Travel in city Dubai

Emirates has developed a reputation of being one of the best airlines in the world, repeatedly winning awards for outstanding service, extremely comfortable cabins and an upscale traveler experience. How do they do it? The airline devotes both time and money to its fleet and staff. Last year, Emirates announced that it will be investing over $2 billion to enhance its in-flight customer experience, including a massive program to retrofit over 120 aircraft with the latest interiors.

In 2022, Adam and Kirsty Golder's UK-based aviation company, G6 Aviation, received an odd request. A potential customer wanted to know how much it would cost to charter a jet from London to the US for 10 people — and 10 dogs. 

This past summer, Instagram feeds were plastered with videos of tourists in Italy. You’d see a video of the Trevi Fountain with just a few Italian models taking photos – then a more realistic video with swarms of sweaty tourists.

There’s good news for budget travelers: Uzbekistan is one of Asia’s most affordable destinations.

During a historic visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Israel’s Minister of Tourism said that it is the travel industry that can thaw the frosty relations between the two countries. Haim Katz’s visit marked the most senior member of the Israeli government to visit the Gulf kingdom.

Saudi Arabia will raise its previous 100 million visitors by 2030 target to 150 million, as kingdom officials say the old number is too low. The move was revealed during the Skift Global Forum 2023 by Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Deputy Minister, Destination Enablement at the Ministry of Tourism.

Pre-pandemic, the cash-rich, travel-hungry Chinese tourist was a principal focus for Dubai, so much so that an entire “China Readiness” strategy was created. It included rolling out marketing campaigns on local social media app WeChat; the creation of a “Chinese Travelers Standards” training program for workers; a raft of signings with Chinese tour operators, and much more.

Belize Tourism Board is proud to announce it is the official host destination for the inaugural 2024 World Travel Sustainability Awards (WTSA), the new World Travel Awards programme to help drive Net Positive Hospitality in Travel and Tourism. Belize will provide the perfect backdrop to the awards as a destination that holds responsible tourism at the core of its value systems, developing projects that encourage travellers to engage with the country’s rainforests, reefs, and unique culture in a truly sustainable and responsible manner. The World Travel Sustainability Awards will be launched in Dubai at COP28 and feature more than 40 new categories. Belize and the WTA are developing a powerful network of trusted, authoritative partners, that will guide the awards programme on best practices, standards, criteria, and the actual award category list.

Every year on September 27th, the United Nations observes World Tourism Day to acknowledge tourism’s significant role in promoting growth and cultural awareness. The theme for World Tourism Day 2023 is “Tourism and Green Investments,” emphasizing the importance of directing investments towards the well-being of people, the planet, and prosperity.

Hotels in the Middle East are performing really well with the highest occupancy rates in the world, said a senior director of global data benchmarking firm STR.

Picture it: You battled your way through summer holiday traffic going to the airport, and waited in what felt like the world’s longest security line, only to have your flight diverted two hours in, resulting in your flight reaching its destination three hours later than planned?

As Future Hospitality Summit 2023 kicks off, Hilton has announced plans to increase its presence in the Middle East by more than 125% in the years ahead.

While we are focused on delivering the best global travel event this week, we also have a job to do delivering the essential travel news. So we did, and we also delivered something new: a comprehensive travel stock index that captures the breadth and the impact of the global travel industry. But no stock index currently does this because they are each split along categories that don’t serve the industry.

Trump International Golf Club, Dubai is set to launch all-new golf programmes in October 2023, suitable for people of all ages.

The Luxury Collection NEOM, located in Saudi Arabia’s Sindalah Island, put out a call for mixologists and bartenders ahead of its opening next year – though the hotel’s operator, Marriott, says the job listings were a mistake and being removed.

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the leading travel and tourism event for inbound and outbound tourism professionals throughout the Middle East, has announced that ‘Working Towards Net Zero’ will be its official theme for ATM 2023, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 1-4 May.

Travelers headed to Singapore in 2024 may soon be able to enjoy passport-free travel, after the island nation passed an amendment to an immigration bill this week. This allows the move toward additional biometric sensors to go forward at Changi Airport, widely regarded as one of the world’s top (and busiest) airports.

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, referred to as “MBS” by the media, won’t slow down his spending to reshape his kingdom and boost tourism. His immense projects have been met with scrutiny overseas, but in the future, he wants to develop nearly 600 islands along the coast, according to his interview on Wednesday with Fox News, his first fully in English.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, September 21. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 20. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Dubai continues to pull ahead of its pre-pandemic tourism numbers. The emirate drew in 9.8 million international travelers up to July this year, according to the latest data from Dubai Tourism. For the same period in 2019, Dubai had 9.6 million international visitors, and in 2022, welcomed 8.1 million up to that point.

Stargazing is a time-honored tradition that has been an integral part of history in Saudi Arabia for millennia. The night sky was a crucial navigational tool in the vast and often featureless stretches of Saudi’s desert. Just as sailors use stars for navigation at sea, Bedouins relied on them to find their way across the sand. Those traditions are still honored today, and if you’re interested in learning more about the culture while enjoying the outdoors and vast star-studded sky, there are few locations in the country that can rival the natural beauty and vastness of AlUla.