JULY 2012 ISSUE 33

INVESTIGATION: EXHIBITIONS & VIRTUAL EVENTS

TOUR: GREECE

IN THIS ISSUEMARKET UPDATE

INVESTIGATION:

Exhibitions & Virtual Events

VISIT: Saudi Arabia

EXPLORE: Libya

ONSITE: Indonesia

TOUR: Greece

LONG-HAUL: Brazil

TRAVEL TALK

TRAVEL CHANNELS

EXCLUSIVE: Short-Haul Travel

WHO'S MOVED

RENDEZVOUS

NEWS & EVENTS

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15

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The business handshake, whether physical or virtual, has long represented the initiation of fruitful relation-ships more so in the world of events and exhibitions.

Capitalising on its flourishing infrastructure, local know-how, and skilled workforce, Saudi Arabia further strives

to harness the power of its thriving tourism industry and propel its economy into a whole new dimension.

VISIT: Saudi Arabia

Greece may be facing extreme economic turmoil but for a nation which proudly stands firm on the global tourism map, giving up has and never will be an option.

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TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY

UAE (AED)

Egypt (EGP)

Saudi Arabia (SAR)

Lebanon (LBP)

Bahrain (BHD)

Jordan (JOD)

Syria (SYP)

Kuwait (KWD)

Qatar (QAR)

Oman (OMR)

Tunisia (TND)

Morocco (MAD)

Iran (IRR)

Yemen (YER)

Algeria (DZD)

Libya (LYD)

Dirham

Pound

Riyal

Pound

Dinar

Dinar

Pound

Dinar

Riyal

Rial

Dinar

Dirham

Riyal

Rial

Dinar

Dinar

3.67

6.06

3.75

1,505.50

0.37

0.71

64.02

0.28

3.64

0.38

1.59

8.83

12,275.00

213.55

78.73

1.26

COUNTRY CURRENCY 1USD=

MENA EXCHANGE RATES

Accurate as of

26/06/2012

Currencies shown in red are fixed against the US Dollar

Abu Dhabi International Airport: Healthy GrowthAccording to Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC)’s April traffic report for Abu Dhabi International Airport, a robust 22 percent growth in passenger volume, over the same month in 2011, was recorded, witnessing over 1.2 million travellers.

A ircraft movement also registered a six percent increase, reaching 9,893, while cargo traffic also continued to rise, reach-ing 45,261 tonnes; an improvement of 19 percent compared to April 2011.

Ahmed Al Haddabi, chief operating officer, ADAC, expressed a sense of encouragement in the face of this sustained development.

“The positive performance in passenger traffic [in April] demonstrates the airport’s healthy growth with more passengers choosing Abu Dhabi International

DXB Exceeds 4.5 Million Mark Monthly passenger traffic at Dubai International crossed the 4.5 million mark for the fourth consecutive month, according to the April traffic report released by Dubai Airports.

In the month under review, the airport welcomed a total of 4,566,673 passengers, up 7.8 percent over April 2011, propelling the total passenger volume at the airport for the first four months of the year to 18,828,279; a significant year-on-year increase of 13.9 percent.

The largest growth in passenger numbers was registered from the GCC, followed by Africa and Western Europe, while in terms of percentage passenger growth South Amer-ica topped the list.

In April, the airport recorded a total of 28,503 aircraft movements, bringing the year-to-date volume to 114,517, up 7.7 percent over 2011.

Meanwhile, for the four-month period, cargo volume reached 703,826, after handling 186,385 tonnes in April.

Airport to be their gateway to the rest of the world, as Abu Dhabi reinforces its position as a key business and tourism destination.

“Whilst we enter the summer season, Abu Dhabi International Airport is focusing its resources on de-livering service quality to compete with the world’s leading airports, enabling it to cater to the expected travel peaks,” he said.

During April, Bangkok registered the highest traf-fic flow followed by Doha, Manila, London, and Jed-dah as the top five routes from Abu Dhabi.

MANAGING EDITORMary Kammitsi

mary@traveltradeweekly.travel

JOURNALISTSStefanie Saghbini

Rita Kasziba Dominique Christou

SALES & MARKETING

Maria Demetriadou Brighite Ess

Katerina Dalal

DESIGN & LAYOUTElena Stylianou

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4 INVESTIGATION Exhibitions & Virtual Events

JULY 2012

Stefanie Saghbini writes

Connecting Future BusinessesThe business handshake, whether physical or virtual, has long repre-sented the initiation of fruitful rela-tionships and this cannot be more apparent than in the prosperous world of exhibitions and events, as this sector continues to prove the magnitude of its worth growing unre-mittingly year after year.

A large proportion of the recent increase in tourism figures across the MENA region can predominantly be attributed to the burgeoning events sector which has been witnessing escalting results over the past

few years.The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) recently

announced the historic attendance of trade visitors at major trade fairs, conventions, and consumer shows during 2011, which resulted in a 17 percent increase over 2010 figures.

DWTC, which stands as one of the region’s lead-ing venues and event organisers, offered 35,071 local and international businesses access to 1,653,114 visi-tors from over 160 markets across the wider region in 2011 alone. This commendable growth, in turn, ena-bled a high volume of trade transactions across sec-tors, delivering an optimally networked hub.

Admiring these figures, Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, DWTC, said, “This performance is especially signifi-cant as it is complemented by the increase in com-mercial deals brokered at our venue through 2011, clearly indicating that we have been able to deliver not just the ‘magnitude’ but also the top-tier decision makers to events in Dubai.”

Moreover, Almarri attributed these successes to the encouragement given to the exhibiting firms by the high-value business conversions and breadth of regional market exposure enabled by DWTC’s events platform. “As a result of witnessing tangible returns on their investment, we are optimistic that it will fuel even higher international participation this year,” he continued. “As financial prudence and austerity con-tinue to be world-wide priorities, our focus in 2011 had been to build on the strength of Dubai’s stability and provide an immensely secure networking base connecting not just international buyers, investors, and high-growth regional markets, but also industry experts, business leaders, and associations, to pro-mote an active dialogue and consequently generate sustained economic activity”.

Moreover, DWTC’s agenda remains centred on growing the sector’s estimated 2.4 percent contri-bution to the emirate’s GDP. In the ramp up towards UAE’s bid to host World Expo 2020, a key priority for this year is to promote Dubai’s candidacy as the city that offers the most integrated proposition and truly mirrors the essence of its theme Connecting Minds - Creating the Future.

CREATING A SOLID STRUCTURE

In addition, Bahrain also witnessed an upsurge in corporate tourism figures when its events sector re-cently organised the annual Team Bahrain meeting; the seventh edition of its series and the first for this year under the theme Working Together to Welcome the World.

The event, which was organised by Bahrain Ex-hibition & Convention Authority, was held in March at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre and comprised a large representation from the country’s MICE sector.

H.E. Hassan Abdulla Fakhro, minister of industry and commerce, and chairman, Bahrain Exhibition & Convention Authority, highlighted the support and encouragement offered by the leadership and government of the Kingdom to the initiatives of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce towards the pro-motion of the conference and exhibition industry of Bahrain implemented particularly to fulfill the re-

quirement of long-term growth in the MICE industry. Meanwhile, Hassan Jaffer Mohamed, CEO, Bahrain

Exhibition & Convention Authority, commented, “We are very pleased to be in a position to host this event which is in fulfillment of the objectives of Bahrain Ex-hibition & Convention Authority to create a structure for a proactive and efficient MICE sector and enhance cooperation with Bahrain’s hotel and tourism sectors in marketing international exhibitions and conferences.

“This initiative was launched by the authority in April 2009 with the aim to attract active contributors to the development of the MICE industry in Bahrain by creating a support network that will enable Bah-rain Exhibition & Convention Authority to participate in tenders to bid for international events and contrib-ute to the national economy.

PHYSICAL vs. VIRTUAL

The important role the events segment plays not only in the region but across the world is therefore unquestionable and as it flourishes so does the host country, its organisers, its event venues, the business opportunities, and the technological features behind each event, in an effort to make them more accessible to those unable to attend.

The UAE has gradually been progressing in re-gards to organising and hosting technologically ad-vanced meetings, otherwise known as virtual events, although according to Gillian Taylor, business tourism manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, culturally, people in the Arabian Gulf region prefer face-to-face meeting and visiting exhibitions. “The traditional meeting culture, meeting in the majlis, goes back hundreds of years and continues today. Nevertheless, being an international business centre, Abu Dhabi is fully equipped with the latest techno-logical advances and the majlis meeting may, to some degree in the future, morph into majlis 21st century style,” he commented.

Touching upon the future of the virtual events segment in the capital, which he believes will witness a slight growth this year, Taylor said, “Virtual aspects are increasingly being used to enhance these meet-ings, such as telemedicine as health conferences and hologram appearances at major global conventions. We are working with the industry to provide them value-for-money and incentives in these increasingly competitive times.

“We do this with our Advantage Abu Dhabi scheme which offers a basket of incentives and as-sistance to assist organisers to bring meetings and conferences to Abu Dhabi.”

Moreover, Taylor belives that virtual events in Abu Dhabi are likely to be accepted for small-scale corpo-rate inhouse gatherings and are certainly, in the short and medium term, to impact the traditional prefer-ence of face-to-face meetings, as they reduce costs

5INVESTIGATIONExhibitions & Virtual Events

JULY 2012

for travel, lodging, and food, to name a few. “Virtual events save time both for event organisers, sponsors, producers and more importantly attendees who will not have to travel to the venue,” he continued.

