visa requirements for cruise guests visiting the region need to be adapted to take

into consideration this unique way of exploring the Gulf,” she said.

Currently there is no cruise visa offered for pas-sengers wishing to disem-bark from the ship. Tour-ists who are not citizens of the 33 countries that do not need visas to enter the UAE, must buy separate visas every time they leave the ship – this includes citizens of China and Russia, major tourist markets for the UAE.

two male and female prayer rooms, an Arabic food and drinks menu, signs in Ara-bic, Arabic-speaking staff, plus Arabic TV and radio channels.

Dubai is the 17th country in the world to have a Costa branch offi ce. Costa will be represented in the UAE by Al Ketby Consultancy and the offi ce has a brief to promote and market Costa cruises in


Tourism to Thailand plummets this year THAILAND

Tourism Boards

Svetasreni said at ATM that Thailand was still a safe destination.

ADTA to host tourism summer camp ABU DHABI

Abu Dhabi Tourism Author-ity (ADTA) has opened up applications for its 2010 ‘Youth Tourism Summer Camp’ designed to give UAE national youth an insight into Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry.

This year’s camp has been expanded to take in 80 stu-dents, with 10 places set aside for handicapped stu-dents. The programme is being implemented in part-nership with Tatween, an Emirates Foundation ini-tiative designed to unlock Emirati potential and build careers in the private sector.

“We have added new ele-ments to the programme, which refl ects the emirate’s growing tourism proposi-tion,” said Nasser Al Reyami, tourism standards direc-tor, ADTA. “At the end of the

course the students will be equipped with vital leader-ship and teamwork skills and knowledge of the important role of tourism in Abu Dha-bi’s future,”he explained.

The camp will feature a range of modules rang-ing from sports tourism to culture and heritage, cus-tomer service, hospital-

GCC visa applications for Ireland grow 53 percent IRELAND

Tourism Ireland has reported a massive year-on-year rise in visa appli-cations from the GCC, with a 52.78 percent increase in March 2010 over the same month in 2009. This makes the GCC the fastest growing market for inbound tour-ism to Ireland.

Simon Gregory, direc-tor of all markets for Tour-ism Ireland, attributes the growth to increased con-nectivity and a growing awareness of Ireland in the GCC. He said: “Ireland truly has something for every-one, from culture and lux-ury boutique hotels, to self catering and activity holi-days.”

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Abityap‘YoCanaintind

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What students can look forward to

Birr Castle in Ireland is a popular tourist attraction.

TAT aims to boost visitor numbers with free visas and travel insurance schemes

Agents have seen demand for Thailand - usually a top outbound destination for UAE holiday makers - plum-met this summer - due to weeks of violent political demonstrations in Bangkok.

Mohamed Al Rais, dep-uty managing director, Al Rais Travel said: “Last year Thailand was one of the top destinations, especially for local families. But this year, because of the political sit-uation there we are seeing a big shift from Thailand to other destinations such as Malaysia and Singapore.”

The government of Thai-land has introduced a num-ber of initiatives in an attempt to try to repair the

damage done to its tour-ism industry. Tourist visa fees have been waived until March 2011 and every tour-

ist will receive a free travel insurance scheme to the value of US$30,000. The gov-ernment has also reduced aircraft landing and parking fees at the airports.

Speaking at ATM last month Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Suraphon Svetasreni said Thailand was still a safe hol-iday destination: “The polit-ical situation is affecting a few limited areas of Bang-kok. The main tourist attrac-tions and shopping com-plexes are still operating normally.

“Riverside hotels are run-ning their businesses as nor-

mal and major hospitals are operating as normal. Popu-lar tourist destinations out-side of Bangkok have not been affected at all. Life in almost all of Bangkok con-tinues as normal.”

Thai Minister for Tourism and Sports Chumpol Sila-pa-arche blamed the media and its portrayal of events in Thailand for damaging tour-ism to the country. “With CNN and the BBC reporting on this situation around the world you have a feeling the whole country of Thailand is not safe to go. The psycho-logical effect of this is some-thing we cannot erase.”

ity and transport. Students will make fi eld visits to Al Ain, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Manarat Al Saadiyat exhibition centre, Abu Dhabi National Exhi-bitions Centre, Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management Company, Etihad.

“We are looking for stu-dents with a solid commit-ment to the camp, which will run from 8-4pm every week-day,” said Paul Ram Prakash, ADTA’s industry profes-sional development man-ager. “Applications will be accepted from High School and Secondary School pupils aged between 14 and 16. We hope they leave excited about the oppor-tunities the industry holds out to them and that we see some of them as tourism col-leagues in the future.”

The camp will run for a month from June 20 2010.


Gulf airlines tap into Tokyo NEW ROUTES

Airlines

Emirates Airlines celebrates its inaugural fl ight to Tokyo on 28 March 2010. Etihad was the fi rst to start fl ights to Tokyo on March 27 2010.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways launch fl ights to Japanese capital

March and April saw Emir-ates, Etihad and Qatar Air-ways all launch fl ights to Tokyo, following last year’s expansion of Narita Interna-tional Airport’s second runway.

Etihad was the fi rst to commence non-stop fl ights from Abu Dhabi on March 27. “Tokyo is a very impor-tant route for Etihad Air-ways,” said James Hogan, CEO of Etihad Airways. “The opening of this route is yet another important milestone that signifi es the strong social, economic, cul-tural and political relation-ships between the UAE and Japan. Our objective is to play an active role in devel-oping the growth of travel and tourism trade between the two countries wherever possible,” he added.

The airline is operat-ing fi ve non-stop fl ights per week to Tokyo. It’s Air-bus A330-200 have been equipped with in-fl ight ser-vices dedicated to the Japa-nese market, including a tai-

lored menu, and Japanese speakers in the cabin crew.

“Our current book-ings have indicated a high demand from premium trav-ellers, in particular business passengers. We also believe the increasing number of high profi le attractions in Abu Dhabi will be very attractive to Japanese leisure travellers,” said Hogan.

Emirates launched its inaugural fl ight on 28 March. “It was wonderful to

fi nally arrive at Narita Inter-national. It was always our intention to operate non-stop between Dubai and Tokyo and that day has now arrived,” said Richard Jews-bury, senior vice president of Emirates’ commercial

operations in the Far East and Australasia. “We had already seen robust demand for the fl ights following the announcement that we would be beginning our ser-vice and this demand has remained since launch day. As a result, our seat load fac-tor is expected to be over 80 percent in the fi rst year and we would say that 70 per-cent of our passengers will be travelling in the economy cabin with the rest in the pre-

mium cabins,”he added. The fi rst Qatar Airways

fl ight touched down in Tokyo on 26 April. Tokyo is the second Japanese des-tination for Qatar Airways which already serves Osaka. Qatar Airways is marketing

Of the three airlines - Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways - we are the only ones operating a daily service between Tokyo and the Middle East ” Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways.

itself as the only carrier from the Gulf to operate daily fl ights to the Japanese cap-ital. “Of the three airlines – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – we are the only carrier operating daily ser-vices between Tokyo and the Middle East,” said Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways. “Qatar Airways offers more convenience for passengers as opposed to airlines offer-ing only fi ve services a week. Qatar Airways daily service

enables passengers to travel when it suits them, not when it suits the airline.”

“We are expecting strong demand throughout the year, peaking during the European summer months. With close to 130 million

people in the country, and one of the largest economies in the world, Japan presents exciting prospects for Qatar Airways and we look forward to strengthening our opera-tions to this dynamic coun-try,” said Al Baker.


Qatar Airways touched down in Tokyo on April 26. The airline operates a daily service between Tokyo and Doha.

BRIEFS

Qatar Airways new routes Qatar Airways will launch three new routes this year: Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, add-ing to the four already launched (Bengaluru, Copenhagen, Ankara and Tokyo). Its daily fl ights to Barcelona begin on June 7. On June 24 the carrier launches daily fl ights to South America’s two larg-est cities – Sao Paulo in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Etihad to IraqEtihad Airways has com-menced non-stop fl ights to Baghdad. Etihad oper-ates fi ve return services per week to Baghdad, using two-class Airbus A320 aircraft, and will expand its operation with two additional A320 re-turn services to a second Iraq destination – Erbil – from June 1.

Austrian Air-lines expandsAustrian Airlines is launching fl ights from Vienna to Mumbai in Oc-tober as well as increas-ing fl ights to New Delhi to six a week and to the Maldives to twice a week.

Wataniya fl ies to Europe Kuwait’s Wataniya Air-ways launched fl ights to its fi rst three European destinations: Istanbul, Vienna and Rome, as well as its third Egyptian desti-nation, Alexandria. These new destinations increase the airline’s total number of destinations to twelve.

• Etihad Airways commenced non-stop fl ights from its home base in Abu Dhabi to Tokyo on 27 March, becoming the fi rst Middle Eastern airline to operate to the Japanese capital. • The airline will operate fi ve non-stop fl ights per week to Tokyo, in addition to the fi ve fl ights per week it offers to Nagoya. • The airline expects a high volume of traffi c on the route, particularly business travellers. It also believes the increasing number of high profi le attractions in Abu Dhabi will be very attractive to Japanese leisure travellers. • The fl ights will be operated by three-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft and will feature in-fl ight services dedicated to the Japanese market, including a tailored menu, local in-fl ight entertainment content and cabin crew consisting of a number of Japanese speakers and nationals. • This aircraft is confi gured with 10 seats in Diamond class, 24 seats in Pearl Business class, 160 seats in Coral Economy class.

• Emirates arrived in Tokyo on Sunday evening with its inaugural non-stop fl ight on 28th March, following a day of celebrat-ing all things Japan in Dubai. • The airline will operate fi ve non-stop fl ights per week to Tokyo, on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. • Emirates will be serving the route using its ultra modern Boeing 777-300ER and passengers are able to enjoy the delicacies from the newly created Japanese menu, catering to all tastes; while watching the latest blockbuster movies on Emirates’ state-of-the-art ice entertainment system, which includes Japanese audio, TV and movie channels. • The aircraft has eight Private Suites in First Class; 42 fl at-bed seats in Business Class and 304 Economy Class seats. • The seat load factor is expected to be over 80 percent in the fi rst year and around 70 percent of passengers are expected to be travelling in the economy cabin with the rest in the premium cabins.

• Qatar Airways fl ight QR802 touched down at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on 26 April 2010.• The airline is operating daily services between Tokyo and the Middle East • Qatar Airways expects to carry a mix of passengers with group traffi c making up about 50 percent, as well as those heading to popular Japanese holiday destinations in North Africa and Europe. It also expect con-siderable business traffi c to the Gulf region, as there are many Japanese companies with operations in Qatar. • Qatar Airways serves Tokyo with an Airbus A330 in a three-class confi gura-tion. Qatar Airways’ passengers transiting onwards in First or Business Class through Doha onto connecting cities can use the airline’s exclusive Premium Terminal, where they can unwind and relax, enjoying facili-ties including fi ne dining, spa treatments and duty free shopping.• The aircraft includes 12 First, 18 Busi-ness and 208 Economy Class seats.

Tapping into Tokyo - how the three Gulf airlines measure up:


EmQuest connects agents to Indian Rail NEW PRODUCT

Tools

Travel agents in the GCC can now sell tickets for Indian Rail which saves passengers queing up at the station

Travel agents in the GCC are now able to book Indian Rail tickets directly online

EmQuest has announced that Indian Rail – one of the largest rail networks in the world – can now be booked through its online system. Travel agents in the GCC have access to real-time seat availability and the ability to book, manage and con-fi rm tickets.

