Wynn Resorts thinks it will be the sole operator to have a casino in the United Arab Emirates for several years, effectively giving it a monopoly on a market that could rake in billions for the Gulf nation.
24.10.2023 - 14:29 / skift.com / Josh Corder / Touq Al-Marri
The UAE’s minister of economy has said the country’s tourism advisory board is working on new packages that promote travel in all seven emirates. For years, tourism in the UAE has been centered in Dubai, home to Emirates Airline, the world’s biggest mall and a string of ultra-luxury hotels.
Capital city Abu Dhabi attracts tourism largely with its cultural offerings, such as the Louvre Museum, while Ras Al Khaimah focuses on nature tourism and corporate events. The other emirates, however, do not get as much attention.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri is now looking to change that. The minister revealed to state news agency WAM, that the Emirates Tourism Council has formulated a “tourist route” within the UAE that connects its seven emirates. This, according to the minister, is part of an even grander vision to promote cross-GCC travel as you would see with travelers hopping across Europe.
“This initiative is an integral part of the GCC 2030 tourism strategy, designed to elevate the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP through increased inter-GCC travel and elevated hotel occupancy rates, transforming the GCC into a pre-eminent global destination for both regional and international tourists,” the UAE minister said.
Al Marri revealed that the unified GCC visa will roll out either next year or in 2025. When it does, it will introduce a “new flow of international tourists” to the region.
Last September, Al Marri gave updates on this development during a conference in Abu Dhabi. “What’s good for Saudi is good for the GCC,” he said at the conference. “If the tide comes up, it pulls up all the boats.”
This new visa comes under the banner of the “Gulf Strategy for Tourism 2023-2030,” which ministers also said is in the works. The meeting also looked into the establishment of a GCC Tourism Statistics Platform.
Wynn Resorts thinks it will be the sole operator to have a casino in the United Arab Emirates for several years, effectively giving it a monopoly on a market that could rake in billions for the Gulf nation.
Emirates airline, Dubai’s flagship carrier, posted a significant jump in net profit for the first half of financial year 2023-24 on the back of strong demand, the company said on Thursday, while Group profit surged to a record high.
Yesterday at World Travel Market (WTM) London, MyTicketPro launched a trustworthy sports ticketing platform by and for the tourism industry. This groundbreaking solution gives travel professionals access to verified live ticket inventory for North American (NA) sports events thanks to involvement from sports executives and proprietary software connections. Global uniform pricing and instant digital confirmations will be available to platform users via myticketpro.com.
Months after Gwyneth Paltrow put her Montecito mansion’s guesthouse up on Airbnb, Martha Stewart is readying herself to get in on the action. The famed homemaker and entrepreneur has long kept a large piece of property along Pea Pond Road in Westchester County, New York; driving past it, as I often did going between my parents’ house in Connecticut and my Poughkeepsie college, you can catch a few glimpses of classic farmhouses and vast greenhouses hidden behind the stone wall. Now, ahead of Thanksgiving, a gaggle of lucky guests can get a closer look during a one-night-only stay.
Saudi Arabian development group Red Sea Global has created its own luxury hotel brand called Shebara. The Shebara brand will be deployed for the upcoming Sheybarah Island resort – seen as the most exclusive of the current 16-property lineup in the archipelago development.
For its 17th edition, the 2023 UNWTO-PATA Forum (Guilin, China, 26-27 October) put the focus on maximizing the sector’s ability to drive growth, build economic resilience and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum is the consolidated leading platform for policymakers, business leaders and a range of tourism stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific.
Perhaps nothing defines Los Angeles like the freeways: ribbons of asphalt and steel (and traffic jams) tying coast, valley and mountains together in a multilane, limited-access web. These highways were considered so essential that planners nearly jammed one right through the center of swanky Beverly Hills.
When Regent Seven Seas Grandeur sets sail in November 2023, an impressive multimillion-dollar contemporary art collection with 1,600 works will offer guests a bespoke experience, akin to that of cruising on a floating museum.
Since the rise of passenger vessels long ago and commercial airlines more recently, destinations around the world searching for economic salvation have turned to tourism.
Picture it: After years of fantasizing and months of planning, you finally arrive at the destination you've always dreamed about. Except, it's just not how you pictured it.
Winter in Europe isn't all that bad: bundles of pillowy snow; steaming mulled wine at Christmas markets; the crunching score of ice skates on a frozen canal.
Corporate events have, at times, gotten a bad rep. The same people, in the same grey suits, exchange the same predigested questions and pre-prepared answers. As someone who has attended many such events and conferences over the years, this has remained excruciatingly true.