“They increase flexibility, can offer new ideas and change your display on-the-go, enable one to explore new markets without spending too much budget, they are greener, have the ability to collect attendees data and track, and can run longer.”

MORE FOR LESS

Virtual engagement is the new norm in marketing, training, and collaboration, at least this is the case in the US, according to a second annual survey conduct-ed in 2011 by Unisfair, a leader in virtual environment solutions.

The study, which was based on responses from more than 550 marketers across the country, showed that out of the total number of respondents, 40 per-cent believe that the primary benefit of holding a vir-tual event is the ’ability to reach a much larger audi-ence for less money’. Other advantages, highlighted by 24 percent of the respondents, included ’I get the same or better results as a physical event for less ef-fort’ while 19 percent stated that they ’get quantifi-able results.’

Moreover, 46 percent of those polled predicted that more than 50 percent of corporate events will be hybrid by 2013, with another 41 percent predicting that the shift will take place within the next four years. Meanwhile, 62 percent of respondents would like the ability to attend a virtual event from a mobile device.

According to 58 percent of the total respondents, the best part about attending a virtual event is the ability to multitask, while 14 percent find the ability to be ‘invisible’ until they engage with colleagues or vendors to be a primary benefit.

“This research proves that no matter the business purpose, virtual business environments are here to stay and are rapidly becoming a marketing standard,” said Joerg Rathenberg, vice president, marketing, Unisfair. “It also indicates that virtual events are being adopted across industries and enterprises and will continue to be the preferred way to meet, market, collaborate and educate for both hosts and attendees alike.”

In addition, other leading event organisers across the country have also been delving into the potential benefits of virtual events by attending seminars on the web, also known as webinars, with other fellow professionals, to discuss this evolving sector.

Michael Kushner, vice president, digital media strategy, UBM Studios, recently participated in a num-ber of webinars, one of which was entitled Beyond the

Virtual Conference: Best Practices in the World of Digital Events.

Kushner and Eric Temple-Morris, vice president, client solutions and sales, UBM Medica’s Physicians Practice Diagnostic Imaging, explored the strategies for maximising the unique advantages of new digital environments from enhancing networking efforts and expanding the reach of online tactics to optimis-ing lead generation and increasing marketing return on investment. The webinar specifically addressed a number of crucial topics including the main forces that have caused the shift from virtual events to digi-tal environments, how a digital event programme can optimise demand generation and drive brand aware-ness, and how digital environment programmes can fit into any integrated, comprehensive communica-tions programme, just to name a few.

In addition, Kristin Beaulieu, senior vice president, UBM Studios, attended a session entitled Web-Live Event Strategies for 2012 and Beyond at Expo Next Conference on June 19 - 20 at Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland, highlighting the ways in which live events are being reinvented with digital environments and how a marketer in any in-dustry can use these hi-tech solutions to extend their content, improve branding, and expand revenue op-portunities.

6 VISIT Saudi Arabia

JULY 2012

EMPOWERING THE REGIONCapitalising on its flourishing infrastructure, local know-how, and skilled workforce, Saudi Arabia further strives to diversify its economy away from the dependence on oil, harnessing the power of its thriving tourism indus-try, and propelling the Kingdom’s economy into a whole new dimension.

SAUDI ARABIA IN BRIEF

Capital: Riyadh

Currency: Saudi Riyal (SAR)

Language: Arabic

Grand Mosque, Mecca

Old Down Town, Jeddah

Caravans, Rub Al Khali Desert

B uilding on high performance levels and a new wave of large-scale developments, the largest country of the Arabian Penin-sula has, over the past few years, proven its capability to retain its position as the

region’s powerhouse, showing great resilience in the midst of some of the most turbulent times and geo-political conditions.

“Saudi Arabia is witnessing major expansions in the various fields of economy and development, which enabled it to contribute effectively to the global economy,” H.R.H. Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, president, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), commented.

According to SCTA’s data, the number of inbound tourist overnight trips in 2011 reached approximately 17.5 million and 22.5 million domestically. Reiterating the industry’s crucial role in creating jobs for citizens, thus linking them to their homeland, Abdul Aziz add-ed, “The contribution of tourism to the [non-oil] GDP

Rita Kasziba writes in 2011 has exceeded 7.2 percent, which contributed significantly to the recruitment of a greater number of Saudi citizens. The percentage of employment of Saudis in the sector has reached 28 percent, [mean-ing] 670,000 direct jobs. Tourism also employed 9.1 percent of the total workforce in the private sector.”

RAISING COMPETITIVENESS

Ranking 12th out of 181 countries for overall ease of doing business globally on The World Bank’s latest re-port and listed 17th on the World Economic Forum’s The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, lays a stable foundation for Saudi Arabia’s future prospects, attracting a devoted throng of investors from all around the globe, and SCTA, alongside the govern-mental bodies, is committed to establishing the King-dom as a global tourism powerhouse by providing support to potential investors.

Talking about the industry’s prospects Sanjeev Tandon, director of sales and marketing, Mövenpick Hotel Al Khobar and Mövenpick Beach Resort Al Kho-bar, said, “Saudi Arabia plans to invest USD80 billion

in tourism related facilities, including hotels and air-ports. One of the main factors behind the success and growth of the domestic and regional tourism is the positive role played and encouragement provided by SCTA [including the introduction of a number of successful events and festivals]. The future looks very positive. The Kingdom has embarked on ambitious investment programmes with the proposed devel-opment of economic cities in various regions of the country with a total investment of USD373 billion during a five-year period.”

In fact, the four economic cities of the Kingdom, are envisaged to further drive Saudi Arabia’s econom-ic diversifications and job creation, by turning these destinations into highly attractive platforms for inves-tors while at the same time involving both the local

7VISITSaudi Arabia

JULY 2012

and international private sectors. Current developments also include, airport im-

provements, the expansion of the Jeddah Islamic Port with a capacity increase of 30-50 percent, as well as massive railway projects across the Kingdom, includ-ing a 950km rail link between Jeddah and Damman.

“The Kingdom remains the undisputed leader in the region for foreign investment and with a host of new infrastructure projects,” Tandon added.

ENCOURAGING PERFORMANCE LEVELS

Indeed, performance levels have long been on the growth track, as Tarek Bekhiet, director of marketing, Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, indicated.

“Over the past years, the Saudi Government has taken successful steps to attract a large number of tourists by investing heavily in the development of tourism,” he said, attributing the recent boom in do-mestic tourism to the government’s efforts to encour-age local citizens to spend their holidays – thus their money – in their own country. In response, the hotel created a number of packages, dedicated to the in-creasingly important domestic market.

Erich Steinbock, vice president, Rosewood Hotels, Middle East, managing director, Al Faisaliah Hotel, Hotel Al Khozama, reported similar trends. “Our num-

ber one feeder market is domestic travel, followed by GCC countries, UK and the US. We have seen nice demand growth for our Rosewood Corniche Hotel in Jeddah, and demand has also increased in Riyadh where we operate Al Faisaliah and Al Khozama Ho-tels, Rosewood Hotels. However, supply has increased substantially especially in the five-star category.”

Still, the capital city is considered as one of the healthiest markets, as Mikel Ibrahim, director of sales and marketing, The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, indicated. “The government is investing a lot in the economy and in different sectors that will attract many busi-ness travellers and investors from around the globe. Riyadh needs more five-star hotels in order to absorb the high demand periods.”

Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s other main gateway city has also experienced encouraging performance levels, Asif Raza, director of sales and marketing, Park Hyatt Jeddah, noted. “Business in the Red Sea region is thriving. [In the first quarter of the year] we have seen an increase in business as compared to 2011.”

Steinbock believes that the next few years will be decisive for the Kingdom’s hotel sector and tourism industry as a whole.

“Hotels are labour intensive operations. They will provide increased employment opportunities. SCTA has done a remarkable job in developing and

promoting tourist attractions, may they be due to religious, recreational, or business travel. We are on a good path, there are great opportunities ahead.”

Bekhiet added, “The country’s political and eco-nomical stability created a great basis for the country to invest in its tourism and business industry. Saudi Arabia has become an attractive market for business-es and hotels. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of global and regional conferences and exhibitions held in the Kingdom,” Bekhiet further highlighted. “In the next few years, the country will continue to notice a growth in both the hospitality industry and in tourism, creating more opportunities for family activities, cultural attractions, hotels, res-taurants, and many alternatives for entertainment, all at higher standards than before. Numerous five-star hotels are expected to open in the coming years, sup-porting the country in becoming a central destina-tion for business and touristic travellers.”

Youssef Bakka, director of sales and marketing, Shaza Al Madina, echoed similar sentiments. “The Kingdom is the strongest economy in the region, having significant development project and strate-gies, playing remarkable roles in the expansion of trade exchange with a number of countries, in ad-dition to hosting the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina.”

8 VISIT Saudi Arabia

JULY 2012

Saudi Arabia is witnessing major expansions in the various fields of economy and devel-opment, which ena-bled it to contribute effectively to the global economy

STIFFENING COMPETITION

Despite the heated competition with new players en-tering the scene, the Saudi hotel market continued to outperform most of its regional counterparts, and Ernst & Young recently named Medina the best per-forming city for hotel investment in the whole of the Middle East.

“Medina is having a specific religious tourism coming mainly from outside, plus the local travellers visiting this spiritual city. The business in the last 12 months was fast growing with an average increase of 15 percent,” Bakka said, adding that the main source market for the property remains the local market, fol-lowed by GCC countries, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, and South Africa.

The increasing demand for quality as well as value-for-money accommodation in the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina has created a fertile ground for hotel developments with international heavyweights keen on tapping the emerging opportunities.

