Middle east tips

In Saudi Arabia’s latest tourism campaign, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi aims to bust the stereotypes global travelers may have about the kingdom. The campaign emphasizes that Saudi Arabia has a lot to offer and is a welcoming destination, said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority.

Outbound travel from China to the Middle East reached pre-pandemic levels during the Chinese New Year period, according to data firm ForwardKeys.

The surprise exit of Jumeirah Group CEO Katerina Giannouka 15 months into her role is the latest resignation for the government-owned hotel brand of Dubai.

Katerina Giannouka has left Jumeirah Group one year into her time as CEO, confirms an internal document seen by Skift. The document is attributed to Jumeirah’s owning company Dubai Holding group CEO Amit Kaushal and was circulated to leaders in the organization.

The Dubai International Airport, known as DXB, has surged in a post-pandemic world.

The latest publicly available scheduling data indicates that American Airlines has removed Tel Aviv from its flight schedule until at least October 2024. The decision comes in the wake of the notorious terrorist attack launched by Hamas on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023. 

Forbes Travel Guide, a rating system for luxury hotels and other travel products and services, released its 2024 Star Awards on Wednesday. About 340 luxury hotels received “five-star” ratings, while about 1,600 others received other commendations in the 66th year of the rankings.

Egypt received a record-breaking number of tourists in 2023 despite the war between Israel and Hamas, according to a statement by the country’s tourism ministry on Thursday. 

United Arab Emirates-based Silkhaus, a tech-based short-term rental platform, has announced raising a “multi-million” pre-series A financing from San Francisco headquartered-Partners for Growth.

Tourists can’t visit Hagia Sophia for free anymore. Since Monday, foreign tourists have had to pay an admission fee of €25 (about $27) to enter the mosque and UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

As it prepares for the launch of 19 new properties in 2024, Singapore-headquartered Banyan Tree Group is embracing a sleeker image, rebranding itself as the Banyan Group.

Saudi Arabia has bold ambitions to open to tourists and its airline industry is a big part of the plan. Riyadh Air, a new carrier established with support of the Public Investment Fund, ordered a large number of Boeing 787 aircraft in 2023 with the aim to start operations in 2025.

Iran and Saudi Arabia will start formal talks next week to resume direct‮ ‬scheduled flights between Tehran and Riyadh and other cities, an Iranian official told the state-affiliated news agency ILNA on Sunday.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, December 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The Middle East lost its tourism growth momentum once the Israel-Gaza War started in October. Before the conflict, the region was a star performer in the global tourism industry. Here are seven facts about Middle East tourism:

The Middle East exceeded its pre-pandemic international tourist arrival numbers by over 20% through September this year, according to the UN World Tourism Organization’s latest data. That’s before the Israel-Hamas conflict started in early October.

Dubai, with 66 projects/18,787 rooms, continues to dominate the construction pipeline in the UAE at Q3.

Tourists have stopped booking new trips to Turkey. The war in Gaza is deterring Turkey’s tourism bookings.

The 18th Dubai Airshow is upon us, and this year’s is setting up as a contest between UAE and Saudi Arabia – which country will order more aircraft? 

Amadeus is nearly recovered in terms of revenue compared to pre-pandemic levels. Executives shared those details during an earnings call on Tuesday, as well as information about the impact of conflicts in the Middle East and technical innovations the company is developing. 

Egypt tourism is facing cancellations from many American tourists due to the Israel-Hamas war.