Around 38.7 million bookings were processed for Indian Rail in 2008-09 which signals an addi-tional revenue opportunity for travel agents here. Naz Naziri, senior vice presi-

dent, EmQuest said the ser-vice would be of huge bene-fi t to customers travelling to India from the GCC.

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the station and queue up. They’d rather just get there and go. So they don’t mind paying a service charge to the travel agent here so that everything is in hand.”

She added: “We think this is a very unique offer-ing that we have, not only for this market. A lot of Emirates customers want to buy Indian rail. India is a big market, so even peo-ple who are travelling from other places on business need to have the ability to get places. We can connect this to the whole Emirates network.”

“We’re getting Indian Rail connected in the next few months to agencies here, because a lot of people who

go to India need to be able to take a rail to their village or wherever they want to go to and they don’t want to go


XXXXXXXXXX NEWS

Travelport looks to tie up with LCCsLCCs

Saab says it won’t be long before all the LCCs have tied up with GDS

John Flower, Illusions Online

After signing up Jazeera to its GDS system, Travelport targets other budget airlines

Travelport is targeting the region’s low cost car-riers (LCCs) to sign up for its GDS system. Travelport recently announced that it had signed up Jazeera Air-ways on to its Galileo sys-tem and according to Rabih Saab, vice-president, Mid-dle East, Travelport the plan is now to get other Middle Eastern LCC’s on board.

“Low cost carriers are very important in this side of the world. In terms of traffi c they are taking an ever larger share of the pie – they are growing the pie as well as taking an ever larger share of the pie,” said Saab.

He explained that while the original model of LCCs had been to keep their costs low, which meant sell-ing directly to consumers

through their websites - as the carriers expanded and looked to target more busi-ness travellers they would naturally need to tie up with a GDS booking system.

“In business very few peo-ple book their own travel – they usually go through a travel management com-pany because there is a high spend and the company always needs to know where their employees are.

“So as the LCCs go from a strategy of only focusing on leisure travellers to having to fi ll more seats with busi-ness people, then they start looking at the GDS as a way of reaching them. These people are using travel agents to book their travel, and if you look at Jazeera for example, they even have a business class section – Jazeera Plus.”

REGIONAL NEWS

Amadeus has partnered with Saudi Arabian Airlines to provide next generation Amadeus Altéa customer management solution and Amadeus e-commerce solu-tions to the airline. The part-nership will improve pas-senger experience through enhanced recognition, speed up passenger pro-cessing with greater auto-mation and drive more sales and effi ciencies.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will adopt all three modules

Illusions Online was voted the Middle East’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the annual 2010 World Travel Awards Middle East ceremony.

The company won the ‘World’s Leading Travel Tech-nology Provider’ in 2009 and has been nominated for the same category this year as well.

Illusions was at ATM last month to show off its lat-est award as well as to talk about its new product system upgrade – the V12 system.

“That’s two years running we have won the award now,”

Amadeus partners with Saudi Airlines

Illusions still on a winning streak

TIE-UP

NEW PRODUCT

of the Altéa Customer Man-agement Solution includ-ing Altéa Reservation, Altéa Inventory and Altéa Depar-ture Control (DC) to man-age its sales and reserva-tions, inventory and fl ight departure management needs. The airline will also adopt Amadeus’ portfolio of e-commerce solutions, used by more than 100 air-lines, to manage its global online presence. Saudi Ara-bian Airlines will migrate to a number of Amadeus solu-tions over the coming weeks and months.

said John Flower, business development director, Illu-sions Online at ATM.

“So we won the Middle East award last year, we then won the World Award, which was presented in London, which

we’ve automatically qualifi ed for again this year. It’s voted for by the travel trade, so we rely on our current partners, the users of the system to support us, and vote for us. And hopefully we’ll claim the world award a second time around.”

Flower said there had been a great deal of interest in Illu-sions new product upgrage - Version 12.

“We are showcasing our new development V12. Get-ting our existing customers to upgrade to the newer version is obviously the fi rst step, and then secondly it’s taking it out to the market place through events such as this.”

Saab said he was confi -dent that it was only a mat-ter of time before all the local low cost carriers were signed up to the GDS sys-tem. “We are working on all the LCCs. I think it’s fair to say all of them in this part of the world are interested in GDS.

“The only carrier which has always said no to GDS is Ryan Air, they have always been adamant not to evolve in that sense. But as for the other budget airlines in this region – we expect to be working with them as soon as we conclude the commercial negotiations. I wouldn’t put a date on that but we are in pretty much in full negotiations with them all. Jazeera was the fi rst locally based one, but the rest will follow in the not too distant future.”

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NEWS MIME

Emirates Group $1bn profi tBut Emirates Holidays has a ‘diffi cult year’ due to economic crisis

ANNUAL REPORT

Emirates Group announced full-year net profi ts of US $1.1bn - an increase of 278 percent on the previous year, despite the global economic crisis.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Mak-toum, chairman and CEO of the air-line, said 2009 was the 22nd year of profi t for the company.

Breaking down the net profi t, he added that $964m was for the airline, representing a 278 percent rise, with the remainder for Dnata. Total reve-nues for Emirates in 2009 amounted to $12.4bn, an increase of 0.4 percent.

Sheikh Ahmed said the big rise in profi t was achieved “by carrying more passengers at the end of the day”. The airline, he added, would take delivery of seven more Airbus A380s this year. Sheikh Ahmed said: “It has been an exceptional year of continued profi t-ability against a backdrop of the worst global recession in generations.

“The fi rst half of the fi nancial year however, was extremely challeng-ing as the world continued to grapple

News

Kanoo expands regional reach EXPANSION

Kanoo Travel signed some major contracts last month expanding its presence in the region. The travel management company signed a joint-venture partnership agree-ment with Al Sulaimi group of com-panies in Oman to provide leisure travel options and corporate solu-tions in Oman.

Kanoo has appointed Abdul Kar-eem as the travel manager for its operations in Oman. Kareem was previously area manager for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain and has been with Kanoo Travel for the past 13 years.

Kanoo also expanded its pres-ence in Bahrain by being awarded the GSA (General Sales Agent) con-tract for United Airlines. United

Airlines is the fi rst US carrier to fl y direct to Bahrain. The inaugu-ral fl ight between Washington and Manama touched down on April 18 “It is certainly a great milestone in the region’s travel industry to have United Airlines operating directly to Bahrain,” said Abdullah M. Abo Khamseen, executive general man-ager, Kanoo Travel.

Sheikh Ahmed announces a record profi t year

Mishal Kanoo with Hamed Al Sulaimi

$ 1.1 bnEmirates Group net

profi t in 2009

with the economic crisis. Our pio-neering spirit and ability to adapt in adverse conditions helped us to push through this harsh economic climate with an extremely strong performance in the latter part of the year,” he said.

It was a diffi cult year for the Des-tination and Leisure Management (DLM) division of Emirates Air-line however, with package sales of $ 272 million. Emirates Holidays managed 165,000 total room nights booked during the year - a decrease on last year’s numbers - as custom-ers opted for shorter breaks due to the tough economic conditions.

Middle Eastern airlines saw the highest global growth rate of 11.2 percent in air passenger traffi c for 2009. Their peers in other parts of the world are expected to post total 2010 losses of $2.8 billion, according to industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA).

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Ferrari World to open October Ferrari World Abu Dhabi announced that it will open its doors to the public on October 28 2010 – just three weeks before the second Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Attractions will include the ‘Formula Rossa’ – the world’s fastest roller coaster which will reach speeds of 240 km/h.


REGIONAL NEWSArabian Travel News Awards


Arabian Travel News Awards

2010

199 – Arabiabiaiaannn Travel el NNeNewNews

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The Arabian Travel News Awards 2010 set out to fi nd the very best of the Middle East travel agent community

Seeking travel championsn the very fi rst travel agents awards to be held by Arabian Travel News

we set out on a mission to seek out the very best of the best among the travel agent community in the Mid-

dle East, and to celebrate their out-standing achievements.

When the nominations started to fl ood in from travel agencies across the region, what we discovered was an industry fi lled with passionate, dedicated people, able to over-come any of the myriad challenges thrown at them (and the travel industry seems to be fi lled with one hurdle after another), with creativity, resourcefulness, hard work and sheer dedication to their jobs.

Our judges certainly did not have an easy task to sift through the hundreds of nomina-tions, but after a painstaking process, these were eventually whittled down to a shortlist

of deserving nominees from which a win-ner in each of our ten categories was then selected. Our ten winners are those people who we felt go the extra mile in their roles and who truly deserve to be recognised for their dedication to the region’s travel sec-tor. In this special feature, we present to you the winners of this year’s Arabian Travel News awards. Read on to fi nd out who made the shortlists, who won the awards and for exclusive interviews with all our winners where they reveal more about their career history, their secrets for success, and their tips for the top.

Arabian Travel News is already plan-ning next year’s awards so if you didn’t get a chance to nominate yourself or your team this year, keep an eye out on the magazine or on hoteliermiddleeast.com for when nomi-nations open again next time around.

Leo Fewtrell, managing partner Gulf Reps and general manager DTTAG

Carol Maddison, UAE marketing manager, Visit Britain

Monika Grzesik, editor,Arabian Travel News

Sundar Vasudaven, principle consultant, TRS consulting

MEET THE JUDGING PANEL:

www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel www.hottelielierermidmmidmidddledledddleeeaseaseasase t.ct om/om/tratravelvel

ABEER AHMED Leisure Sales Agent of the Year

NAZ NAZIRILifetime Achievement Award

MAILANE FUENTES KINDICA Agency Newcomer of the Year

AIDEN WALSHLeisure Travel Agency Manager of the Year

ent Award

22 Arabian Travel News – June 2010


FATIMA BARBOSA Branch Manager of the Year

www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel wwwww..hoteliermidmiddledleeaseast ct.com/om/tratrarat velvelvvel

TIM WADDELL Marketing Manager of the YearMOHAMMAD AL HASHIMI

Corporate Travel Agency Manager of the Year

MUNIRATHNAM MUNUSAMI It Person of the Year


23 June 2010 – Arabian Travel News

RAJSHREE RAJCorporate Sales Agent of the Year


REGIONAL NEWSArabian Travel News Awards Arabian Travel News Awards

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Munirathnam was chosen for the impres-sive achievement of consistently deliver-ing innovative IT solutions, connecting up all the company’s 22 branches to a single network, ensuring the network was fully secured as well his efforts to continually develop his own skills as an IT manager.

ATN: What new initiatives you have intro-duced at Al Rais in terms of technology?

Recently, with the immense support of our management our team successfully devel-oped the biometric attendance system. The mechanism is devised so that all branches, including remote locations are connected to a centralised attendance monitoring programme at head offi ce level. Staff move-ments can now be traced on real time basis.

ATN: How have you tried to develop your own skills to become a good IT manager?I have personally enrolled myself for all the industry-related seminars, crash courses, refresher courses and newsletters. Recently I fi nished a six-month diploma organised by CISCO Dubai.

ATN: What are the biggest challenges you face in your role? Like any other I.T professional the biggest challenge is always to reduce the link down-time to a minimum to ensure productiv-ity levels remain unaffected. Our set up includes remote connections which tend to develop bugs. The challenge is to keep the

IT person of the yearMunirathnam MunusamiIT systems executive, Al Rais Travel

ticketing going while dealing with these issues.