“The Umrah and Hajj business requires infrastruc-ture to accommodate and host the pilgrims coming around the year to visit the holy sites,” noted Bakka. “Saudi Arabia is a booming market due to increas-ing demand for religious tourism as well as MICE and business. Lots of projects are under development mainly in Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, and Riyadh.”

Munaf Ali, CEO, Range Hospitality, the company which focuses on investing in countries which benefit from religious tourism, highlighted, ”In Saudi Arabia companies are investing billions to develop new ho-tels in order to cater to the 15.8 million visitors that are expected to visit the country for religious tourism in 2014. We have received a number of inquiries from regional partners to consider joint ventures in Medi-na,” Ali revealed, adding that the group also aspires to develop a leading hotel in Mecca. “This Holy City being the centre of all Muslims globally welcomes million of pilgrims every year.”

Abdul Latif Jameel Real Estate Investment Com-pany (ALJRIC) has also chosen Mecca to inaugurate its new brand.

“The flagship hotel of the Anjum Hotels brand will be Anjum Makkah Hotel; a 1,795-room Sharia-com-pliant hotel that will be part of the first phase of the Jabal Al Ka’ba project,” explained Mahmoud Mokhtar, chief operating officer, hotel division, ALJRIC. “Set to open in early 2013, Anjum Makkah, the largest and the first hotel within the project, will introduce a nov-el hotel concept to the Kingdom.”

Revealing details about the ambitious project, Mokhtar said, “The Jabal Al Kaaba Development Pro-ject that we are undertaking will deliver a fresh sup-ply of 8,500 hotel rooms in a cluster of hotels over the next few years. For this project, we are investing up to USD10 billion, with almost USD6 billion in land and USD4 billion on hotels’ construction. Mecca has been witnessing a constructions boom, with the im-plementation of major projects to cater to the needs of citizens, visitors, and pilgrims. Saudi Arabia is cur-rently experiencing unprecedented development.

Old Down Town, Jeddah

The projects underway consist mainly of govern-ment-projects, as well as other projects carried out by private investors such as ALJREIC which is currently developing a total area of 54,000m2 for five-star ho-tels in Mecca to help address the growing demand in the tourism industry.”

Meanwhile, one of the most anticipated upcom-ing properties, Swissôtel Makkah is expected to wel-come its first guests on the first day of Ramadan in July. Hailed as the largest hotel in the Kingdom, the 1,487-room property is strategically located just a few steps away from the Holy Mosque, and marks the ho-tel group’s first venture into the Kingdom.

Accor, which has been present in the Kingdom since 1985, currently has five hotels and close to 1,000 rooms under development, Christophe Landais, man-aging director, Accor Middle East, revealed.

“Saudi Arabia is an important market for Accor and forms a key part of our strategic development plans for the region,” Landais said, adding that ibis Ri-yadh Olaya Street is scheduled to open later this year, ibis Yanbu in 2013, ibis Jeddah Malik Road and Adagio Jeddah Malik Road in 2014, while Novotel Jizan Cor-niche is set to launch in 2015.

“The Saudi hotel market is currently in a process of maturation,” noted Landais. “While most of the high-quality hotel supply had been developed so far in the five-star segment, and to a lesser extent in the four-star segment, Accor is seeing the emergence of a real demand for other products, for instance in the econo-my three-star segment, which is for the moment only fulfilled by a local and unbranded hotel supply, most of the time lacking high-quality standards.”

Also looking to expand its presence in Saudi Ara-bia, The Ascott Limited, has outlined ambitious plans. “There is a huge demand for serviced residences in Saudi Arabia,” noted Vincent Wee, managing direc-tor, India and GCC, The Ascott Limited, deputy CEO, Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited. “There is strong preference for spacious well-furnished ser-viced apartments over the typical hotel room and As-cott is well-positioned to cater to the market. The lack of competition from reputable, international compet-itors in these cities bodes well for Ascott and we are open to introducing any of Ascott’s three brands, As-cott, Citadines or Somerset. We are currently focusing on key cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and the Eastern Province of Kingdom Saudi Arabia.”

Furthrermore, Hilton Worldwide has a total of 14 hotels in its Saudi development pipeline, represent-ing more than one third of the company’s total pipe-line for the Middle East and Africa.

Commenting on the company’s fast paced ex-pansion drive, Rudi Jagersbacher, president, Hilton Worldwide, Middle East and Africa, said, “Saudi Arabia is a key strategic market for us and I am pleased to note that our established Saudi pipeline will take us from six hotels to 20 in a space of two years.”

Frasers Hospitality has also confirmed that 2013 will see the opening of Fraser Suites Edafah, Al Ri-yadh, as well as Fraser Suites Edafah, Al Khobar.

While others are eagerly seeking opportunities, Elaf Group has long been at the forefront of the Saudi tourism industry. “Elaf Group stressed on designing a wide range of customised services to help Hajj and Umrah pilgrim performers make the most of their trip to the Holy Cities and other historic religious sites of the Islamic world,” noted Ziyad Ahmed bin Mahfouz, president, Elaf Grop. “The group is currently establish-ing four new hotels in Jeddah, Mecca, and Al Madina, with a total cost of construction of the two hotels at SAR200 million (USD53.3 million),” he added, further explaining that in the past two years, the company managed to double the number of hotel rooms in its portfolio. “By the end of the year, the number of

http://www.meydan.ae/#index

10 VISIT Saudi Arabia

JULY 2012

rooms is expected to reach 5,000. We will also set to re-launch four hotels in the current year, out of which two hotels, Al Bustan and Al Nakheel have already been launched in April and Al Multaqa and Elaf Bak-kah will be unveiled later this year. This would bring our portfolio of hotels to 14.

“The tourism potential of Saudi Arabia has been growing at a steady pace, which has, in turn, in-creased the demand for hotel rooms in the Kingdom. As part of our expansion plans, Elaf Group will be of-fering 5,000 rooms spread across our upcoming pro-jects, and the group will also be managing the new five-star Galleria in Jeddah.”

Commenting on the Kingdom’s burgeoning hotel sector, Elie Younes, vice president, business develop-ment, MENA, The Rezidor Hotel Group, said, “Saudi Arabia benefits from being a self-sustained economy

reliant on strong domestic tourism as well as global religious and business demand. Its economic wealth and geographical size add further to the investment opportunities. From a tourism outlook, opportunities continue to call for a stronger international presence across all market segments in the main cities as well as smaller, secondary cities across the Kingdom.”

In response to these, the hotel company has re-cently announced a new addition, the 170-room Park Inn by Radisson Residence in Riyadh, to its network, which joins its six hotels currently in operation, as well as Radisson Blu Hotel, Riyadh North Ring Road, and Park Inn by Radisson Jeddah currently in the pipeline, with plans to open in 2015.

THE BUSINESS ASPECT

Spread across 189,000m2 of land area, Riyadh Inter-national Exhibition & Convention Center (RICEC) has established itself as a major venue in the Kingdom’s MICE sector.

“Since opening our doors, we have experienced a tremendous year-on-year growth in the events held at RICEC and also the expansion of some events from one hall to four halls within this short period,” ex-plained Abdullah Al Omran, CEO, RICEC. “We are mak-ing all efforts to ensure that organisers offer value driven events to the participants. This has obviously made us selective in deciding what events to host. The domestic MICE industry in Riyadh is strong and

expansive. The year 2011 has seen alone 187 exhibi-tion licenses issued by the Ministry of Commerce for Riyadh. With limited choice of venues, the demand on our facilities is ever increasing.”

As a result of the success of the recent events, or-ganisers are using temporary halls to accommodate the growing demand, noted Al Omran. “RICEC man-agement is working on its expansion plans which include adding additional 10,000m2 of indoor space and a 200-key four-star hotel to the existing facility,” he said, adding that the business and MICE sectors are on the constant rise.

“The trade shows and conventions are the best vehicles that promote friendship and contact among people,” Al Omran continued. “Trade shows and con-ventions held in the Kingdom are becoming more and more attractive to the regional participants.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the top destinations to receive Foreign Direct Investment in recent years. Trade shows have certainly played their role in high-lighting the market potential for foreign investors to choose this destination,” he explained. “We believe that business tourism is a catalyst to more invest-ment, more productivity, job creation and attaining higher standards of living for the people as a result.”

SPREADING WINGS

The Kingdom’s busiest airport, Jeddah’s King Ab-dulaziz International Airport (KAIA) serves not only the country’s commercial centre, but due to its close proximity to Mecca and Medina, it also offers a con-venient entry point to religious travellers.

To accommodate the growing demand, KAIA em-barked on a major re-development with the ultimate goal of bringing the airport’s total capacity to 80 mil-lion passengers per annum.

KAIA also serves as home base to Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) which closed the year of 2011 on a high note after recording a total of nearly 21.5 mil-lion passengers, while the number for the first four months of the current year was close to 7.8 million, and results on domestic routes have extremely im-proved, as Ahmed Madani, public relations, Saudia, explained.

“In Saudia’s quest to optimise the utilisation of available resource and in order to avail as much seats

as possible to our domestic travellers, in November 2011 Saudia restructured its domestic network by abandoning 27 routes,” he said, citing low load factors as the main reason behind the decision, and pointing out that the availed resources were re-deployed in high demand domestic routes with high load factors.

In a quest to better serve its passengers, the air-line recently joined the SkyTeam, making it the first Middle Eastern carrier to become a member of the global alliance, and offer access to a worldwide net-work of 926 destinations in 173 countries.

