Unrest in the region reinforces Dubai’s position on the global map as key tourism destination

Dubai, UAE, 19th May, 2011: Private Jet Charter, one of the world’s largest independent private jet charter brokers and consultants providing access to over  50,000 aircrafts, has said that private aviation business is witnessing higher growth in UAE  in general and Dubai in particular, driven by a combination of factors.

The favourable factors include accelerated economic recovery from recession and unrest in some parts of the region, generating a higher demand for charter flights to and from the UAE.

Private Jet Charter founder and Chief Executive Hugh Courtenay said: “Dubai is well positioned to see a rise in visitors and private jet business due to disturbances in other parts of the region.”

Courtenay added: “The strong performance of the private jet business in Dubai has outpaced the growth in other parts of the Middle East due to the emirate’s consolidation as key holiday destination.”

The unrest and uncertainty in some countries in the Middle East region has prompted tourists to cancel their travel bookings to these destinations which attracted more than 25 million visitors last year. Dubai could capture more than 5 million of these 25 million tourists, which will automatically boost the private jet business, according to Courtenay.

“Most of our clients are high net worth individuals and affluent families, who look at Dubai as a preferred destination, especially considering the uncertainty in some parts of the region.”

Courtenay added: “Affluent holiday makers look for convenience and time savings in jet services and this is where Private Jet Charter fits in.  Based on bookings from our clients, who include royal families, wealthy business people and CEOs, the UAE has emerged as a destination of choice for spending their summer vacation.”

Key benefits that the Private Jet Charter organisation offers its customers include 24 hour service round the year, multilingual and expert staff, competitive free quotations and advice, unique CATS aircraft sourcing technology, flight watch monitoring on all executive air charter flights. This involves keeping the PA or travel organiser informed of every stage of the journey, from limousine pick-up to take-off, progress of the flight and landing.

Also, other benefits of Private Jet Charter organisation includes state-of-the-art new generation private jets, high-calibre pilots and cabin crew, use of private business and VIP terminals, check-in only 15 minutes before departure, rapid but secure, immigration procedures, fly from an airport of your choice at your time, ‘meet and greet’ facilities, comprehensive airport information and limousine ground transportation, if required.

Private Jet Charter is an ISO 9002 - certified company with 20 years of leadership in the aviation field. It is a respected provider of VIP aircraft, executive jets, helicopter charter, corporate airliners and dedicated medical evacuation aircraft.

Please visit www.privatejetcharter.com for further information.

Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah enhances its presence at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2011

A recent report by Alpen Capital on the ‘Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Hospitality Industry’ revealed that the religious tourism sector in Saudi Arabia generated more than US$7 billion (AED25.70 billion) in 2009 from visitors to Muslim holy and pilgrimage sites, and projected visitor numbers to grow from over 12 million visitors in 2009 to 15 million visitors in 2013.

With Saudi Arabia being the seat of Islam, the country is investing heavily into the religious tourism industry. This is also evident with the Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah who has witnessed significant growth in the one year of operation. The hotel will be showcasing its offerings at the Arabian Travel Market 2011 being held in Dubai from May 2nd – 5th, 2011.

“Saudi Arabia has chalked out a development plan involving investment of almost AED98 billion (SAR 100 billion) to transform Makkah into a city with world-class infrastructure. With the large-scale tourism development underway, the Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah is well-equipped to cater to the growing number of pilgrims to the city. This year, we also plan is to implement marketing initiatives to further increase awareness in untapped markets in the African continent across Tunisia and Algeria,” said Omar Bou-jlid, General Manager of Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah.

The 41-storey 1,200 room Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Mak-kah boasts beautiful, inspiring views of Islam’s holy sites of the Haram Al-Sharif Mosque and the Kabaa Al-Mukrama. Comprising lavish suites, elegant rooms and furnished hotel apartments that offer guests - Hajj and Umrah pil-grims, travelers or businessmen – the hotel offers uncompromising adherence to the highest hospitality and Islamic compliance standards.

Concluding said, “ATM is an ideal platform to showcase our offerings to in-dustry participants. Our objective is to raise the standards of service excellence with our room offerings, food and beverage outlets and 32 different staff na-tionalities that to cater to varied groups of pilgrims.”

Abha tops the list of family tourism destinations in the region 

Abha, KSA, 3 August, 2010: Abha Summer Training Festival, part of Abha Shopping Festival, which was held for 11 days in Abha, has received overwhelming response from family tourists from KSA and the entire Gulf region in its inaugural edition, with more than 33,000 families attending the festival.