ATN: What is the most rewarding aspect of your role as IT man-ager?In today’s world every skilled human invariably depends on a machine to deliver what is expected out of him. When I.T fails all oth-

ers in the chain have a drastic fall on effect. I personally feel dejected when the systems fail to support the frontline. Our support team works hard to keep things on track and when we achieve the least possible TAT (Turn Around Time) better than industry standards it is an achievement in itself.

ATN: How did you feel about winning the Arabian Travel News Award? I really appreciate the efforts taken by the ATN team to introduce this concept. It is like a dream come true for me. Until this date nobody in the industry used to talk about the back-end departments. Sales and mar-keting have always been in the limelight. ATN has done a fantastic job by shifting the focus to the backbones of the frontline. Myself and my team are extremely happy with this achievement, we now feel the industry realises our relevance. I would like to thank the entire team of ATN as they gave us the opportunity to display our poten-tial. This recognition has drastically boosted our morale.

Myself and my team are extremely happy with this achievement, we now feel the industry realises our relevance. This recognition has drastically boosted our morale. ”



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Awarded to someone from a new-to-mar-ket agency, Mailane was recognised for being an exceptional individual who con-tinually looks for ways to help out her col-leagues and the company. She is motivated by doing what is best for her team and goes beyond the call of duty in her role.

ATN: Can you tell us a bit about your career background?I started my career in Bahrain in the travel industry and in 1996 I moved to Dubai. From 2003 I worked at Avionic as an out-bound manager and then I took on my most challenging role at Golden Crown Travel & Tourism as general manager. Last year I decided to leave and take on this role at Instant Travel & Tourism.

ATN: What attracted you to the position at Instant Travel and Tourism? I took on the role because I felt that I could contribute my knowledge and gain more experience knowing that the company was brand new and I would have to start from scratch once again.

ATN: What do you love most about your job in the travel industry?I love travelling, getting to know your part-ners and suppliers and knowing that you delivered to your clients’ need and made them happy – that’s what’s important to me.

ATN: What is your ambition for the future? To have my own company one day.

ATN: How did you feel about winning the Arabian Travel News Award? I am very fl attered that after so many years in the industry there is somebody believing in my capability. Thank you very much for this opportunity. it is my pleasure to receive your award.

Agency newcomer of the yearMailane Fuentes Kindica Offi ce manager,Instant Travel & Tourism

I love travelling, getting to know your partners and suppliers and knowing that you delivered to your clients’ needs and made them happy – that’s what’s important to me. ”



Rajshree is regularly commended for her top-class customer service. She shows exemplary leadership skills, always moti-vating her team and fi nding time to work through any weaknesses. The judges felt her deserving of this award for her positive attitude and commitment to her clients.

ATN: What has been the biggest achieve-ment in your career so far?Two and half years ago I was given the opportunity to transfer from a smaller mar-

ket, Kuwait and take a leap into the region’s largest market Dubai. When I arrived I not only had to lead the team but compete with Dubai’s largest corporate giants where we faced many challenges. But striving to achieve the goals you set yourself is the real achievement to me. Seeing our operation succeed and grow in leaps and bounds over the past few years has been very rewarding.

ATN: How do you deliver a good level of ser-vice to your customers?Our company motto says “because travel is personal” which is a great mantra for our staff to live by. In our team, I always encour-

Corporate sales agent of the yearRajshree RajSupervisor, Alshamel International

1. Kristofer R. Criostomo, Prime Travel and Tourism 2. Rajshree Raj, Alshamel International 3. Niroshanna Mandalanayagam, Kanoo Travel4. Suraiya Baloch, Kanoo Travel 5. Anthony Baldwin, HRG UAE

Shortlisted Nominations:

age my colleagues to work with this in mind, trying to service every customer how they would like to be serviced them-selves. This attitude always helps to keep the service top notch and is very effi cient for our customers, offer-ing a personal touch.

ATN: What qualities are essential to being a successful travel agent?

Of paramount importance is the ability to build good rapport with your custom-ers. They should feel comfortable and con-fi dent that their needs are well taken care of. Building relationships and networking within our industry takes you a long way. There are always challenges and knowing a useful contact can turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’!

ATN: How did you feel about winning? Winning this award has been such a great feeling. It is the fi rst one I have won outside of our internal company evaluation pro-gramme. This is something that gives you recognition in the travel industry.

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Striving to achieve the goals you set for yourself is the real achievement to me. See-ing our Dubai operation succeed and grow in leaps and bounds over the past few years has been very rewarding. ”



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Abeer was chosen for her exceptional achievements in generating business. She individually achieved 88 percent of the Dnata Holiday counter target last year. Her destination knowledge is her key to success and she travels on her own time and expense to learn more, as well as car-rying out hotel inspections for her clients.

ATN: How do you deliver a consistently good level of service to your customers? I believe in life-long learning. I educate myself by joining either personal or com-pany organised fam trips to various leisure destinations. I spend a great deal of time vis-iting tourist attractions, inspecting hotels, evaluating excursions, tours, cruises and meeting appointed local representatives. I always use my experience to earn custom-ers trust and confi dence that their vacation arrangements have been thoroughly and professionally organised.

Leisure sales agent of the year Abeer Ahmed Sales supervisor, Dnata Travel

1 Abdul Mohammed Saleem, Al Rais Travel 2 Abeer Ahmed, Dnata Travel 3 Renji Matthew, Al Rostamani 4 Abdulla Al Malki, Zahdi Travel Holidays, Jeddah 5 Meh Jabeen, Belhasa Global Tourism and Travel

Shortlisted nominations:

ATN: What’s been the biggest challenge you have faced?I was appointed to the res-ervation and ticketing coun-ter in Dnata in 2005, and as there was no offi cial holiday counter at that time, I had to prove

myself to the management which I success-fully achieved. This persuaded the com-pany to have an offi cial holiday counter. In fi ve years I have managed to build an excel-lent reputation for myself as well as the holi-day counter, and can proudly say that I have been recognised as the best leisure travel consultant in Dnata Travel Services.

ATN: What initiatives have you brought in to motivate and encourage your staff?I make sure that different motivational activities are exercised to build staff morale and encourage them to achieve their tar-gets. As a result this year our Holiday Team exceeded its annual target by +30 percent. In my opinion the most important step to motivate staff is to build confi dence, trust and serve our clients effi ciently. ATN: How did you feel about winning?I was proud and delighted. This achieve-ment is my fi rst step to be recognised in the Arabian travel market. It is also a high rec-ognition for my hard work and dedication over the last 19 years in the travel industry including fi ve years in Dnata Travel.

I always use my experience to earn customers trust and confi dence that their vacation arrangements have been thor-oughly and professionally organised. ”

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the biggest aced?the res-

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Abeer was chosen for hachievements in generatinindividually achieved 88 Dnata Holiday counter tHer destination knowledgsuccess and she travels oand expense to learn morerying out hotel inspections

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myself by joining either pepany organised fam trips todestinations. I spend a greatiting tourist attractions, inevaluating excursions, toumeeting appointed local realways use my experience ers trust and confi dence tharrangements have been professionally organised.

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Shortlisted nomi

I always earn custometheir vacation oughly and pr



Tim infuses passion into everything he does. His campaigns have not only seen the light of day but exceeded their objectives. The judges felt Tim deserved the award for his unrelenting work in elevating the value of the Alshamel brand.

ATN: What has been your career highlight?If I had to pick one moment it would be the company’s 2007 ATM party at Emirates Towers. I created an audio-visual presen-tation documenting our rapid growth with an atmospheric soundtrack. Standing on stage I felt a huge surge of pride at what I had

helped build. Looking out into the audience and seeing our senior management team equally absorbed reminded me why I love marketing. It is about turning something that is ultimately about profi t into some-thing that elicits an emotional response. In that brief moment I forgot the deadlines, the long nights and ROI scorecards and got swept along in the crescendo of percussion.

ATN: What are the biggest challenges? In the current climate, budget is the biggest challenge. Marketing is an expensive busi-

Marketing manager of the yearTim Waddell Director of marketing, Alshamel International

1 Ismail S. Joha, Safar Travel and Tourism2 Tim Waddell, Alshamel In-ternational 3 Shilby Jowhershah, Al Na-boodah Travel 4 Yaser Kangani, Golestan Tour & Travel


Standing on stage I felt a huge sense of pride at what I helped build. It reminded me why I love marketing.”

ness and travel is a low margin industry so there’s an ongoing battle to achieve maximum results from very lit-tle. I work with a very small team that all learn fast the defi -nition of ‘hyper-tasking’. What adds to the frustration is the myriad requests we receive for event par-ticipation and sponsor-ship that arrive with just a week’s notice. When you’re trying to manage a mar-keting budget it’s almost impossible to react to such last minute requests.

ATN: What are the qualities needed to be a good marketing manager? You need to be a good people person as you are dealing with internal customers and external suppliers. And most important, you have to have an eye for detail. It’s the detail that lets so many companies in this region down. Spelling mistakes and typos, poor quality output – to me these refl ect badly on your brand as they suggest you don’t care. And if you don’t care then why should the customer feel you care about them?

ATN: What do you fi nd most rewarding?The marketing team is the ‘face’ of the com-pany. To some that might suggest it’s all superfi cial beauty. But they say the eyes are the window to the soul. This is espe-cially true in marketing. It is about honestly refl ecting what is at the heart of your com-pany. Working towards building and deliv-ering a brand, is what drives me every day.

ATN: How did you feel about winning? I was thrilled to just be nominated as the nomination came from a member of my team and that meant a great deal to me. Winning was fantastic and the response from colleagues has been simply amazing.

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REGIONAL NEWSArabian Travel News Awards AAAAAAAArabian Travel News Awards

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Fatima impressed for her staff motiva-tion techniques. As a manager she believes everybody has talents and it is up to her to encourage these among her staff. Her key to running a successful branch is to get the very best out of her team which she achieves through coaching, development, communication and feedback.

ATN: What are you most proud of?Three years ago, I was asked to take over a multinational account which was facing plenty of service issues. It took over four months to win the trust of the travel man-ager and the staff. I worked closely with the

Dnata team late into the evenings to sort out the problems. Processes were put in place to improve and optimise our services in all areas. The then SVP-Dnata acknowl-edged and recognised the work I had put in and thanked me for it. My only regret leav-ing CRM was letting go of this company with whom I had formed a strong bond of trust.

Branch manager of the yearFatima Barbosa Operations manager, Dnata Travel

1 Nizar Abdul, Dnata Travel 2 Mohammed Ahmed Fouad, Al Rais Travel3 Hemant Baheti, Kanoo Travel 4 Laura Mendonca, Al Rostamani5 Fatima Barbosa, Dnata Travel


ATN: How do you deliver a consistently good level of service to your customers?Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. For any business to be suc-cessful, the customer should be happy. My team is often reminded that even though we are not perfect, we can work together to deliver the experience for our customers that cements our service in their minds.

ATN: What initiatives have you brought in to try to motivate your team? As branch manager, I motivate the staff by communicating a vision of what Dnata and Emirates group stands for; ensuring the

work is challenging; establishing a friendly work environment; having fl exible working practices so that targets are achievable and delegating tasks and allowing others in the team to take responsibility.

ATN: What are the biggest challenges in your role and how do you overcome these? The biggest challenge is when other travel agents offer short-term discounts. Many agents offer more that the stipulated com-missions to win a client, engage in cross border selling, or sometimes use dubious ways to win accounts. When my consul-tants come across such a situation, they get very frustrated. It is at times like these that I maintain good customer service goes a long way in keeping a customer. If you can bring value in what you do for clients you will win them over. We need to be more focused, have more self-belief and determination instead of giving in to silly doubts and fears.