Meanwhile, the airline also plans to add a signifi-cant number of new routes and additional frequen-cies to its current network by 2020, indicated Mada-ni, noting that by the end of the year, Saudia will receive 47 out of 50 aircraft of the A320 family, and will also take delivery of the first six units of the new

B777-300ER out of 20. In 2011, low-cost airlines, nasair carried a total of

2.39 million passengers, while the number for the first five months of the current year reached 1.1 million, according to Francois Bouteiller, CEO, nasair, who added that so far this year, the carrier introduced two new services between Jeddah and Jizan and Jeddah and Luxor.

“Besides the typical seasonal summer flights na-sair operates every year to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, Istanbul and Antalya in Turkey, nasair has opened last month in Luxor, Egypt,” explained Bouteiller. “As per the rest of our large network in the GCC region, we will continue to strengthen our position on our existing markets in the UAE, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, and Lebanon mostly.”

Bouteiller further added, “We are hoping on the development and nasair is supporting the growth of the local and national tourism for the Saudi and GCC nationals. This is part of the travel segment nasair believes to be still significantly underserved.”

The initiatives to enhance travel options to and from Saudi Arabia come in response to the anticipat-ed growth, this according to SCTA, as the Kingdom is likely to witness a 5.3 percent increase in inbound overnight tourist volume, reaching as high as 18.4 million by year-end, while with a growth of six per-cent, domestic overnight tourists are expected to rise to 23.8 million, giving another strong boost to the Kingdom’s economy.

Masjid An-Nabawi, Medina

The Ritz-Carlton Riyadh

11EXPLORELibya

JULY 2012

Climbing Higher EverydayLibya lays claim to an abundance of historical sites sprinkled across its land, inviting all those who wish to re-call its past, explore its natural beau-ty, and look ahead with optimism.

LIBYA IN BRIEF

Capital: Tripoli

Currency: Libyan Dinar (LYD)

Language: Arabic

Dominique Christou writes

T he World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)’s country report has stated that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Libya’s GDP in 2011 reached LYD1,235.8 million (USD1,564.8 million), equivalent to

1.6 percent of the country’s total GDP.These results, unfortunately, are forecasted to fall by

6.8 percent this year, however, WTTC’s predictions show that total contribution of travel and tourism to Libya’s GDP is set to rise by four percent per annum over the next 10 years to reach LYD3,442.7 million in 2022.

High expectations, with regards to hotel occupancy rates, are on the cards this year, according to Hayat Ouaziz, director of sales, Alwaddan Hotel Tripoli, who announced unsatisfactory results in 2011 due to the war.

Looking brightly ahead, however, the team at the hotel has adopted hospitality and personalised ser-vice, as Ouaziz explained, adding that being a home away from home is the property’s concept with guest satisfaction as the ultimate goal. “We adapt Alwaddan

Hotel Tripoli on guests’ culture, religion, and customs.” Also looking towards a positive future with de-

termination to continue building the hotel industry in Libya, Sheraton Tripoli Hotel is set to open in 2013 while InterContinental Tripoli, Al Ghazala is expected to inaugurate in 2015.

In addition, a large number of regional as well

as international airlines continue to serve or have recently introduced services to the North African country, highlighting the importance of its continued presence on route destination networks thus its sig-nificance as a re-emrging tourism hub.

EGYPTAIR currently operates double daily flights to Tripoli and daily operations to Benghazi, and ac-cording to Ayman Nasr, CEO, EGYPTAIR, these routes have steadily witnessed great increases in the number of passengers and, in return, increases in the number of frequencies, since the restoration of four-weekly operations to Benghazi and one-weekly service to Tripoli towards the end of 2011.

Commenting on the continued re-introduction of flights to the country, Nasr, said, “In December 2011, with the increase in traffic between Egypt and Libya, EGYPTAIR doubled the flights to Libya to become 21 weekly flights instead of 11 flights with double daily flights to Tripoli and a daily flight to Benghazi. Fur-thermore, these routes witnessed a gradual increase in traffic throughout this period.”

Furthermore, in January this year, Etihad Airways began flights from Abu Dhabi to Tripoli, offering three weekly services.

In conclusion, Lufthansa offers 12 weekly nonstop flights to the airline’s hubs in Frankfurt and Vienna from Tripoli catering to a good mix of passengers.

12 ONSITE Indonesia

JULY 2012

INDONESIA IN BRIEF

Capital: Jakarta

Currency: Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)

Language: Indonesian

W ith a population of over 237 million, tourism has long been a catalyst of Indonesia’s growth, firmly con-solidating the country’s position among the G20 major economies,

and, in 2011, having continued thriving as it recorded 7,649,731 visitors, marking a year-on-year improve-ment of 9.24 percent.

Considering these pleasing results alongside the World Travel and Tourism Council’s research which claim the industry’s support of some 2.9 million jobs, which are forecast to rise to 4,158,000 by 2022, it is inevitable that the government and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy place great emphasis on ensuring its unabated development and aim to reach the eight million visitor milestone by the end of the year.

MARCHING FORWARD

Hoteliers across the country have recently been re-porting promising results, thanks to surrounding events under every sector across the country.

Walid Birak, director of marketing, Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, commented, “The past 12 months gave us a variety of exposure as we had many events held in the country, ranging from governments, corporate, and business events, as well as social or entertainment.”

M. Kiki Sulistianto, director of sales and market-ing, JW Marriott Jakarta, reported similar trends with a year-on-year revenue increase of 35 percent. “[Busi-

Rita Kasziba writes

Decisive DiversitySitting precisely on the equator, Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world; a vast country with a burgeoning economy and a rapidly growing mid-dle class, possessing the ultimate in diversity, an abundance of unspoiled natural beauty, and teeming with fast-paced developments across its fascinating islands.

ness] is growing significantly, particularly for Jakarta hotels. There is a lot of demand and because hotel sup-ply has not increased at the same rate, business levels in Jakarta have been showing double digit increases.”

Nathalia Atmaja, public relations coordinator, Ho-tel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta, added, “The hotel has shown fantastic performance with high occupan-cy rates. Guests are dominated by foreigner business-men from all around the world, [and we also cater to] leisure guests,” she explained, adding that guest volume from the Middle East is on the constant rise.

Meanwhile, travellers from North Africa also con-tinue to pour into the country, as Nyoman Trijata, managing director, Alliance Indonesia, noted, “Cli-ents, especially from Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, have been handled by our company for many years, and we are keen on further increasing customer volume from these countries. We also believe that the Middle East markets are highly potential due to the upper level clients, and we anticipate significant growth from there.”

With Sulitianto also stating that the Middle East is among the hotel’s top five feeder markets, it comes as no surprise that according to the Indonesia Statistic Bureau and Ministry of Tourism and Creative Econ-omy, visitor volume from the region improved from 77,890 in 2010 to 93,273 in 2011.

Describing the shift in trends and owing to the robust improvement to the Middle Eastern airlines’ expanding networks, Stephane Servin, general man-ager, The Santosa Villas & Resort, Lombok, said, “We saw [in the statistics] the Middle East market coming out of the static group of ‘other countries’ to become a segment of its own.”

Conversely, while certain destinations remain on the growth track, others, like Lombok, have been hampered by the lack of airline operations, as Servin pinpointed. “The biggest challenge at this point, is the ability of the provinces to get flights.

“Indonesia has only one tourism point of entrance with multiple international airlines and large body planes, and that is Bali. Other destinations in Indo-nesia are mainly feeding out of Bali. As chairman of the Lombok Island Association, we constantly remind the government that tourism could be great in Indo-nesia. We have over 17,000 islands and some of the most amazing sites in the world, but we have in a year as many charter flights to the whole of Indonesia as Phuket in Thailand gets in a week.”

STRIVING FOR MORE

In a bid to further increase Indonesia’s competive-ness, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Banten, which in 2011 welcomed 51.1 million passengers, is to undergo extensive developments to bring its ca-pacity to 62 million passengers per annum by 2014.

Meanwhile, the country’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia, is on the mission to link Indonesia with di-verse international destinations, explained Taufik Hi-dayet, station manager, UAE, Garuda Indonesia. “With the fleet expansion ongoing, we will be having 194 aircraft by 2015 from the current size of 105 fleets. Among new destinations in our future route expan-sion list are Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Auckland, and Manila, among others.”

Additionally, the airline also continues to gradu-ally increase its market share in the Middle East. “

Lonbok Island

http://www.garuda-indonesia.com/gi_us/index.page

14 ONSITE Indonesia

JULY 2012

From Dubai origin, Garuda Indonesia carried nearly 30,000 passengers in 2011,” Hidayat said, noting that the airline seized around 20 percent of the total traffic to Indonesia among more than 10 competitors.

“Despite the economic recession that has been hit-ting the industry due to the soaring fuel price and Eu-ropean economic instability, Garuda has been strategic in spending on acquiring new aircraft, and it posted significant profit in the 2011-12 financial year at around USD86 million,” he added, further announcing that the MENA region saw some 30 percent increase in traffic to Indonesian destinations, with room for growth.

Meanwhile, low-cost carrier, Lion Air, has recently committed to ordering five new Boeing aircraft for its new low-cost premium service airline, Batik Air, just four months after placing the largest commercial air-plane order ever of 230 Boeing planes at an estimated worth of USD22.4 billion.

With a population of over 237 million, tour-ism has long been a catalyst of Indonesia’s

growth, firmly consolidating the country’s position among the G20 major economies,

in 2011, continuing to thrive recording 7,649,731 visitors, marking a year-on-year

improvement of 9.24 percent

which 12 have been introduced to the company’s portfolio between 2011 and this year. “All hotels are performing very well with average occupancy rate be-tween 80 and 85 percent,” Satria said. “Accor believes that Indonesia offers significant development oppor-tunities for the hospitality industry both for domes-tic and international tourism. In the World Economic Forum’s 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitveness Report, Indonesia ranked 74th out of 139 countries. For Accor, this ranking means there remains many untapped opportunities for the hospitality industry in Indonesia, especially in new destinations, many of which remain more or less undiscovered by tourists.