This success can be attributed to the organizers’ efforts to create world class facilities and activities catering to different sections of families, customised for Gulf residents. Children and parents were happy to attend these activities which combined entertainment with education.

HE Engineer Abdul Karim Bin Salem Al Hunainy, Undersecretary of Aseer, said the overwhelming response was a clear evidence of the value of the festival and a reflection of the hard work and planning that went into the event. “This festival is a success story that could be replicated in other places because it succeeded in providing a model to what family tourists really want from a festival.”

Dr. Ali Sharab, Founder of Forsan Al Hayat, organizer of the festival, said: “We want to make this festival a world class event that will position Abha as a tourism destination offering distinctive edutainment activities to visitors from all over the kingdom and the Gulf region and the Arab world at a later stage. The ideal climate of Abha gives it an edge in topping the list of tourism destinations in the region.”

The success of Abha Training Summer Festival was driven by the wide experience of its organizers as well as the close collaboration with government and private sectors in Aseer area and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abha Training Summer Festival, which was held under the slogan “we meet for a higher aim” was organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and Forsan Al Hayat at the Abha International Exhibitions Centre and Abha Palace Hotel in Aseer, KSA.

MIDDLE EAST TOURIST ARRIVALS UP 50% - UAE UP 164%, SAUDI UP 127% & KUWAIT UP BY 135%

Destination Sri Lanka reported a major influx of Arab travellers as Middle East Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka surged 50 per cent in January, 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and announced by the Middle East office of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board (SLTPB).

“Judging by these early results, destination Sri Lanka is on track to surpass figures attained last year where tourist arrivals saw a double-digit growth,” said Heba Al Ghais Al Mansoori, Middle East Director of SLTPB based in Dubai.

Announcing the results, Ms. Al Mansoori confirmed that the strongest growth was registered from the UAE (up by 164%), Saudi Arabia (up by 127%), Qatar (171%), Kuwait (up by 135%) and Jordan among others.

Apart from the Middle East, regions that saw a marked increase in visitors are Western and Eastern Europe, and South Asia.

“With the widespread effects of the credit crunch and the stability that finally dawned on Sri Lanka as the war came to a halt and decades of strife ended, Sri Lanka is a destination with good value for money and one with an exotic locale that tantalizes tourists,” said Ms. Al Mansoori. “Peace will finally bring prosperity and development into the country and open up more areas for tourism development which otherwise was not accessible during the war.”

Cultural attractions, entertainment, shopping, and dining are some of the factors that draw modern day Arab travelers to their preferred destinations and Sri Lanka offers a good product that scores on all counts and is less than four hours flying time away from the Gulf.

Factors such as the government’s support for the tourism sector, and expansion of low-cost carrier services are also contributing to the growth of the tourism industry.

Residents, tourists may request for information in Arabic or in English by sending SMS to mDubai’s 4488

February 9, 2010

Dubai eGovernment has announced the launch of its popular instant information service on Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2010 events through mDubai, providing the public with a reliable, up-to-date communication platform about the daily activities related to Dubai’s annual shopping extravaganza. mDubai is an innovative communication channel that facilitates interaction between the public and government departments via SMS.
 
The DSF 2010 service provides information about five random events on any given day. To request information in Arabic for five random events, users only need to type “DSF A” and send it as an SMS to 4488. The same information can be received in English by typing “DSF E”.

“DSF is one of the most important entertainment and shopping festivals of the year as there are numerous fun-filled activities such as concerts, exhibitions, competitions and promotions that offer exciting prizes. Dubai eGovernment’s goal is to allow residents and tourists to have a truly enjoyable experience throughout the DSF festivities by providing up-to-date information about the daily activities,” said Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director-General, Dubai eGovernment.
 
“Users may request information about a random list of activities so that they can set a schedule and choose which places they would like to visit first. This service is particularly useful for tourists or visitors who will be in Dubai only for a short period. Having experienced the advantages of the mDubai information service during DSF 2009, residents and visitors are now again taking advantage of this innovative service as shown by the growing volume of requests we have received since the service was launched,” he added.

The mDubai service is one of the most successful e-services of Dubai eGovernment as it receives thousands of pull messages and sends millions of push messages each year. Some of the most common push messages include health card expiry notifications; traffic on roads; driving test notifications; traffic fines notifications; opening and closing timings of water bridges; trade licence expiry notifications and payment voucher notifications.
 
The most widely availed pull messages include fines enquiries from Dubai Police; flight information from Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; prayer timings from Islamic Affairs & Charitable Activities Department; transaction status inquiries from Dubai Department of Economic Development and daily event schedule inquiries for Dubai Summer Surprises and DSF.