Good customer service goes a long way in keeping a customer. If you are able to bring value in what you do to your clients you will win them over. ”

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Mohammad was recognised for his leader-ship qualities, management skills, atten-tion to detail and commiment. He has restructured his department, transform-ing it into one of the most effi cient in the company by identifying the need for a ‘cor-porate cell’ to better cater to the demands of niche coporate clients.

ATN: What are the biggest challenges you face in your role?Living in a country as dynamic and progres-sive as the UAE, we always strive to raise the

bar in terms of service standards and prod-uct delivery to meet the progression of the UAE. This is always an exciting challenge.

ATN: What are you most proud of?One of my proudest moments is that we were able to change the Government of Dubai’s employees’ view of Dnata from being a ticketing company to a complete

Corporate travel agency manager of the yearMohammad Al Hashimi, Dnata Travel

1. Jeyaraj Sudagaran, Dream Horizons2. Mohammad Al Hashimi, Dnata Travel Services 3. Mohammed Amiri, Safar Travel and Tourism4. Rahul Pradhan, BCD Travel


travel management company that caters to their every travel need. We secured more than 90 percent of their business through great customer service. I also take pride in the creation of a ‘corporate cell’ that caters to the needs of niche corporate clientele with challenging demands and provides them with effi cient customer service.

ATN: What is the most rewarding part of your job? Having a manager like Abdulla Tawakul who constantly provides me a platform

for continuous learning and over achieve-ment is very rewarding. By challenging and encouraging me to think out of the box I know everyday that passes is an opportu-nity to work on my personal growth. It is also rewarding knowing I have a team that trusts me to lead them and provides me with dedi-cation and support.

ATN: What key qualities are needed to suc-ceed in the travel industry? To succeed in the travel industry you should have passion, great communication skills, enthusiasm, fl exibility, quick thinking, strong work ethics, and show initiative

ATN: How did you feel about winning the Arabian Travel News Award? Winning the Arabian Travel News Award is a great privilege and honour. I am proud to have won this award and very proud to say that this would not have been pos-sible without the support of my hard-working and dedicated team.

Living in a country as dynamic and pro-gressive as the UAE, we always strive to raise the bar in terms of service standards and product delivery to meet the progression of the UAE. This is always an exciting challenge ”

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Since taking up his position just seven months ago, year-on-year sales at Prime Travel have increased 30 percent and profi t is up 25 percent. Underlying Aiden’s amaz-ing success is a strong commitment to transform his team from traditional travel agents to the next level of travel advisors. ATN: What new initiatives have you brought in to drive business? Firstly we have changed the concept of being a ‘travel agent’ to a ‘travel advisor’ and asked staff to specialise in certain destina-

tions and products. The market in the UAE is very generic when it comes to marketing, most of the tourist boards and even airlines usually do not have a call to action or an offer when doing advertising. We offer our partners a platform to promote their prod-ucts, backed up with knowledgeable staff to covert marketing activity into bookings. We have worked with Time Out on their festive campaign, and promoted our R&R breaks to Dubai for our contractors in Afghani-stan and Iraq. We have changed the way we do business, working with a select number of suppliers so we become experts at selling these products and destinations.

ATN: What are you most proud of since you took on the role at Prime Travel?Well winning the award is a big highlight,

Leisure travel agency manager of the yearAiden Walsh, Prime Travel

1. Aiden Walsh, Prime Travel 3. Mohammed Al Rais, Al Rais Travel 2. Candida Fitzsimmons, Airlink 4. Zall Koohpaima, Kanoo Travel


I am working on a number of initiatives at the moment (can’t say too much) and am keen to develop these to become successful here in the UAE. It won’t be easy but I think the market is ready for some changes. ”

but I would also add the revamp of our website, the relationship we have with our customers and suppliers and our current fi nancial performance as we are trading approximately 30 percent up for the fi rst four months of the year in com-parison to the same period for 2009.

ATN: Where do you see yourself in fi ve years time?Hopefully I will still be in Dubai and would like to be part of the next stage in developing how travel is sold in the

market. I am working on a number of initi-ates at the moment (can’t say too much) and am keen to develop these to become suc-cessful here in the UAE. It won’t be easy but I think the market is ready for some changes.

ATN: How do you motivate your team? We motivate staff with incentives and have put in place service and selling skills train-ing which has been a great success.

ATN: How do you feel about winning the Arabian Travel News Award? I guess it is recognition for the effort and hard work of not just me but also my col-leagues as well. Winning this is a team effort and I would like to thank all the team for let-ting me get on with what I do, no matter how crazy some of my ideas are.

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Iain Andrew was chosen by the judges for his exceptional leadership qualities. He empowers his executive within the organ-isation, providing them with clear guide-lines to help them achieve. His commit-ment and dedication to the industry goes above and beyond his role at Dnata as is shown by his current presidency of the Dubai Travel and Tour Agents Group.

ATN: What initiatives have you brought in to drive business at Dnata?At Dnata Travel Services, we focus on cus-tomer service, training and developing our staff, as well as broadening the choice of products and services. We are constantly

Travel management company ceo/md of the yearIain Andrew, Divisional senior vice president, Dnata Travel Services

1. William Horsley, Al Futtaim Travel 2. Derin Cameron, Al Shamel International 3. Iain Andrew, Dnata Travel Services4. May Mamarbarchi, Beroia Travel and Tourism5. Khalifa Bin Omeir, Omeir Travel Agency


looking to improve our operational effi -ciency, and regularly conduct business process reviews. In addition, we have con-tinued with our commitment in IT such as revamping our Dnata Front Offi ce and enhancing our websites.

ATN: What do you do to motivate and encourage your staff?We have an open door policy at the com-

pany. Staff are encouraged to communicate their ideas. We have an annual survey where they are free to express their ideas. We offer career progression, and regularly promote staff within the company. We offer incen-tives through Najm (the Emirates Group’s reward and recognition programme), FAM trips, merit pay and profi t sharing. Through

Najm, staff are rewarded for their bright ideas. We organise staff events through-out the year such as an annual confer-ence and cinema days for the family.

ATN: What are the biggest challenges you face in your role?

There are many factors outside of our control that impact us, such as the vol-canic ash crisis, swine fl u and politi-cal unrest. We strive to continually improve our products and services to international standards, which more and more discriminating cus-tomers are demanding. Also, it can be a challenge to ensure that the right people with the relevant

experience are in the right roles. We encour-age individuals to take ownership, and pro-vide them with latitude to make decisions.

ATN: Can you tell us about some of your career highlights? My time at Dnata is a highlight of my career. We have seen a signifi cant increase on profi t, whilst developing more services for our customers. I am particularly proud of

our outstanding performance in during the economic downturn. Over the last few years, we have received World Travel Awards for Dnata Travel and Gulf Ventures.

ATN: What advice do you have for someone looking for a career in the travel industry? It’s an exciting and dynamic industry. We will be a larger and larger industry as we all continue to travel more. But it’s a low mar-gin business, and you will need to run a very effi cient business, with a clear focus on your market segment. Use your team members’ maximum potential, and keep their morale high at all times. People management is always rewarding and the key to success.

ATN: How did you feel about winning the Arabian Travel News Award? I am very proud to receive such an award. Arabian Travel News is a respected travel publication, and hence the award is a real privilege. But I am only one person in a very successful team. Without my team, I would not be successful.

I am only one person in a very successful team. Without my team, I would not be successful ”

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Having started her career in the IT depart-ment of Dnata back in 1978 Naz Naziri has remained a steadfast leader through the many changes that have taken place in the travel sector. She has placed her com-pany at the cutting-edge of technology and now continues to lead her dedicated team upwards and onwards making her the most worthy contender for this award.

Lifetime achievement awardNaz NaziriSenior vice president, EmQuest

1. Derin Cameron, Alshamel International 2. Keith Fernandez, Destina-tions of the World 3. Naz Naziri, EmQuest4. Mazen Hamad, Alshamel Travel and Tourism5. William Horsley, Al Futtaim Travel Agency


ATN:What are your career highlights? I started work in Dnata in 1978 in the IT department and was involved in automat-ing airport systems, payroll and the staff records system. When Emirates contracted with Galileo for distribution I was in charge of the total operation from connections to travel agents to training and customer sup-port. Over the years I went from being an IT

offi cer to manager to SVP in this world class organisation. I was the fi rst woman to be appointed as SVP and am extremely fortu-nate that I found my footing in a company that is not discriminative and have had great support and encouragement from my management every step of the way.

ATN: What are you most proud of?I am very proud of my team at EmQuest. They enjoy their work, are very dedicated to this business and are forever coming up with new solutions. When your business is about technology you need the business knowledge, exemplary service and innova-tion. I am equally proud of all the relation-ships that my team and I have in the indus-try, locally as well as internationally. I feel I have friends everywhere.

ATN: How do you feel about being awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award? I was totally taken by surprise. It is a huge acknowledgement and very humbling. It has much to do with the management who have encouraged me to get to where I am and to my team who have been a big part of the success of EmQuest. My daughters and husband are delighted for me and have embarassed me with their public show!

I am proud of all the relationships that my team and I have in the industry, locally as well as internationally. I feel I have friends everywhere.”

ATN: What are the biggest changes you have seen in the travel industry? The travel industry in the Gulf has really matured in the last ten years in the way in which travel is planned, bought and ser-viced. Since the turn of the century we have seen a great surge in leisure travel, in using internet to research options, and using corporate booking tools to better manage travel policy. Travel agency personnel are expected to use technology to its optimum to get better productivity and to remain bet-ter informed than their customers.

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REGIONAL NEWSQ&A CELEBRITY CRUISES

How can I sell the right travel insurance to my clients?

Question:

Expert: Hemant Gupta, regional manager - Travel, AXA Insurance (Gulf)

Ask the expert

Travel insurance is one of a number of potential profi table extras many agents fail to sell to customers, and in many cases they are neglecting their obligations as a travel consultant.”

ravelling without insurance is like skydiving without a parachute. In most countries medical costs can

be prohibitive and falling sick or having an accident whilst on holiday can turn into a fi nancial disaster and the holi-

day into a complete nightmare. Selling travel insurance gained increas-

ing importance last year when new require-ments to obtain a Schengen Visa (which allows travel to mainland Europe) were introduced. A signifi cant change was the requirement to have travel medical insur-ance in place before the visa is granted.

Travel insurance was once seen as an unnecessary expense, but now it guarantees your protection wherever you go. Whether your customers are travelling on business or leisure - having insurance is a security they can’t be without.

MAKING SURE YOUR CLIENTS ARE COVERED Travel insurance is one of a number of potential profi table extras many agents fail to sell to customers, and in many cases they are neglecting their obligations as travel consultants. Travel insurance is a pre-requisite for clients travelling to Europe who require a Schengen visa, so agents are obliged to make sure that customers have a policy providing the required level of cover when they issue tickets.

Unfortunately this does not always hap-pen, and sometimes it is never advised by the agent unless the traveller asks for it.

What is most important is awareness and motivation from travel agents to train their staff and educate their clients to take travel insurance before they travel.

Travel agents should look for the follow-ing points in choosing a travel insurance supplier: - Check the travel insurance product, its inclusion and coverage limits. - Ensure it is from a multi-national insur-

ance company with a strong global pres-ence. These insurance companies sell insur-ance to the worldwide sector so should be well known in any country to which the cli-ent is travelling. - Ensure there is a 24-hour quick and easy claims handling service with a clear terms and condition booklet for your clients.- Go with a supplier that has an easy issu-ance procedure to save time, with good cus-tomer service.