“Aside from Bali, Indonesia offers many opportu-nities for the tourism industry, including in Lombok, Toraja, Kalimantan, Eastern Indonesia, and other is-lands. The new frontier will be Palu, a city in Sulawe-si, where Accor plans to open Mercure Palu in 2013.”

Upcoming openings include ibis Bali Kuta, Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni, Mercure Jakarta Simatu-pang, and Novotel Jakarta Gajah Mada, while 2013 will see the addition of 21 new properties and the launch of another 10 hotels to Accor’s network.

The company’s brand portfolio includes several different brands, but at this moment, Mercure and Novotel are the most widely operated brands in In-donesia, noted Satria.

“We see tremendous growth potential in the country’s growing middle class. According to the World Bank report, Indonesia has one of the fastest growing middle classes among its emerging peers, expanding at a rate of up to seven million people a year. This means that the economy and mid-scale hotel segments will continue to present the biggest opportunities in the country.”

Another hotel company, Swiss-Belhotel Interna-tional, recently added four properties to its portfolio in the country, explained Emmanuel Guillard, senior vice president, operations and development, Indone-sia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Swiss-Belhotel International.

“Indonesia has many resources to be developed, especially in the secondary and tertiary cities where business has begun to develop and grow. Swiss-Bel-hotel International not only exists in the main cities of Indonesia, we are also expanding into cities where, in many instances, the tourism and travel business is only just beginning to flourish. In some of the second-ary and tertiary cities, business is starting to grow but they have limited services and facilities to provide af-fordable and value accommodation in the region.

“It is our aim to contribute to the economic growth of these cities by increasing the volume and quality of hospitality services, by developing local opportunities, and by creating local employment. We are committed to substantially increasing our number of hotels in Indonesia by the end of this year, and at least 40 additional properties will have to come into operation by 2014, ranging from two- and three- to four-star classifications.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts celebrated the open-ing of two luxury properties in the past 15 months, as Fiona Hagan, regional director of sales and mar-keting, Southeast Asia, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, explained.

Further consolidating its presence in the coun-try, the company has a number of projects in the pipeline, including, Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort, to open in September; Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran, to

launch in October; The Westin Ubud Resort & Spa, set to welcome guests in January 2013; The Saras-vati Bali, slated for opeing in January 2014; and, W Jakarta, with plans to commence operations in Janu-ary 2016.

Echoing strong commitment to the country, Hagan said, “We are very confident about the fu-ture of travel industry in Indonesia, supported by increasing levels of economic growth domestically.”

“We are pleased to be adding to our portfolio of hotels in Jakarta, as this is an important hub for business travel and MICE in the region,” she added, emphasising that ensuring long-term development programmes and sufficient, skilled labour, are essen-tial to the country’s future development.

Diving in Indonesia

TALKING BUSINESS

Developments across the country, underscore Indo-nesia’s rising profile as both a business and leisure destination.

In fact, the burgeoning MICE industry has also long been crucial to the Indonesian tourism, and as Mirtha Sari Nugroho, public relations manager, Balai Sidang Jakarta Convention Center, explained, over the past two decades the venue has played host to the world’s political and business leaders as well as the entertainment scene.

“Luckily we are very strong in the domestic mar-ket. We are located in the middle of the Jakarta’s busi-ness district, supported by well-experienced human resources and updated technology. Our vision is to be recognised as a preferred venue for events, providing business partners with world-class products and ser-vices,” she explained.

Also keen on tapping into Indonesia’s great po-tential, investors and developers are continuously pouring into the country such as hotel giant, Accor, which is poised to almost double its current portfolio.

“Accor has been operating in Indonesia for 19 years and has developed its hotel network to 50 ho-tels in 20 cities,” Adi Satria, regional director, sales, marketing and distribution, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, said, adding that its expansive network makes the company the largest hotel operator in the country and one of the largest employers in the tour-ism industry with over 7,000 employees.

By 2015, Accor aims to operate 100 hotels, of Traditional Dance and Music Performance - Lombok Island

15TOURGreece

JULY 2012

Dominique Christou writesMykonos Island

At the present time, Greece may be facing extreme economic and political turmoil which has, in turn, affected tourism across the country, among others, however for a nation which proudly stands firm on the global tourism map as one of the world’s leading destinations, giving up has and never will be an option.

Rising Above All Obstacles

G reece offers differentiated ‘experience’ holidays, enabling visitors to immerse themselves in a number of different ad-ventures, according to George Koletsos, secretary general, Greek National Tourism

Organisation (GNTO).

GREECE IN BRIEF

Capital: Athens

Currency: Euro (EUR)

Language: Greek

“Alternative tourism, such as religious or agricul-tural tourism, land, and sea activities, including golf and scuba diving, as well as exploring Greek cuisine, is just one of the choices that define our country as a differentiated tourist destination,” he elaborated.

Greek tourism held 3.2 percent and 1.7 percent of the European and global market share respectively, of international arrivals, while the direct contribution to GDP rose to 16 percent in 2011.

Overall in 2011, the Greek tourism industry re-corded an increase of inbound arrivals which reached an all-time record of 16.5 million tourists, in turn receiving a growth in revenue of 9.5 percent which means, in absolute numbers, EUR10.5 billion (USD13.1 billion), compared with EUR9.6 billion (USD12 billion) in 2010 and EUR10.4 billion (USD13 billion) in 2009.

The authority is continuing its online promotion with a budget of EUR1.2 million (USD1.5 million) via Google, targeting markets across Central and East-ern Europe, such as UK, Germany, Netherlands, Rus-sia, as well as tourism from Turkey and the US, and through its official website, which has more than 3.5 million unique visitors until now, noted Koletsos.

16 TOUR Greece

JULY 2012

“Our mission is to promote the richness and depth of Greek anthropocentric values and lifestyle to the world; Greek people, Greek spirit, Greek nature, Greek lifestyle, and Greek products,” he expressed.

In addition, World Travel & Tourism Council’s an-nual country report for Greece in 2011 stated that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Greece’s GDP was EUR12.4 billion (USD15.5 billion), 6.4 per-cent of the total GDP, and is forecast to fall by 2.1 per-cent this year and to rise by 3.3 percent per annum until 2022, to reach EUR16.8 billion (USD21 billion).

COPING WITH CHANGE

Despite current challenging times, hoteliers across the country are still optimistic regarding the future of Greece’s tourism sector, as they progress to build on and improve the already well-established industry.

Silvia Brighenti, director of sales and marketing, Sheraton Rhodes Resort, revealed an outstanding performance in 2011, and a good start to the current year, albeit with lower levels of hotel bookings, due to a mix of economic decline, public opinion of Greece, and competition from destinations such as Egypt, Tu-nisia, and Morocco.

Despite these intricacies, Brighenti emphasised the importance of building and maintaining strong partnerships with key players in the main feeder markets as a crucial step in rising above these issues. “Active sales calls in these markets, together with the support from our Starwood sales office in Dubai and Istanbul, are contributing significantly to driving de-mand from the Middle East,” she said.

Angelos Sotiropoulos, director of sales and market-ing, Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel, shared similar senti-ments regarding end-of-year tourism results in face of the current situation across the country. “The hotel’s performance in 2011 started off with a very positive outlook compared to 2010. As of September, we felt a drop in demand and some cancellations coming in due to continuous strikes and political uncertainty in the city and broader in the country.”

Regardless of the negative outlook, Sotiropoulos described Athens as a fascinating city, rich in culture and history, offering a vibrant night life, all coupled with a mild climate that make the destination like no other in Europe. “Promoting the destination is a necessity; however, the message to all travellers is that despite the economic crisis, Greece remains a favourite destination amongst many European capitals. Its reputation as one of the safest destinations in Europe still stands.”

Moreover, Yiannis Retsos, president, Electra Ho-tels & Resorts, Athens, also announced a good year in 2011, having achieved an increase of some 9.5 per-cent for both arrivals and tourism receipts. “According to our data, though, for all hotel categories, there is an increase of about 4.3 percent in bed nights and in revenue by 6.8 percent (over 2010).”

MENA tourists certainly played their part in con-tributing to the hotel’s occupancy levels and, in turn, to revenue, with 5,000 visitors coming from Lebabon and 18,500 more tourists from the region travelling from

several other areas across the Middle East. In addition, Electra Hotels & Resorts received about 4,700 visitors from Egypt in 2011, according to Retsos who further estimates about 3,000 - 4,000 visitors from Libya. “In total, visitors from Africa numbered about 40,000 last year,” he said.

With MENA travellers poitively contributing to the hotel, Retsos indicated that Greece, besides all its natu-ral assets and quality of tourist infrastructure, has been and continues to be a very safe and friendly destina-tion. “Our experience shows that visitors from these re-

lar among the MENA market, Christofer Vonglis, gen-eral manager, Belvedere Hotel Mykonos, said, “From the Middle East, in 2011 we had a turnover of circa EUR300,000 (USD375,720). From Northern Africa, ap-proximately EUR50,000 (USD62,620). Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Dubai are the top sellers, in relation to Mid-dle East countries.”

