Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in partnership with Le Ceylan & Ceylon in style, a leading destination management company in Sri Lanka recently arranged a familiarisation trip for tour operators from Amman to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In a media event, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) held the official signing ceremony of the 2nd Edition of the Adventures of Maldives, a Facebook Video competition held in partnership with Red Bull. Adventures of Maldives is co-sponsored by Euro Store and Tech Street.
Cyprus Airways announced extra flights during the Christmas season to Heraklion and Beirut. Specifically, for the period December 21 to January 07, 2019, the company will operate flights to Heraklion, Crete every Monday and Friday.
Air Arabia, one of the Middle East and North Africa’s largest low-cost carrier, celebrated 15 years of successful operations which transformed the air travel industry in the wider MENA region by unveiling a new brand identity that is reflective of its innovative forward-looking and international approach.
InterContinental Cairo Citystars, Holiday Inn Cairo Citystars and Staybridge Suites Cairo Citystars recently celebrated the graduation of 159 IHG Academy students. Graduated students received their certificates after completing two-month training in different hotel sections.
Millennials love going on city trips, and, at least some, are willing to spend big on travelling, with now half of all luxury trips being made by Millennials. These are the findings of a special evaluation of the World Travel Monitor, conducted by IPK International and commissioned by ITB Berlin.
flydubai has inaugurated its new daily service to Helsinki becoming the first carrier for in the UAE to offer direct flights from Dubai. The inaugural flight departed from Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB) and landed at Helsinki Airport just before midnight.
ONYX Hospitality Group, has signed an agreement with a joint venture company led by Panchshil Realty to launch OZO Maldives.
Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2020, the 200-villa private island resort will occupy a secluded island in the Raa Atoll, located northwest of the Maldivian capital of Male.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released its annual Cities Report at the WTTC Asia Leaders Forum in Macau, SAR. The Report covers 72 of the world’s most important tourism cities, which together generated over USD625 billion contribution to GDP in 2017 (24,3 percent of global Travel & Tourism GDP).
The world’s top 10 cities in terms of tourism market size are: Shanghai (USD35 billion), Beijing (USD32.,5 billion), Paris (USD28 billion), Orlando (USD24,8 billion), New York (USD24.8 billion), Tokyo (USD21,7 billion), Bangkok (USD21,3 billion), Mexico City (USD19,7 billion), Las Vegas (USD19.5 billion) and Shenzhen (USD19 billion).
The world’s top 10 cities in terms of job creation are: Jakarta, Beijing, Mexico City, Shanghai, Bangkok, Chongqing, Delhi, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, Shenzhen.
Gloria Guevara, CEO, WTTC, said that with 54 percent of the world’s population living in urban areas, cities have become global economic hubs, driving growth and innovation. They attract huge quantities of people who travel to experience their culture, do business, and live. This growth has also resulted in a rise in city tourism is trend which is forecasted to maintain momentum.
The report highlights the crucial importance of cities to Travel & Tourism worldwide, and likewise how vital this sector is to the economy. Over half a billion trips are made to cities annually representing 45 percent of global international travel.
Highlights from the Report include:
• Cairo was the fastest growing city in 2017 in terms of Travel & Tourism GDP contribution (34,4 percent), followed by Macau (14,2 percent).
• Four of the five fastest growing cities over the past 10 years are located in China: Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou.
• Shanghai is ranked as the largest city by Travel & Tourism volume in 2017. By 2027, Shanghai is expected to be double the size of Paris in terms of Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP.
• Bangkok (50,4 percent), Paris (29,8 percent), Mexico City (24 percent) and Tokyo (20,2 percent) are the biggest contributors to their country’s Travel & Tourism GDP.
• In terms of domestic vs. international spend, New York sets an example as a city with a remarkable balance (52,7 percent versus 47,2 percent). Meanwhile, Paris relies heavily on international spend and Beijing on domestic.
Hamad International Airport (HIA) has welcomed a total of 9,68 million passengers and handled 57,031 aircraft movements in the third quarter (Q3) of this year, making this the busiest quarter of the year so far. HIA has also handled 538,551 tonnes of cargo in the Q3 of this year.