WHY SHOULD AGENTS SELL TRAVEL INSURANCE? Travel agencies should refl ect their image as a complete ‘travel solutions’ provider and not just be a ticket selling company. Travel insurance plays a very important part of travel and should form a vital part of an agent’s services.

Travel agents put a lot of effort into mak-ing wonderful packages for their valued cli-

ents. So it’s very important that they should make these holidays secure from any unfor-tunate incident.

These days, in a zero commission envi-ronment from airlines, travel insurance is an easy source of earning potential

A good idea is for travel agents to include mandatory insurance in their packages and outbound holiday brochures as a ‘value-add’ for their clients.

Travel agents pay a very important role in developing awareness among corporate and leisure clients and they should work closely with insurance companies while developing holidays brochures and pack-ages in order to provide safer holidays to their valued clients.


HOW TO SELL TRAVEL INSURANCE: Travel insurance should cover both

medical and travel inconvenience. Emergency medical expenses,

death, personal liability, cancellation and curtailment, delayed departure and baggage, personal money, loss of passport, personal accident and terrorism should all be covered. Check the company profi le, its

reputation and global presence. Check the effi ciency of the com-

pany in its claims handling services. It is vital to have a worldwide 24-hour emergency service available for any assistance. Always read the policy terms and

conditions and the small print. Always advise the customer not to

focus on cost but to look at the cov-erage. There is no point paying for a travel insurance policy which does not meet their needs.

?

REGIONAL NEWSComment

A few years ago a group of friends came to visit me for a holiday in Dubai. One of the things they were most excited about doing was taking a trip out into the desert, so I booked us all onto a desert safari experience with the fi rst tour operator I found advertised - for what I thought at the time to be an extremely good value price. We soon found out that there was a reason behind this ‘great value’. The tour operator sent a driver to pick us up; who it later turned out had only arrived in Dubai two days before, didn’t speak a word of English and had no idea how to fi nd us. He got com-pletely lost trying to get to the pick up point. We waited for him for hours in a sweltering car park, getting increasingly more frustrated, and by the time he fi nally did arrive, the sun had already set, completely writing off any possibility of our prom-ised ‘sunset photo-op in the dunes’ moment. From then on the whole experience only got worse. To make up for being so late, we sped off into the desert breaking every speed limit under the sun. The driver took the highway straight to the des-ert camp as we “didn’t have time to do dune bash-ing” (probably a good thing having witnessed his driving ability). The food was terrible and the camp was dirty. It was defi nately not the romantic des-ert adventure that my friends had been so excited about, and sadly they left their Dubai holiday with a bad taste in their mouths.

Its companies like these, operating substandard services at cut-prices that are putting Dubai’s tour-ism industry in a really bad light.

Meanwhile, there are established DMCs that invest millions in their operations, facilities, their staff training and in promotion of the destina-tion overseas that say its getting harder and more expensive to carry out their business thanks to end-less painful rules and regulations such as the latest Dubai Airport one which forces them to pay a hefty fee to have their own tour groups met at the airport.

Clearly there is a serious need for regulation in the industry. But why don’t the authorities start by clamping down on those companies that are not even meeting basic industry standards, and man-age to get away with providing a completely unnac-ceptable service which only succeeds in turning away tourists; instead of trying to squeeze every penny out of those who have worked hard to build Dubai into the destination it is today.

. In its capacity as mouthpiece of the Middle East travel trade, ATN is eager to hear your news and views. Email [email protected]


News and analysis for Middle East travel agents and tour operators

Arabian Travel NEWS

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The ‘right’ regulation is requiredAuthorities should clamp down on substandard services

Monika Grzesik, Editor, Arabian Travel News

RE: TOUR OPERATORS SLAM DUBAI AIRPORT ‘FUNNY LAWS’ Yet another law from the Dubai Au-thorities which makes it harder for people to do business. What is the point as a DMC if you can’t meet your own clients? The authorities must be getting desperate! AR

Great initiative, and to all DMCs who do not approve, please fi nd a creative way to meet & greet your customers once they are out of the airport! We all have to sup-port the economy of Dubai who gave us so much in the past; we should not complain of small fees here and there. If you still insist to nag and complain then take your business to Europe or America!! LUXDXB

Clever. Keep the home fi res burn-ing! You own the airline, you own the meet and greet service, you own the airport, you even own some of the DMCs. Commercially very clever - morally - well that’s another thing. The question that has to be asked is will Arabian Adventures and Gulf Ventures - both part of the Emirates group be affected by this same ‘law’? RJF

What the story does not say clearly is that the hotels have only been barred from receiving their guests from the airside. Hotels can still receive their guests in the regular meet and greet area of the termi-nals. Although there’s no denying that monopoly is a reality in this part of the world, anyone who

knows the airport will know this time the reasons are operational. Ali G

RE: TRAVEL AGENT BUSINESS GROWING FASTER THAN ONLINEI agree with Mr. Theodore Teng. Online booking has become more complicated with too many adverts on pages, offers that have hidden charges which would confuse any traveller. The online agents have to change the concept of the websites. Something unique, per-sonlised and user friendly will help them boost and capture quality travellers. Bruno Britto

To give your view on the latest travel industry news visit:www.hoteliermiddleast.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Welcome to Morocco, the land of contrasts. Vibrant and enchanting, where shadows meld with sunlight, and sky and sea kiss at the horizon. A land that for centuries has been romanticized by storytellers in their books. Weaving tales about its natural beauty, the warm hearts of its people and the elegance of its architecture. Not to mention its lazy beaches crawling on the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, its snow-covered peaks, water springs and thick forests, as well as the stunning beauty of its old cities. Come, discover Morocco today.

www.visitmorocco.com

Morocco, a place of fun for the entire family.

MOSAIK

travel for real


REGIONAL NEWSXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

37 www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel

Arabian Travel Market 2010A sense of optimism was prevalent as the tourism industry is set for growth again

SHOW REPORT

The four-day Arabian Travel Market 2010 threw open its doors last month with a renewed sense of optimism, as exhibitors and visitors alike talked up the positives of the travel industry - in stark contrast to the down-beat view prevalent during the global economic down-turn last year.

Tourism arrivals to the region are expected to grow signifi cantly over the next fi ve years, with research company Euromonitor International predicting that regional arrivals will

grow by 6 percent in 2010 to 75 million, and will cross the 100 million mark by 2014.

While major announce-ments at the show were few and far between, organis-ers claimed that over 2,100 exhibitors from 72 coun-tries took part in the show including more than 60 new to market represen-tatives. Online statistics recorded an overall visitor increase of three percent to around 15,000 visitors, and the show also witnessed an increase in GCC visitors. ATN was there covering the action, read on for our full report of the show.

A Malaysian dancer puts on a showSriLankan dancers

From the show fl oor - here’s what a few of the ATM exhibitors had to say at this year’s show:Shane O’Hare, president and CEO, Royal Jet: Prospects for the region as a whole look promising with green shoots of recovery evident in many sectors in the fi rst quarter of this year, leading to organic growth overall.

Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways: We used this opportunity to showcase our award-winning hospitality and promote our new

destinations for 2010 - Bengaluru, Copenhagen, Ankara, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Ayse Misirli MIrza, director Dubai and Sri Lanka, Turkish Airlines:With so many airlines exhibiting this year, ATM has been a positive for us as we were able to see how our competitors are acting in the market place. At the same time,

this situation helped the public become more aware of the aviation sector in general. Lic Marino Vila, Argentina National Institute of Tourism:We come to ATM because it is the perfect place to capture a huge market and present the varied elements of Argentina to a captive audience. We put on a tango show, which showed people

what Argentina is all about - the passion, the heritage and the glamorous lifestyle. All of which, attracts a Middle East audience. Tawfi k Melli, market manger, GCC, Switzerland Tourism: ATM helped us build a presence in the crucial Middle East market. It is the most important trade fair in the UAE, and it would be strange not to be here.

Kathakali from Kerala

News analysisNews analysisATM Report

HH Sheikh Mohammed pays a visit

www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel Arabian Travel News – June 201038


REGIONAL NEWSNews analysisATM Report

Kenya welcomes UAE nationals Friendship with UAE is “strong as ever” despite diplomacy blunder

KENYA

The Assistant Minister of Tourism for Kenya, Honour-able Cecily Mbarire stressed in an interview with ATN that Kenya was a “safe and welcoming” country for UAE nationals to visit and said plans were still on track to increase visitor num-bers to Kenya from the UAE despite a diplomatic blun-der in May which resulted in UAE nationals - reported in the media as being part of the royal family - being detained and deported as suspected terrorists.

“First of all it was a com-plete misinterpretation of the facts - it was not any member of the royal family and nobody close to them - but they were UAE nation-als,” said Mbarire. “It was

The Seychelles has seen a 129 percent year-on-year increase in visitor num-bers from the Middle East and Alain St Ange, director of tourism, Seychelles expects visitor numbers to increase further with the addition of new fl ights from the region.

“We already have six fl ights a week with Emirates and we are looking to confi rm a sev-enth weekly fl ight with them so that will be one fl ight every day,” he said. “We are hoping this will happen by October, we are just fi nalising things now. Currently we are served by Emirates and Qatar Air-ways, but there is imminent

a highly regrettable inci-dent that we as a country felt should not have hap-pened.”

UAE authorities responded to the incident by banning all visas for Kenyan nationals to the UAE unless they had a degree. “We got into discussions with the authorities here in the UAE and I’m happy to report that we got feed-back that they have now changed their decision and will con-tinue to give visas as per the old regula-tions. We have man-aged to sort out the issue and we are very happy about that. It was really hurt-ing everybody, includ-ing the airlines. Our dip-lomatic relations with

Alain St. Ange expects to see a further boost in visitor numbers this year

Seychelles reports major increase from GulfSEYCHELLES

Honourable Cecily Mbarire says Kenya is “safe and welcoming”

BRIEFS

UAE are as strong as ever, its one of those things that happens between friends but we have been able to rise above it and our friend-ship continues.”

Kenya received 12,000 tourists from the Middle East in 2009, and has a tar-get to increase this to 25,000

in 2010. In December Kenya opened a tour-ism offi ce in the UAE and has been edu-cating travel agents about the destina-tion in partnership with Emirates Air-lines. “We opened the tourism offi ce in December last year and in that short

time we have done so much. We have trained

over 500 travel agents in the region.”

Award for Philippines Philippines won the ATM New Frontiers Award which recogn-ises destinations that make an outstanding contribution to tour-ism in the face of adversity. Philippines beat Australia and Italy, for its recovery efforts in the wake of September’s devas-tating typhoon Ket-sana, which poured more than a month’s worth of monsoon rain onto the country in just a few days leaving many dead and homeless.

Summer in Abu Dhabi ADTA announced a six-week family festival in Abu Dhabi to help galvanise tourism over the hot summer months in-cluding entertainment at venues around the city, one-for-one deals with Etihad Airlines (one child’s seat free for every adult ticket), hotel and restaurant deals and complimentary cultural tours with free entry to places of interest. The aim is to attract an ad-ditional 25,000 hotel guests during the festival period of June 24 to August 5 which is a 15 percent increase on last year. For more info see: www.summerinabud-habi.com

news of Etihad starting fl ights too. They have been granted the landing rights already but they haven’t announced when they are starting. But it shows you the interest of the region in Seychelles.”

St. Ange said one of the major draws for Middle East-ern travellers was the sense of privacy they could feel in the Seychelles. “The Middle East community is at home in the Seychelles, they feel safe and it’s a very multi-ethnic coun-try so they feel it’s a ‘home away from home’. Middle East visitors value their pri-vacy and we are one of the few countries in the world where they can still be completely private on a beach,” he said.