The highlights of Mykonos are its mythologi-cal site of Delos, the archaeological museum, and its close proximity to the city, according to Vonglis, who went on to share words of comfort in light of the country’s unfortunate occurrences. “All travel and tourism related enterprises are affected from the lo-cal and international crisis. The most effective ways to overcome it are, added values to the end user; the hotel performance; and in keeping service standards to the highest level possible.”

Further emphasising the highlights that Greece has to offer travellers from the MENA region, Katerina Katopis, director, Dolphin Capital Partners, commented, “Greece combines the natural beauty of its countryside, unique coastline, and numerous islands, with a variety of historical monuments throughout the country.

“It is a country to be enjoyed throughout the year, whether one wishes to explore its mountains and his-torical monasteries or dive into the beautiful azure waters that surround it while exploring the roughed islands and the lush coastal mainland.”

With Dolphin Capital Partners’ first hotel, Aman-zoe, Porto Heli, anticipated to open later this summer, Katopis expressed enthusiasm despite the’ negative aura surrounding Greece at the moment’, as she illus-trated. “The hotel is very well-received as witnessed by the reservations made so far and the coverage in the international press.

“We have created a unique luxury destination and the first villa-integrated Aman resort in the Mediter-ranean that combines sleek architecture, marvellous surroundings, and impeccable service that despite the difficult times is capable of attracting affluent in-ternational tourists.”

GETTING THERE

According to Dimitris Gerogiannis, managing direc-tor, Aegean Airlines, demand for domestic and in-ternational air travel continued to suffer in the first quarter of the year, as a result of deteriorating eco-nomic conditions, and the outlook remains weak with declining tourism demand for the summer season, given the negative publicity for Greece.

“During the summer season we are set to operate 139 routes, scheduled and charter, out of Athens and seven regional Greek airports, supporting domestic travel as well as Greece’s tourism,” he said.

“At the same time, we are flexible to make adjust-ments depending on market conditions. Aegean con-tinues to gain in terms of brand awareness in Europe, thus strengthening its competitive position.”

Moreover, Aegean Airlines is set to commence flights from Athens to Gatwick Airport at the end of the year.

gions are mainly interested in cultural events and sites of great historical importance, but they also enjoy most other aspects of Greek destinations, like natural beau-ties, night life, shopping, and culinary experiences.”

Furthermore, Bart van de Winkel, area general manager, Greece and Cyprus, Hilton Worldwide, stressed on the value of the MENA tourist. “Almost five percent of our guests come from the MENA, mainly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The MENA markets are indeed important for our hotel,” he explained.

“These are the kind of travellers that we want at the Hilton Athens. They appreciate the high quality service and politeness. Moreover, they like the location of the hotel, since it is situated at a walking distance from Kolonaki shopping district. Hilton Athens is particularly popular to the Arabian Market, as it features the high-est number of Acropolis view rooms, a wide variety of luxurious suites, and the largest hotel pool in the cen-tre of Athens,” van de Winkel pointed out.

Moving on to one of Greece’s most well-known touristic islands, Mykonos, which proved rather popu-

The Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion, Athens

17LONG-HAULBrazil

JULY 2012

A Living LegendAs Brazil gears up to host two of the world’s largest sporting events, namely the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olym-pic Summer Games, its entire tourism sector is forging ahead with plans to further impress the millions expected to land on its shores.

E uromonitor International has identified Bra-zilian travellers as the highest spenders glob-ally during 2011, while the country’s expend-iture on international tourism increased by USD18 billion to reach USD73 million.

Neighbouring US and Argentina proved to be the most popular regional destinations among Brazilian travellers, while internationally, France received the larg-est share of tourists from the South American country.

AN ENTICING GLOBAL MARKET With regards to the hospitality segment, this year, Brazil, Africa, the Middle East, and Indonesia, are all markets to watch, indicated Simon Turner, president, global developments, Strawood Hotels & Resorts, who added that within developed markets, conver-sions continue to drive growth.

“Starwood is laying the groundwork for future ho-tel development in Brazil which is poised for a surge in tourism in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Additionally, the group re-cently added development resources in Brazil and launched its website in Portuguese,” he said.

Moreover, Osvaldo Librizzi, president, Latin Amer-ican Division, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, believes that the country has a lot more to offer the hospital-ity sector. “Brazil is one of the most enticing global markets for future hotel development. It remains one of the world’s great untapped hospitality markets, under-hoteled, and under-flagged.

“With the influx of new travellers and the infra-structure development activity that comes with that,

Dominique Christou writes

there is tremendous potential to develop all of our high-caliber brands across Brazil.”

In addition, another one of the world’s leading ho-tel groups, Accor, recently opened the 11th hotel of its mid-scale brand Novotel in Brazil, namely Novotel Porto Alegre Aeroporto, located in front of the Salgado Filho International Airport and featuring 166 rooms.

The hotel group is currently targeting a network of 250 hotels in Brazil by 2015, with 80 projects al-ready underway and three major contracts for the development of 25 ibis budget properties. “Brazil is living a time that favours, sufficiently, business in general and specifically the hotel in-dustry,” commented Ro-land de Bonadona, chief operating officer, Accor, Latin America.

“The expansion of the hotel management sector has been driven positively by the coun-try’s good political and economic context, syn-onymous of larger in-vestments and greater confidence of investors; by the development of the country’s middle class, which propelled the economic seg-ment; by the growing demand of large cen-tres; and without any doubt, by the proximity of huge events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, which have pulled in investments in infrastructure in Brazil”, de Bonadona concluded.

Rio de Janeiro

BRAZIL IN BRIEF

Capital: Brasilia

Currency: Brazilian Real (BRL)

Language: Portuguese

UPON ARRIVAL

Middle Eastern airlines are also quickly making their way to burgeoning Brazil, as Etihad Airways recently announced plans to launch its first flight to the al-ready well-established and popular tourism hotspot, as well as its first to South America, in June 2013.

According to James Hogan, president, Etihad Air-ways, Brazil is a logical step for the airline and marks the sixth continent it serves as well as it coming of age as a truly global airline. “Business and tourism flows be-tween the UAE and Brazil have been growing and will be strengthened by our daily direct flights between Abu Dhabi and São Paulo,” continued Hogan. The daily São Paulo flights route also means that Etihad Airways will serve all of the BRIC high growth nations.

In addition, Emirates currently offers daily flights to São Paolo as well as to Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways and Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes implemented a codeshare agree-ment in 2011 to connect travellers from Doha to 46 cities across Brazil through São Paolo’s Guarulhos In-ternational Airport.

18 TRAVEL TALK

JULY 2012

PAUL GRIFFITHS

TALEB RIFAI

TONY TYLER

CEO, Dubai Airports.

Secretary general, UN World Tourism Organization.

CEO, International Air Transport Association.

“Crossing the 4.5 million mark in terms of monthly passen-ger numbers is becoming the norm at Dubai International and we could break the five million passenger ceiling dur-ing the summer peak. To cope with the seasonal rush we will launch the annual Summer Mission programme, which will see the deployment of over 500 ’May I Help You’ staff across the airport. That, along with the expansion of our transfer facility in Terminal 3 and the opening of an express check-in facility for flydubai customers in Terminal 2, will help accommodate the record passenger flows.”

“Despite the volatility of the global economy, internation-al tourism continues to be one of the few sectors to grow. The economic opportunities of tourism are many and are reaching millions, but there is still so much more our sec-tor can offer if we work together to reduce the barriers which continue to hamper tourism growth. My message today is simple. Tourism is a sector that can deliver, like few others, on the goals of economic growth, job creation, and fairer development. We just need to put the right policies in place.”

“To meet our ambitious targets [regarding aviation emis-sions], we will need a globally-agreed approach covering the areas of technology, operations, and infrastructure as well as positive market-based measures. Sustainabil-ity should unite the world with a common purpose, not divide it with affronts to sovereignty that risk a trade war, a war that nobody wants, and from which no winner can emerge. Everyone, including Europe, agrees that the only real solution is a global agreement through the Interna-tional Civil Aviation Organization at its 2013 Assembly.”

TRAVEL TALK IS YOUR SPACE – this is a casual forum for travel industry professionals to discuss current issues and share stories. We want to hear

from you, so send your comments, questions, frustrations and observations to

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19TRAVEL CHANNELS

JULY 2012

Jordan: Seizing Tourism Market Opportunities in Times of Rapid Change

C oinciding with the 200th anniversary of the re-discovery of Petra, the international conference was jointly organised by JTB, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the UN World Tourism Organization (UN-

WTO), and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). With the participation of top executives and

managers from both the public and the private sec-tor, the two day-event, held at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center at the Dead Sea, offered an ideal platform to debate the most pressing issues of today’s global and regional challenges, current eco-nomic and social changes, key market trends, and future scenarios.

Today’s multiple challenges call for rapid actions, stressed Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat, managing direc-tor, JTB, who emphasised that even during these challenging times, opportunities do exist and Jor-dan, described at the event as the ‘Kingdom of hos-pitality’, is keen on seizing these.

Underscoring the tourism industry’s role as an engine in the global social and economic growth, David Scowsill, president, WTTC, pinpointed the fact that in 2011, one in 12 jobs was supported by the in-dustry, and by 2022, one in every 10 jobs is expected to be linked to travel and tourism.

As the third largest industry in the world, tourism offers tremendous opportunities. “Tourism can be a driver of global recovery. Times have been tough but tourism proved to be a resilient industry,” Scowsill continued, noting that despite the challenging en-vironment, with the right leadership, and right ap-proach, travel and tourism is set to rebound quickly. “Jordan in fact has been leading the recovery of the Middle East,” he said.