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Yemen invests $ 1 bn in tourism Destination on a drive to convince tourists that country is safe

YEMEN

The Yemen Tourism and Pro-motion Board (YTPB) has announced a billion-dollar tourism investment drive. Omar Babelgheith, Yemen’s deputy minister for Tour-ism Development said the country was embarking on an ambitious marketing and investment programme that will see six major projects built in the next fi ve years. “I’m inviting potential inves-tors to invest in the Yemen tourism sector as we have six major projects in the pipe-line approved by the govern-ment. These will be devel-oped along the Yemeni coast and will change the image of

Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) announced the launch of its ‘Visit Korea Year 2010-2012’ campaign at ATM.

KTO’s Dubai offi ce has launched a series of pro-motional activities to target the local market including a new Arabic website (www.elakorea.com), Arabic bro-chures such as the Muslim Food Guide Book and a new TV show to be shown on Al Aan TV called ‘Korean, Not Korean’. The comedy show stars Wonho Chung, a Korean

Yemen tourism. These devel-opments are estimated to be worth around US$1 bil-lion, each project is worth US$150-250 million, which will contribute to support Yemen as one of the main destinations of the world.”

The projects include Midi Coast project in Haja prov-ince Doyma Island and Al Mark Island in Al Hudaida both on the Red Sea. There will also be projects on the Indian Ocean, one on Ras Al Araa-Khour Omira coast in Lahj province near Aden; Dabdab coast in Hadramout province; and Jasolit coast in Al Muhra province. .

Part of Yemen’s promo-tional strategy will be to con-

vince tourists that Yemen is safe to visit. Newly appointed executive director at the YTPB, Fatima Al-Huraibi, recognised that her new job presented many challenges.

“Unfortunately, it is a sad refl ection on world tourism today that very few coun-tries can offer total peace of mind when it comes to safety and security matters,” she said. “We are working tire-lessly with other government

Korea targets MidEast with comedy TV showKOREA comedian, born and raised in

the Middle East and is aimed at promoting Korea as a tour-ism destination to viewers in

Yemen wants tourists to see what it has to offer as a destination.

The cast introduce their new comedy show at ATM.

the Middle East. The three-minute show began airing on 5 May and will run ten times a day throughout the day.

departments to ensure dis-creet but optimal levels of security for our own citizens as well as tourists.

“We are determined not to let the actions of a few wreck our aspirations to build a strong tourism industry and I have a simple message which is that Yemen is an extraor-dinary country, one which deserves to be more widely recognised as an outstanding and unique destination.”

France focus-es on the GulfFrance is shifting its focus to target high-net worth travellers from the Middle East in a bid to bring in more outbound tour-ists from the region, which currently stand at around 725,000. Visitors from the Mid-dle East are the top spenders in France but currently only ac-count for 2 percent of arrivals. Atout France, the tourism board will start to roll out promotions in the region to target leisure travellers and Air France recently upped connectivity from the Middle East to France with a new direct fl ight from Abu Dhabi to Paris fi ve times a week.

Dollar Thrifty expansion Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental an-nounced they have relocated their car rental counters to the Skypark facil-ity at the Abu Dhabi International Airport which opened in May. The group also announced that it has opened two new rental car counters in Qatar to meet grow-ing market demand. Dollar Thrifty Automo-tive Group currently has a combined total of 50 outlets in the UAE with a fl eet size of over 17,550.

With its three year ‘Visit Korea’ campaign, Korea aims to attract 10 million visitors by 2012. 7.8 million tourists visited Korea last year, a 13.5 percent increase over 2008, and 8.5 million travellers are expected to visit by the end of this year with 100,000 from the Middle East.

The Visit Korea Year com-mittee has planned special incentive programmes such as the “Seoul Grand Sale” where tourists can enjoy dis-counts and special packages including free nights at par-ticipating hotels.

$1BNAmount being invested in Yemen’s tourism industry

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BRIEFSTourism will ‘rebound’ this year Arabian Adventures expects to see a 20 percent growth in business

TOUR OPERATOR

Business volumes are expected to grow by as much as 20 percent in 2010, said Frédéric Bardin, senior vice president, Arabian Adven-tures at ATM.

Most of this growth is expected to come from tra-ditional markets in the US, Russia and Europe as well as new emerging markets such as China and Korea.

Bardin said: “Despite the challenges of the economic crisis, our business remains strong. We also believe the tourism sector will rebound substantially this year, par-ticularly in terms of tour operator business and tradi-tional holidaymakers. Con-sequently we expect to see a steady increase in demand

Thailand-based Onyx Hos-pitality Group, showcased two new brands at ATM: Saf-fron and Ozo, and anounced major plans for expansion.

Saffron is the group’s lux-ury offering. The fi rst Saffron property, the Oriental Resi-dence Bangkok will open in 2011. The property will fea-ture privately-owned condo-miniums as well as 145 ser-viced apartments. While Ozo is a new select services brand aimed at both business and leisure travellers.

Onyx has plans to man-age an additional 40 hotels by 2018 and is investing US $44.1 million in a corporate growth strategy. The group

throughout 2010 as the UAE continues to recover.”

In anticipation of the growth in business this year, Arabian Adventures has signed a two-year long-term lease on 16 new private cars, bringing the total size of its fl eet to over 100 vehi-cles. New drivers will also be recruited to support the increase in the overall size of the fl eet.

The new fl eet will be used to provide comfortable and professional service for air-port to hotel transfers, and inter-hotel transfers for cli-ents who split their stay between two or more dif-ferent properties. Private car tours will now use Ara-bian Adventures’ own cars and drivers, in addition to its own tour guides.

Expansion for Thai groupNEW BRANDS also owns Amari Hotels

which are very popular with Middle East guests who booked 90,000 room nights across the 11 Amari proper-ties in Thailand last year.

The new Amari Residences Bangkok opens in Septem-ber. The 128-unit serviced apartment complex is aimed at short and long stay guests.

Bardin predicts tour operators will see a rebound this year.

Amari Bangkok is MidEast favourite.

Hertz commits to Middle EastHertz has appointed Gina Costa as com-mercial director for the Middle East and Africa. The appoint-ment follows the opening of Hertz’s fi rst regional corpo-rate offi ce for the Middle East in Dubai last year and under-lines the company’s commitment to cus-tomers and regional franchise partners in the region. Costa’s team will support the 11 Hertz franchisees in the Middle East and 23 in Africa.

Sharjah rooms increase 75%Hotel rooms in Shar-jah will increase by 75 percent by 2014. 33 new hotels are under construction, increasing the num-ber of hotels to143.

Qatar has FIFA hopesQatar announced it hopes to the fi rst Middle East coun-try to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The government has set aside US$17 billion to develop Qatar’s tourism infra-structure over a fi ve-year period, including new hotels, resorts and other tourism facilities such as the new Doha Interna-tional Airport sched-uled to open soon.

Forecast good for hotels in 2010

The forecast for the coming year for the region’s hotel industry is looking positive, according to Bradley Holli-day, senior manager, Tour-ism Hospitality and Leisure Industry Group, Deloitte Middle East. “The forecast for the com-ing year is good. Airline arrivals in the region are showing positive growth of around 15 percent, tourist arrivals are showing growth of between fi ve and nine percent, GDP in the region is forecast to grow by 4.5 percent and the signs for 2010 are excellent.” Last year, the global down-

DATA turn, coupled with new supply coming on stream ed to major market adjust-ments in the region’s hotel industry.

According to Holliday occupancy fell from around 68 percent to 61 percent - a refl ection of a fall in GDP levels around the world in the region’s feeder markets.

“Air transport, is the one sector that bucked the trend,” said Holliday. “Rev-enue per passenger kilome-tre increased by 11.2 per-cent, but hotels across the region, with a few excep-tions, still saw a signifi cant decrease, though not as bad as some of the trends seen across the rest of the world.”

News analysisNews analysisATM Report

www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/travel Arabian Travel News – June 201042


REGIONAL NEWSNews analysisATM Report

Party people One of the best things about ATM is all the parties. ATN’s photographers were out and about at all the events to catch the action on camera.

A chef prepares some delicacies at Fire & Ice in Raffl es Hotel

Luidmila Al Harasi, Yara Dehni and Marianna Matejkova at the

Fairmont party

Soha Zahar, Tony G and Tamara Hessan

The gamorous champagne table at Fire & Ice in Raffl es

Anne Del Rosario and Anna De Leon at the Movenpick

Sam and Linura Alyain at the Fairmont


Sweet treats at the Fairmont ATM party

The saxophonists at Mosaico, Jumeirah Emirates Towers

Tamara Khalil, Fadi Al Wazaifi and Mihaela Tayar at the Movenpick

Angie Chesnais strikes a pose at the Movenpick

The band lends an Arabic fl avour at the Fairmont

Gemma White and Aoife Stuart at the Fairmont

Elenora Ozhegova and Tatiana Gryzlova at the Movenpick

Myriam Naud, Arnaud and Sylvie Vatienghem


REGIONAL NEWSNews analysisHow to sell

Ramadan in the summer doesn’t have to mean a drop in bookings. ATN looks at where your clients could go to experience the holy month this year

ith the holy month of Rama-dan edging ever earlier and

earlier each year into the peak summer holiday season, many

travel agents are worried that their summer bookings are set to take a

battering as local families opt to forgo their usual travel plans and stay at home instead. But for Muslim clients that still want to get away this summer there are lots of des-tinations promoting themselves specifi cally

Singapore

Where to spend Ramadan

to the GCC market as ideal places to come and experience the holy month of Ramadan.

John Felix, senior vice president, Emirates Holidays says: “Maybe it won’t be the same volume of people who are travelling out, but there is a mix - some people would defi nitely prefer to spend Ramadan here and be around their extended family, but there are others who would prefer to travel with their fami-lies abroad.” Felix recommends predomi-nately Muslim destinations such as “Turkey,

Egypt, Lebanon and Malaysia” as ideal places to spend Ramadan, and adds that “travelling East is another advantage for people who are fasting as the days become shorter”. This year Ramadan takes place from around 11 August until 9 September, but don’t forget, it’s set to happen in the summer for the next four years so these destinations will no doubt become very popular with GCC travellers looking to combine their summer escape with a different kind of Ramadan experience.

With its diverse ethnic mix, and large Muslim population, Ramadan is widely respected in Singapore. “Singapore is a multi-racial coun-try, with a large Muslim population, so visi-tors from the Gulf can expect a festive atmo-sphere at this time of year,” says Jason Ong, area director, Singapore Tourism Board.

He adds: “Arabs have been in Singapore since the early 1800s and we even have a pre-cinct - Kampong Glam - dedicated to them where people can fi nd Arabic food.

“During Ramadan bazaars spring up every-where, while mosques engage in nightly Tarawih prayers as well as pre-dawn Qiyam prayers. Hari Raya Aidilfi tri marks the end of

Singapore is lit up for the Hari Raya (end of Ramadan) celebrations.

HOW TO SELL: Key draws: Bazaars and festivities in Kampong Glam.How to get there: Emirates Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad AirwaysContact: Singapore Tourism BoardTel: 971 4335 3770Email: [email protected]

Ramadan. This is the biggest event in the Mus-lim calendar. Its a magical time to be in Sin-gapore, when visitors can absorb the atmo-sphere through beautiful street decorations, plus exciting events and promotions in the Malay precincts of Kampong Glam and Gey-lang Serai,” says Ong.

During Ramadan bazaars spring up everywhere, while mosques en-gage in nightly prayers”

Hari Raya celebrations involve festive dec-orations, bazaars and cultural performances. Visitors will also be able to participate in iftar at the Sultan Mosque in Kampong Glam or Khalid Mosque in Geylang Serai,while hotels will be providing breakfast suhours and bus shuttle services to the local mosques.



Ramadan Destinations

Malaysia Malaysia is promoting itself as the ideal des-tination to spend Ramadan this year for fam-ilies from the GCC, and even launched a spe-cial ‘Malaysian Ramadan tourism package’ at this year’s Arabian Travel Market.

Malaysia’s Minister for Tourism Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen, says: “We believe that Malaysia is the destination of choice to spend Rama-dan. Why? Number one, commonality of reli-gion; number two: we are east of the Middle East so the daylight hours will be shorter for guests; third, our Ramadan celebrations are quite different to the Middle East. Our Rama-dan New Year is the most important New Year for the Malays in Malaysia. Fourth, in Malay-sia there is a very peculiar culture whereby non-Muslims will also join with Muslims in breaking fast regardless of their religion. Peo-ple all come together. And last but not least the month of Ramadan is the month of Ramadan bazaars. It’s the only month of the year where many housewives and homemakers will cook very special food and sell it at the bazaars. You will fi nd that the whole country waits for these bazaars. It’s a celebratory occasion.”

Dr Ng adds that as part of the drive to encourage more Gulf visitors to Malaysia dur-ing Ramadan, the shops will be opening later and hotels will offer lavish iftar buffets. “We will look at having the shops to open longer hours at night because it’s so unique to the Arab world that during Ramadan people shop till two or three in the morning.

“Hotels taking part in this programme will also be changing the hours at which they serve

Zahir Mosque is one of the oldest in Malaysia.

The Zahir Mosque in Malaysia has been voted one of the top ten most beautiful mosques in the world.

Dr Ng says Malaysia should be the ‘Ramadan destination of choice’.

HOW TO SELL: Key draws: Ramadan bazaars, Qu’ran reading contests on TV, late night shopping and hotels serving lavish iftars buffets. How to get there: Emirates, Etihad and Gulf Air all fl y to Kuala Lumpur. Oman Air recently also started fl ights from Oman to Kuala Lumpur. Contact: Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Tel: +971 4337 7578 Email: [email protected].

food and the type of food they serve. In Malay-sia every hotel during Ramadan will always have a sumptuous buffet served as the whole country celebrates.”

Another draw is the Qur’an reading compe-titions aired nightly on Malaysian TV.

Dr Ng adds: “We are a very modern, pro-gressive Islamic country, and any Muslim that comes to Malaysia will feel very comfortable – from the perspective of food, prayer times and religious practices. They will feel very at home and yet they experience very different experi-ences, because Malaysia is an Islamic country but with great diversity.

She adds: “Because Ramadan and summer will be with us for the next four years we would like to see Malaysia be the Ramadan tourism destination of choice.”

Ramadan is the month of Ramadan bazaars, its a celebratory occasion in Malaysia”

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To celebrate the outstanding commercial interior design work taking place across the Middle East, CID is publishing a 100-plus page, perfect bound special supplement showcasing the region’s most impressive interiors in the following sectors:• Hotels • Leisure & Entertainment• Offi ces • Retail• Restaurants • Institutional

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REGIONAL NEWSRamadan Destinations

The key draws of Jordan are its perfect cli-mate and the myriad of festivities, celebra-tions and activities that will be taking place during Ramadan.

“Jordan is a great place to come dur-ing Ramadan for GCC families, because the weather is cooler, and the atmosphere is tra-ditional and family friendly,” says Sa’ed Zawaideh, educational, medical, religious tourism manager, Jordan Tourism Board.

During Ramadan there will nightly enter-tainment in many of the coffee shops, restau-rants, hotels and malls as well as at Jordan’s many cultural sites. The biggest highlight is the Jordan Festival which takes place from 30 June until 30 August. The cultural and arts fes-tival will feature performances from famous Arabic singers, dancers and poets - many of them staged in dramatic open air locations such as among the ruins at Jerash – one of best preserved ancient Roman cities in the Mid-dle East. The festival is a huge draw for visitors from all around the Middle East region.

GCC visitors to Jordan will encounter a slightly more laid back approach to Rama-dan to what they might be used to at home adds Zawaideh: “Jordan is a moderate coun-try and more liberal than GCC countries in a sense that all hotels outlets and food outlets are open during Ramadan.”

The cooler climate means visitors to Jordan in the summer can still take in sites like the Roman city of Jerash.

Cultural performances during the Jordan Festival are set to take place among the ruins of the ancient city of Jerash.

HOW TO SELL: Key draws: The Jordan Festival 2010 takes places from June 30 – August 30. The festival will feature performances by Pink Martini, Il Divo, Rim Banna (Palestine), Palestine Youth Orchestra and Shaolin Monks among many others. Tickets will be available online and at locations around Jordan. How to get there:Emirates, Etihad, Royal Jordanian Contact: Jordan Festival contact: + 962 6 461 3300 E-mail: [email protected] www.jordantourismboard.com

Jordan The highlight is the Jordan Festival

which will feature performances from famous Arabic dancers, singers and poets ”



Egypt is known as the ‘country of one thou-sand domes’ and with so many beautiful mosques to visit, plus a lively atmosphere during Ramadan nights, its a popular destina-tion to experience the month of Ramadan.

Some of the must-visit mosques in Cairo are in Islamic and Coptic Cairo, or Old Cairo. The area features the Mosque of Amr Ibn El Aas - one of the oldest in Cairo. Other well known mosques are Al Rifai, Sultan Has-san, Ibn Tuluun and Mohamed Ali Mosques. But there are other less known mosques with beautiful architecture that visitors can also

Ramadan nights in Egypt come alive with cultural shows.

Egypt has many traditional souks to explore selling handicrafts, rugs, lanterns and antiques made by Egyptian craftsmen.

HOW TO SELL:Key draws: Egypt’s famous Ramadan tents spring up all over the country during Ramadan. There are many stunning mosques to visit not forgetting all the ancient monuments. How to get there: Emirates, Etihad, Egypt Air, Qatar AirwaysContact: Egypt Tourism AuthorityTel: + 2 02 2684 1970 www.egypt.travel/arabic.egypt.travel.

visit. These include: the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Al-Malik Al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh. Raised on the ruins of an ancient jail, this mosque is an outstanding landmark of Cairo’s Islamic monuments and was one of the leading edu-cational institutions of the fi fteenth century. It is located behind Bab Zuwayla – the south-ern gate of the old Fatimid City.

The Blue Mosque: originally constructed in 1346, the mosque got its name thanks to a restoration project completed in the 1600’s which included redecoration of the sanctuary with Isnik blue and turquoise tiles outlined with plant and fl oral designs imported from Istanbul and Damascus.

Other places to visit include the Museum of Islamic Ceramics, located in the Palace of Prince Ibrahim, which is an impressive exam-ple of Islamic architecture and decoration. The museum features a priceless collection of Islamic ceramics from Egypt, Iran, Turkey and southern Spain and demonstrates various fi r-

ing and decoration techniques.Ramadan nights in Egypt are known for

coming alive with events and entertainment such as music concerts by popular Arabic singers, folklore shows, poetry recitals, oud concerts and Arabic classical concerts taking place almost every evening. Popular places to go for entertainment in historic Cairo are El Amir Taz Palace: a restored Bahari Mam-luk palace; Al-Geneina Theatre: the open-air amphitheatre situated inside Al Azhar Park; The Salal Eldin Citadel, which holds music concerts in its garden; and Kobet El Ghouri, and arts centre where you can see dances, music concerts and poetry recitals.

For a different type of iftar, and to enjoy a nice breeze on the Nile, visors can rent a felucca boat and sail the night away enjoy-ing the glittering lights of Cairo, or take the boat during dusk and watch the sunset. Most felucca owners will treat guests to some authentic Arabic music too.

Egypt For a different type of iftar meal, and

to enjoy a nice breeze on the Nile, visitors can rent a felucca and sail away enjoying the glittering lights of Cairo ”

Advertorial

June 2010 – Arabian Travel Newswww.hoteliermiddleeast.com

ezgateway, a leading technology provider to the travel industry, has been selected by one of the world’s pre-eminent Travel

Management firms, Alshamel Interna-tional, providing a fully-integrated end-

to-end reservation system. The system, Rezpackage 3.1, will dra-matically enhance Alshamel’s award-

winning customer service. Rezpackage 3.1 includes dynamic pack-

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Rezgateway vp marketing and sales Girma Wossenseged, said the company had estab-lished a strong presence in the Middle East and that it was increasing rapidly.

“Building on our broad experience and successes, we are dedicated to providing solutions that solve challenges faced by our customers,” Girma said.

Rezgateway president and CEO Mesfin Eyob said Alshamel was a strategic win.

“It validates our dedication to helping cli-ents in the Middle East succeed,” he said.

“This is not a system that competes with GDS, it’s an enhancement that opens up a world of opportunities for clients and increases profitability without any addi-tional work,” he added.Rezgateway is the complete reservation and back office online solution for:TOUR OPERATORS • DMCs • TRAVEL AGENTS • RECEPTORS • AIRLINES • EVENT PLANNERS

Dynamic packaging reservation system with shopping basket features. Features include:

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Rezgateway forges new ties with Alshamel InternationalAlshamel International selects Rezgateway for complete end-to-end reservation system

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ABOUT REZGATEWAY Established in 2001 as the worldwide leader in software for the travel industry, Rezgate-way’s concept is to provide a one vendor solution to airlines, tour operators, travel inventory distributors, receptors, event planners and DMCs.

By using Rezgateway’s range of services, our customers can easily create, manage, integrate and distribute travel inventory using Internet technologies. Headquartered in Northern Virginia USA, the company also maintains sales and support offices in Las Vegas, USA, Toronto, Canada, Dubai, UAE, Sydney, Australia and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

ABOUT ALSHAMELAlshamel International, established in 1996, is an IATA approved full-brokerage travel management organization. With its diverse, well trained and experienced employees of more than 300; it delivers its award winning services in Kuwait (head office), Qatar, Bah-rain, Syria, Jordan and the UAE.

Alshamel’s award winning services include: Leisure Travel. Corporate Travel. US Govt. & Military. Medical, Health & Spa. Travel Wholesale. Cargo Services.

Rezgateway is proud to welcome these customers to its growing family

ContactsAlshamel InternationalTEL: + 965 297 6000EMAIL: [email protected]: www.alshamel.com

Rezgateway, IncTEL: + 1.703.880.4448 Ext. 25MOB: +971 50 980 5524EMAIL: [email protected]: www.rezgateway.com



ATN: What’s the idea behind your new travel service Crescentrating.com? The concept of a rating system based on the services and facilities provided for Muslim travellers was developed by myself in 2006. I travelled extensively and stayed many nights in hotels and was struggling to cope with the basic needs of a Muslim traveller (Halal food, prayer directions, timings etc). I am sure there must have been many in the same situation. Crescentrating’s key focus, as a pioneer in the fi eld of ‘halal-friendly fravel’ is the launch of a rating standard for hotels, travel and tour-ism services for their ‘halal-friendliness’. The website lists all the Crescentrated facilities, and provides information such as Qiblah direction, prayer times and Islamic travel eti-quette. We believe the Crescentrating stan-dard will encourage the travel and tourism industry to cater to the needs of Muslim trav-ellers globally, thereby targeting 1.6 billion travellers across the world.