Besides the unrest that has spread across the re-gion, natural disasters, and one of the most severe economic crises, the technological evolution along with the emergence of new powers, especially the BRIC countries, also call for new strategies and poli-cies, as Taleb Rifai, secretary general, UNWTO, high-lighted. “Tourism is one of the best positioned indus-tries; in fact, it is the only sector that is growing.

“Tourism is the people’s industry, which touches every aspect of life. We need to unleash its power and potential,” he carried on, touching upon the pressing issues of easing VISA policies where need-ed, reconsidering taxes, and other issues that have

long hampered the industry’s development.By 2030, international traveller numbers are set

to reach 1.8 billion, and it is the time when the in-dustry needs to look into how it can take advantage of the anticipated growth, and turn challenges into opportunities, Rifai concluded.

H.E. Nayef Al Fayez, minister of tourism, Jordan, concurred, saying, “We are not immune to the re-gional challenges, [the situation, however,] gives us the opportunity to look for new, better ways and to widen our markets.

”Building on the ambitious National Tourism Strategy 2011-2015, Jordan aims to diversify its product while at the same time increasing quality, and is committed to provide a distinguished guest experience, strengthen ties with existing partners, and extend its reach to new markets,” said Al Fayez, announcing that by 2015, 5,000 news rooms will be introduced to the inventory of the Kingdom, in a bid to further increase Jordan’s competitiveness.

Supporting the Kingdom’s development, is the USAID Jordan Tourism Development Project; a USD28 million five-year plan, spanning over 2008-2013. Con-ducted in partnership with the ministry, the plan is aimed towards an institutional and regulatory reform to facilitate the development of the industry.

Industry professionals agreed that despite the recent and existing challenges, tourism remains a growing industry, and there is no doubt that the BRIC markets are set to become significant players on the global map, and Jordan, along with its neigh-bouring countries, should take advantage of this.

Alongside the global outlook, customers are also changing and the new generation is increasingly re-lying on online sources, therefore having a strong strategy, adapted to the shifting customer behaviour is key. Experts also agreed that defining the steps to

not only attract visitors but convince them to stay longer, and spend more, is also vital.

“The key is to get the governments to think long-term as opposed to short-term,” summarised Neil Gib-son, director, regional services, Oxford Economics.

Talking about the air travel segment, Vijay Poonoosamy, vice president, Etihad Airways, said, “Tourism depends on aviation, and aviation depends on tourism, therefore [these two sectors] need to work together. Governments should take what it takes to boost aviation and tourism.”

Especially during current times, where carriers including Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ), are faced with multiple challenges, increasing fuel prices and taxes, besides the regional unrest, have further deepened the problems, as Anwar Atalla, director of marketing, RJ, explained, “We have to re-emphasise to govern-ments how important the aviation industry is to the economy and employment.”

Al Nayef agreed, “Tourism is one of the major pillars of the economy, and not only the GDP, but also employment. It empowers people, it empow-ers women,” he said, explaining that for Jordan, 2010 was the best year ever; 2011 however, brought some unexpected changes and challenges, which resulted in a loss of USD1 billion for the industry.

Package tours dropped 42 percent, according to Arabiyat, who further stressed that the first months of the current year have already shown positive signs of recovery, albeit with plenty of room for improve-ment. He further indicated that the developments by the Dead Sea, as well as regional and internation-al investments, are expected to further increase Jor-dan’s competitiveness. Arabiyat also revealed plans to establish more international offices following the recent opening in Brazil, and to attract more event organisers with the support of JTB’s new MICE unit.

“We do have the facilities to cater to such prestig-ious events. The ultimate goal is to host a prestigious annual event, such as GIBTM,” Arabiyat said, pointing out that the MICE industry, alongside religious travel, has proven more resilient against the regional and global challenges, therefore JTB is seeking ways to further boost business in these particular sectors.

“2011 was a difficult year for the MENA region,” con-cluded Rifai. “However, the international community has confidence in the Middle East in general, and in Jordan, in particular. Tourism is the future of the region.”

Over 400 industry professionals from all over the world, gathered in the region of the Dead Sea between June 5 - 6 at Jordan Tourism Board’s (JTB) international conference, entitled Seizing Tourism Market Opportunities in Times of Rapid Change, to discuss how to turn challenges into opportunities amid current turbulent times.

Dead Sea

20 EXCLUSIVE Short-Haul Travel

JULY 2012

Round the CornerThe majority of airlines across the MENA region have been extending their footprint in the neighbouring vicinity, as they seize the plethora of lingering opportunities amid the uncertain economic climate, which has led to a large majority of corporate and leisure travellers remaining closer to home when setting off on their business trip or holiday.

Stefanie Saghbini writes

E uromonitor International has revealed that short-haul travel dominated flight sales in the UAE throughout 2011, accounting for 62 percent of the total passenger volume.

A shift from long-haul to short-haul flights in the country was also seen with passenger volume rising by one percent and two percent re-spectively, over 2010 levels, as part of a longer-term trend with short-haul experiencing a 21 percent growth in passenger volume during the review pe-riod as a whole.

In addition, Euromonitor International reports showed that short-haul flights benefitted from the ongoing expansion for route networks between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and cities across the Middle East, with Emirates, which added services to Bagh-dad. Moreover, growth in short-haul flights was also underpinned by the large number of expatriates working in the UAE from across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, flydubai has also been pivotal to the drive in the UAE’s overall regional tourism figures in 2011, having recorded an 89 percent annual increase in passengers from the GCC between February 2011 and March this year.

Hailed as the second largest airline operating out of Dubai International, flydubai offers 424 services per week on its GCC network, continuing to prove itself as a pioneering force on a number of levels, ac-cording to Ghaith Al Ghaith, who claims this ‘journey’ as only having just begun.

Moreover, the low-cost carrier also recently com-menced flights to Sana’a, Yemen, four times a week. “We are confident that flydubai’s direct flights to our capital will boost relations between the two countries and create new areas of collaboration in the future,” commented Waed Abdulla Batheeb, minister of trans-port, Yemen.

Qatar Airways has also eased access to and from

Iraq by commencing flights to Erbil as well as be-ginning four weekly services to Baghdad; a move which Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways, says has long been under the airline company’s microscope. “Now we believe is the right time to enter Iraq due to demand and infrastructure changes in a country that warrants more business and greater air access,” he said.

FOLLOWING SAUDI ARABIA

Emirates has continued to strenghten its presence in the region this year by offering a 12 percent boost of services to Saudi Arabia. The airline has increased its commitment to the country and its two largest cities, Riyadh and Jeddah, with three extra services to the capital city set to commence as of August 1. Mean-while, four additional frequencies to Jeddah were launched on June 1.

According to Ahmed Khoory, senior vice presi-dent, commercial operations, Gulf, Middle East, and Iran, Emirates, the airline has ambitious plans to flour-ish in Saudi Arabia, as the domestic growth within the Kingdom is staggering, and these added frequencies are an integral part of its long-term strategy.

Also highlighting the growing business poten-tials in the Kingdom is Adel Ali, CEO, Air Arabia, as the airline introduced weekly short-haul services to the Kingdom’s city, Taif, on June 2. “Given the strong economies and commercial demand for air travel be-tween the two countries, we are confident that the new service will offer our customers a new option for affordable air travel and a great connectivity to the wider MENA region.”

Moreover, Air Arabia also recently launched a new service between its hub in Sharjah and Salalah; the airline’s second destination in Oman.

CONNECTING CITIES

Moving on, Etihad Airways recently improved access to

Kabul with the signing of a codeshare agreement with Safi Airways, Afghanistan’s leading international airline.

The airline now places its ‘EY’ code on the four-weekly service from Abu Dhabi to the Afghan capital. Peter Baumgartner, chief commercial officer, Etihad Airways, stressed the importance of increasing con-nectivity between the two cities. “We were looking to improve point to point service to Kabul through a codeshare alliance with a carrier whose commitment to service and product is building rapidly.”

In addition, Lloyd Carswell, chief commercial of-ficer, Safi Airways, laid emphasis on the airline’s long-term strategic plan to consolidate its presence within the neighbouring GCC and its ultimate goal to max-imise connections to and from Afghanistan.

Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) and Gulf Air also re-cently signed a full codeshare agreement to offer pas-sengers 11 weekly flights between Amman, Jordan, and Manama, Bahrain. According to Hussein Dabbas, CEO, RJ, the new deal is concluded in the best eco-nomic interest for both carriers and passengers from Jordan and Bahrain, and will result in reducing opera-tional expenses, needed in the light of regress in de-mand due to regional unrest.

RESPONDING TO DEMAND

Gulf Air also recently became the largest operator of flights between Doha and Bahrain, after it introduced seven additional short-haul flights to Qatar’s capital city in March this year, offering a number of fast and easy connections for travellers in the region, accord-ing to Samer Majali, CEO, Gulf Air.

Jazeera Airways earlier this year introduced two non-stop services to Najaf, marking the first time an airline has launched scheduled passenger flights be-tween Kuwait and the Iraqi city in 22 years.

Oman Air has also been eyeing short-haul desti-nations on its route network as it gears up to launch daily services between Muscat and the Iranian capital, Tehran, on September 1.

http://www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com/

22 WHO'S MOVED

JULY 2012

CARSTEN FRITZ

JS ANAND

CRAIG BRUCE

Carsten Fritz has been appointed general manager of Sharq Village and Spa in Doha, Qatar. In his capacity, he is responsible for all aspects of the resort’s op-erations including financial perfor-mance, guest engagement, em-ployee development, and brand recognition. Over the past decade, the sea-soned hotelier held various posi-

tions with The Ritz-Carlton includ-ing general manager of Abama Golf & Spa Resort, his most recent position, and general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Sharm El Sheikh, The Ritz-Carlton Country Club, Seoul, as well as hotel manager of The Ritz-Calrton, Millenia, Singa-pore. During his extensive career, he has also worked in Japan, Ja-maica, Thailand, and Germany.