ATN: How do you rate hotels and tourism products as being Halal? The best way to go about it is to rate how

friendly they are towards halal-conscious travellers. We look at the following criteria and rate them from one to seven: prayer facilities, halal food services, guest bathroom facilities, Ramadan facilities, recreation facilities and services and non-halal activities.

ATN: With Ramadan coming up in summer this year what key elements will a Muslim traveller be looking for in a destination? The Muslim traveller will be looking for an environment that they are comfortable in observing the requirements of fasting, and an environment where these practices are respected. As for these requirements, gener-ally they could be in found destinations where

there is a Muslim majority, a Muslim minority country, but with a strong local Muslim pop-ulation or destinations where the tourism boards are actively trying to make their desti-nations Ramadan friendly. On a practical level Muslims will be looking for hotels which can cater to Iftar and sahour, mosques at walking distance from the hotels, availability of halal and multicultural food and probably also lec-tures in the mosques in Arabic for the Middle Eastern visitors.

ATN: Which destinations would you recom-mend as ideal places for Muslim travellers from the GCC to spend Ramadan? Malaysia, Turkey, Singapore and Indone-sia, all market themselves as Halal friendly / Ramadan friendly destinations. Most hotels in Indonesia and Malaysia will be providing special Iftar and sahour services. A few hotels in Singapore will also serve Sahour and Iftar.In many other destinations there are a few hotels which will be providing these services. In London and some cities in Canada due to the strong local Muslim populations there will be places which the visitors can go for Iftar and Sahour although you may not fi nd this in the hotels.

ATN: What has been the feedback to crescen-trating.com? We have had excellent feedback from both the industry and the consumers. We believe many hotels will be signing up with us in the next couple of months. As for consumers, the feedback has been overwhelming. They seem to love the approach of ours; both the rating concept as well as the information provided on our website.

Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of new travel company Crescentrating.com talks about his ‘halal-friendly’ rating system designed for Muslim travellers

We believe the Crescentrating standard will encourage the travel industry to cater to the needs of 1.6 billion Muslim travellers across the world”

Crescentrating is a new system which rates hotels and travel services on their

‘halal-friendliness’

Follow the crescent moon


REGIONAL NEWSXxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ENGLAND While visitors from the GCC are already quite familiar with London, VisitEngland is on a mission to get people out of the capital and ex-ploring the rest of the country. “It is becoming more of a trend to go beyond the capital especially as there are some great developments in the fi ve-star hotel sector outside of London,” said Anke Suessmann, international manager, VisitEngland. One such property is the stunning Scarlett Hotel in Cornwall, a luxury eco-retreat situated on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean (www.scarlethotel.co.uk). VisitEngland

also recommends Bath as a top pick destination. “As an out of London getaway city, Bath is really up and coming. It is steeped in history. The Thermae Bath Spa opened a few years ago, it’s a refurbished 18th Century spa with natural hot springs and a roof top pool which overlooks Bath Abbey and the lovely countryside around,” said Suessmann. www.visitengland.com

SCOTLANDScotland is promot-ing its culinary tour-ism thanks to the quality of its natural produce. The Interna-tional Culinary Tourism As-sociation declared Scotland one of the most “unique” places for food and drink on the planet and 2010 is ‘Scottish Year of Food and Drink’ with food fests including Taste of Edinburgh in May (www.tasteofedinburgh.co.uk) and Foodies at the Festival in August (a culinary take on the Edinburgh Festival). Visitors to Scotland could try a specialist package such as the Islay and Whisky Coast 4-Day Tour which takes in Scotland’s fi n-est malt whisky distilleries.(www.rabbies.com)


REGIONAL NEWSNews analysisDEBI Report

Destination Britain and Ireland Event drives home the ‘value-for-money’ message

ast month Visit Britain and Tourism Ireland held their fl agship business-to-business

travel trade event in Dubai for the fi rst time, inviting more than 80 tourism suppli-ers from the UK and Ireland to meet with 200 buyers from the Asia Pacifi c and Middle East region over a packed

three-day event. With the British pound still weak against the dollar, the British suppliers were keen to

push their ‘value-for-money’ message to the indus-try. “The global tourism industry is slowly emerging from the recession,” said Keith Beecham from Visit-Britain. “A weaker currency results in more value for visitors, and currently Britain has a price advantage for the region compared to most currencies.” ATN spoke with representatives from tourism boards around Britain and Ireland to fi nd out what they had to offer visitors from the Gulf.


REGIONAL NEWSAustria

NORTH EASTWith Emirates Airlines offering direct fl ights to Newcastle in the Northeast of England, the region is promoting itself as the new ‘gateway to the UK’ for visitors from the GCC. “I think more and more people are getting turned off by Heathrow so they may be looking for somewhere new to access the UK, and Newcastle is one option. The beauty of the region is that you’re close to all the key tourist attractions within the UK so you can base yourself there and explore Edinburgh, York, the Lake District and Lon-don,” said Hayley Quarmby, PR offi cer, One North East. With stunning countryside such as Northumberland National Park and empty beaches, the North-east is one of the UK’s most tranquil and unspoilt regions. A major tourist draw is Alnwick Castle - otherwise known as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter fi lms (www.alnwickcastle.com). www.visitnortheastengland.com

IRELANDIreland is experiencing a massive boom in visitor numbers from the Middle East with a 53 percent year-on-year rise in visa applications from the GCC in 2010. Visitors are attracted by the natural

beauty of Ireland, said Amanda Burns, Tourism Ireland, general manager, Middle East and Asia. “For GCC nationals it’s about the scenery and the landscape, The chance to get away from the blistering

heat in the summer months to the cooler climes of Ireland is a real draw.” Top natural attractions include the Ring of Kerry – Ireland’s most scenic drive offering waterfalls, an old abbey, pictur-esque villages and the wilderness of Kerry’s mountain range; and the Cliffs of Moher which are so stunning they were recently declared one of the fi nalists in a contest to fi nd the world’s new ‘seven

wonders of nature’. www.discoverireland.ae

WALESWales is hosting the Ryder Cup for the fi rst time in October and the event is expected to draw thousands of international visitors. The golf tournament is being played at the purpose-built Celtic Manor Resort in Newport; packages are available at Ryder Cup Travel Services (www.rcts.co.uk). As well as golf, Wales offers heritage with a plethora of castles to explore. Visitors can buy a three-day or a seven-day pass, and four of its castles are world heritage sites. “Visi-tors come to Wales through Manchester or London,” said Eirlys Thomas, head of marketing networks, Visit Wales. “For accessing the great outdoors, Wales is probably the closest to London. We have three nation-al parks and four areas of outstanding natural beauty, all combined with a heritage backdrop.”

www.traveltradewales.com


REGIONAL NEWSQ&A CELEBRITY CRUISES

On her recent visit to DEBI, Sandie Dawe MBE, CEO, Visit Britain says Brits are a lot more friendly and welcoming than people might think.

A friendly British welcome

ATN: How important is the Middle East mar-ket to Britain’s tourism industry? It’s very important. It’s a very high value mar-ket. The numbers in themselves aren’t enor-mous but it’s a very high spend per head and its a very loyal market so its defi nitely one that we want to nurture.

ATN: Many GCC visitors go to London - how do you encourage them to see more of Britain? There’s a lot of connections with London and I know there are residents here who have second homes there, but there’s every rea-son to explore the rest of Britain and spend more time out of London. What they’ll get is the quintessential English countryside, the greenery - all the things you don’t have here

- and with airlines like Emirates you’ve got

great regional con-nectivity so you can fl y direct to Glasgow, Man-

chester, Newcas-tle. You can spend

a few days some-where else in the

country and fl y back out of London.

ATN: What’s so appealing about Britain to visitors from this part of the world? Britain offers something you don’t have here. We have more than 1000 years of built her-itage. We’ve got the greenery, the climate is temperate, its never too hot, never too cold, especially if you come in the summer, its really pleasant. They like the shopping which is really good. We have Harrods, Selfridges, Bic-ester Village. They also like the depth of enter-tainment – there is always something new at the West End. You can get fantastic entertain-ment around the rest of the country as well with festivals and theatres etc.

ATN: What are you doing to promote Britain as a destination this year?What we are doing is to turn up the volume on the ‘personality’ of Britain - the friendli-ness and the welcome. Our research shows that people think that we are perhaps a bit reserved, and not as dynamic, welcom-ing and fun. We are very good about show-ing off the countryside and the monuments, but we have got to be not too shy about put-ting forward our personality. Our new logo is simply “you’re invited’ so we’ll use that right up through the Olympics – we want to use the Olympics as an opportunity to show that friendly side of us as we put on the world’s big-gest party. It’s the perception among people who haven’t been to Britain. Those who have been fi nd that we are a lot friendlier and more fun and relaxed and multi-cultural than the stereotypes but of course we live in a world of perception and stereotypes so our challenge is around fun and welcome and friendliness.

ATN: How was tourism to Britain impacted during the recession? We had a weak pound which was great for affordability and value for the eurozone and the dollar, but at the same time people in those economies were fearing for their jobs. So we were up against the fact that some of our key markets were in recession. The market that really did fall off a cliff last year was business and corporate which was down a good 20 per-cent. Our leisure market was slightly up last year and I think it was as a result of the fact that we ran a very strong ‘value’ campaign abso-lutely driving home that message. We were

really tactical – we shifted to price-led short term marketing.

ATN: What are your forecasts for this year?We are looking at a tiny increase in terms of numbers and values - probably almost less than 1 percent. So we are holding our own, the spend might go up 3 or 4 percent. Quite a lot of that is about the weak pound. But we don’t really see the business market recover-ing quickly. Now we are worried about that volcano because the ash will affect the North Atlantic so that’s a bit of a concern. The last time it erupted it went for 18 months appar-ently – there’s nothing you can do about it and depending on which way the winds blowing it could dampen the demand across the Atlan-tic just at a point when we know the demand was coming back strongly. The other concern that might dent demand this year is the World Cup because people stay at home and watch the television rather than go on holiday.

Q&A

What we are doing is to turn up the volume on the ‘personality’ of Britain - the fun, the friendliness and the welcome. ”

greenery - all the things you don’t have here- and with airlines like

Emirates you’ve gotgreat regional con-

nectivity so youcan fl y direct toGlasgow, Man-

chester, Newcas-tle. You can spend

a few days some-where else in the

country and fl y back out of London.

Sandie Dawe says Brits are fun and relaxed



REGIONAL NEWSAgent Action

Around the world with Emirates Holidays Four hundred travel agents attended the Emirates Holidays World event in Dubai last month to hear from over 30 different destinations. Were you caught on camera?

A group of agents from Karachi listen intently to a workshop presentation.

Travel agents look very fetching in their Le Meridien hats.

Natalia Kravtsova and Olgo Rakova from Russia with tribal warriors The agents from Karachi took bags of information home with them.

Kayode Obijole and Hafeez from Peacock Travel & Tours, Pretoria, South Africa Agents got in on the action and learnt some traditional Greek dancing.

TEL: 00971 4 2284338, FAX 00971 4 2273306

Come and discover Hong Kong’s unique world of dazzling celebrations. Experience an enchanting mix of Chinese and Western festivities in a mesmerising year-round whirl of festivals, music, sports, arts and cultural events you’ll find nowhere else. Visit FestiveHongKong2010.com

Chinese New Year Celebrations

Cultural Celebrations

New

Year Countdow

n

International Races

Summer Spectacular

Cheung C

hau Bun FestivalMid-Autumn Festival

Proofing.indd 1 25/05/2010 20:29

arabian travel news - june 2010

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