JS Anand has been named gener-al manager of Holiday Inn Dubai – Al Barsha, located near to the Mall of Emirates and Dubai Mall, and in close proximity to Media City, In-ternet City, and the Dubai Marina. The seasoned hotelier moves to the UAE from Canada, where he most recently served as general manager at one of the Marriott branded properties in Toronto. In his new position, Anand will focus on capitalising on the key relationships with travel part-ners in the region to spearhead a new drive for business at the 310-room hotel. Anand began his career as part of the opening team of Goa Marriott

in India, before being appointed director of sales and marketing. He later also worked with brands such as Oberoi & Leela. Anand holds a diploma in hotel management as well as Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce certification.

Craig Bruce has been promoted by The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group to general manager of the compa-ny’s Yas Island hotels, namely Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Blu Hotel, Abu Dhabi Yas Island.Bruce, who has 15 years of indus-try experience, started his career in South Africa at the Kaross Wilder-ness Hotel along the country’s gar-den route, and joined The Rezidor

Hotel Group in 2007 as executive assistant manager at Radisson SAS Waterfront Cape Town. He moved to the Middle East in 2009 to take on the role of hotel manager of Park Inn by Radisson, Abu Dhabi Yas Island.In his new capacity, he will also oversee the operation of the hotel’s sister property, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Abu Dhabi Yas Island.

In his new position, Anand will focus on capitalising on the

key relationships with travel partners in the

region to spearhead a new drive for business at the 310-room hotel

23RENDEZVOUS

JULY 2012

Q & A with Kjeld BingerWith the upcoming launch of the new terminal at Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), Jordan is to assert its position as a regional aviation hub, and Kjeld Binger, CEO, Airport International Group (AIG), believes that the industry’s constant development will be key to the Kingdom’s long-term growth.

Kjeld BingerCEO, Airport International Group (AIG)

Travel Trade Monthly: Jordan has long been a re-gional hub for air travel. What are the major fac-tors behind this success?

Kjeld Binger: Jordan has a lot going for it when it comes to air travel, as the Kingdom has distinguished itself in the region as a politically stable country.

In the field of tourism, Jordan has a number of unique attractions that make it appealing as both a fi-nal vacation destination and as a location to spend an extra couple of days when transiting to and from other destinations. Of course Petra is one of the world’s most breathtaking man-made wonders from the ancient world, while the Dead Sea and the desert landscape of Wadi Rum are two incredible natural sites.

The Jordan Tourism Board is actively working to promote these and many other sites that range from Roman and Crusader ruins to the beaches of Aqaba.

In the specific field of aviation, Jordan has gone to great lengths to remove obstacles for airlines con-sidering flights to Jordan. The Kingdom has signed onto open skies agreements with the EU that remove obstructive fees and regulations for airlines flying be-tween Europe and Jordan.

Travel Trade Monthly: In the first quarter of this year, QAIA witnessed tremendous growth versus the same period in 2011. What are your expecta-tions for the remainder of the year?

Kjeld Binger: We believe that the positive first quar-ter results, 1.4 million passengers, a 24 percent in-crease and more than 15,000 aircraft movements, up seven percent, is a good indication of the kind of growth we are expecting. We will continue our efforts developing the QAIA flight networks and we look for-ward to maintaining the current rate of growth. The Kingdom’s national carrier, Royal Jordanian Airlines, has been particularly aggressive in offering attractive fares for travellers and, thereby adding to the posi-tive statistics. The resumption of flights to Egypt and Libya has also contributed to the recent increases in flights and passenger numbers.

Travel Trade Monthly: In a move to meet growing demand, AIG has embarked on an extensive de-velopment. At what stage is this project?

Kjeld Binger: When the government of Jordan set

Kjeld Binger: QAIA is a successful example of how a public-private partnership can deliver important infrastructure projects and encourage economic de-velopment without stressing government budgets. According to the agreement, the government share is 54.5 percent of the total airport annual revenue, for example, the total monetary returns from the project to the government reached USD182 million since 2007 up until 2011, while returns reached USD71 mil-lion in 2011.

This type of partnership makes it a unique oppor-tunity for collaboration between AIG and the govern-ment of Jordan, in which it eliminates the financial risks on the part of the government, as we provide the capital for construction, and allows AIG to build a new terminal according to high international stand-ards and bring experts in the field of airports develop-ments and management.

Travel Trade Monthly: When is the new terminal scheduled to welcome passengers?

Kjeld Binger: We expect the new terminal to be-come operationally ready by the end of the year. After which, a date will be determined to launch an extremely complex overnight transition that will take place with 100 percent of the passenger traffic and flights re-directed to the new terminal within a cou-ple of hours. The opening of the new terminal, with the increased capacity, will be a major step towards realizing the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II to modernise Jordan’s aviation sector and transform the airport into a regional niche hub.

out to expand the capacity of QAIA through a public-private partnership, it was not just focused on how many passengers or flights the terminal could handle; the government wanted to create an iconic structure that would be a national landmark and a source of pride for all Jordanians.

As the form of the new terminal takes shape, there can be no doubt that it will not only drastically increase capacity, from 3.5 million to nine million trav-ellers in its first phase, but will also be a distinguishing feature of the Kingdom. The design of the new ter-minal also allows for a future phase of expansion to 12 million passengers annually, to be initiated when necessary.

At the same time that the new terminal was being planned and later constructed, AIG invested USD100 million to rehabilitate the current terminal facilities in order to respond to the growing number of passen-gers in the last several years. The terminals currently in use were initially built with a capacity of 3.5 mil-lion passengers annually in mind; our total number of travellers in 2011 was approximately 5.5 million. It has been a serious challenge coping with this over-capacity, but it is a challenge we have faced head-on.

Travel Trade Monthly: How do AIG and the govern-ment collaborate on the development?

QAIA is a successful example of how a public-private partnership can deliver important infrastruc-ture projects and encourage economic development without stressing government budgets

24 NEWS & EVENTS

JULY 2012

EVENTS Sponsored by

Over the last three years, the number of Chinese travellers pouring into Sharjah has more than tri-pled from 8,231 in 2009 to around 30,000 in 2011, and the emirate is keen on capturing a bigger mar-ket share of this booming market.

Following a five percent rise in 2011, the Shar-jah Commerce and Tourism Development Author-ity (SCTDA) aims to make the most of the growing Chinese and Asian interest in the emirate, stressed H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Noman, chairman, SCTDA, as the authority headed for the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE).

“We need to tap into this massive market,” he said. “Our participation in BITE is in line with our commercial and tourism marketing strategy and is aimed at keeping ourselves abreast of the new trends, ideas, and opportunities in the global tour-ism bazaar. In the past few years, Sharjah’s tourism industry has witnessed rapid growth in infrastruc-ture and service sectors. This in turn encourages and drives new investment opportunities in the tourism industry across the emirate.”

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has announced the launch of another new self-service check-in kiosk in the capital at Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi Yas Island Hotel, becoming the only kiosk of its kind on the man-made island.

The self-service kiosks offer passengers the opportunity to check-in to their flight, print their boarding passes, and tag their bags before leaving the hotel lobby. When the check-in process is complete, passengers then take their bags to the baggage drop desk at the airport, and go straight to passport control.

Commenting on the introduction of this new service, Harib Al Hameli, vice president, operations, Abu Dhabi International Airport, said, “ADAC is committed to delivering high quality experiences for passengers and con-tinuously strives to deliver new initiatives and state of the art facilities ensur-ing the highest level of service and standards.

“The self-service kiosks in hotels across the city allow passengers to man-age their own travel plans conveniently and easily, giving them maximum time to enjoy the city and minimising queues at the airport. Our existing kiosks have been very popular, and the full check-in service at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, along with the facility in the city, continues to offer innovative services.

“With the Formula 1 season approaching, we expect this new addition, to our off-site facilities on Yas Island, to continue in the delivery of easier and stress-free travel experiences for more Abu Dhabi International Airport travellers.”

Sharjah Targets Growing Chinese Market

ADAC Introduces Another Self-Service Check-in Kiosk

China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM)Beijing, China, September 12 – 14, 2012 (www.cibtm.com)A leading meetings, incentives, and business travel show providing the ultimate platform for suppliers to the MICE industry.

International French Travel Market (IFTM Top Resa)Paris, France, September 18 – 21, 2012(www.iftm.fr)An international fair for networking, doing business, innovating, and keeping abreast of market developments, offering a 360° panorama of the travel industry. Africa Hotel Investment ForumNairobi, Kenya, September 25 – 26, 2012(www.africa-conference.com)An event showcasing the potential Kenya and other high-growth destinations across the continent have to offer.

PATA Travel Mart Manila, Philippines, September 25 – 28, 2012(www.pata.org/events/pata-travel-mart-2012)Asia Pacific’s premier travel trade show offering networking and contracting op-portunities for hundreds of international buyers and sellers.

The 18th World Route Development ForumAbu Dhabi, UAE, September 29 – October 2, 2012www.routesonline.com/eventsThe largest global event of its kind, attracting over 2,750 delegates from more than 80 countries, and determining the future of air services.

ITB ASIASingapore, October 3 - 5, 2012(www.itb-asia.com)Where exhibitors across all sectors of the travel-value chain, meet with top inter-national buyers from the MICE, leisure, and corporate travel markets.