Top Stories
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New deadly virus spreads from Saudi Arabia to Tunisia
DestinationsA 66-year-old Tunisian man has died from new coronavirus, a strain of a virus that emerged in the Middle East last year, after a visit to Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The man, a diabetic, died in hospital in the city of Monastir, ministry spokesman Ibrahim Labassi said. It was the first [...]
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Dubai hotel goes overboard with iPads: Hands out $10,000, gold-plated tablets
DestinationsGuests at the self-proclaimed world’s most-luxurious hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, are being bestowed with a new privilege on arrival – a gold-plated iPad. As lesser hotels struggle to provide free wi-fi, guests at the Burj Al Arab, one the world’s tallest hotels, are being offered one of the 24-carat devices, worth £6,715, [...]
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Saudi Arabia’s tourism challenge: Strict religious principles dominate discussion
DestinationsLife has taken me to Saudi Arabia a lot this year. Together with my fellow Hotelier columnist, Martin Kubler, I was a judge on the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities’ third annual Saudi Excellence in Tourism Awards, which gave us a unique perspective on this archetypically introverted country. Outsiders could be pardoned for asking: [...]
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Dubai hotel chain sees growth in mid-market properties, not seven-star gems
DestinationsDubai retail giant Landmark Group will open more than ten new hotels under its mid-market Citymax brand over the next four to five years. Landmark, owned by billionaire Mickey Jagtiani, currently operates a trio of three-star properties in Dubai and Sharjah. According to the CEO of Landmark’s hospitality division, the new hotels will be across [...]
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What it’s like to run a travel agency specializing in visits to Iraq
DestinationsMichigan travel agency owner Ihab Zaki just returned from taking a group of American tourists on vacation to Iraq. Yep. Iraq. And he plans to offer two more trips there in November and next March. Zaki, owner of Spiekermann Travel in Eastpointe, specializes in unusual trips to the Middle East and North Africa. Last year, [...]
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Dubai’s Atlantis hotel is in the market for loan to refinance its debt
DestinationsAtlantis the Palm, the hotel owned by Dubai World Corp. unit Istithmar World PJSC, is seeking an $850 million loan to refinance debt due in 2017, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The resort, which spent $20 million on its launch party in 2008, has hired Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Barclays [...]
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U.S. airlines trade group blasts customs agency on Abu Dhabi Airport program
TransportArlines for America, the U.S. airline trade group, lashed out at the way U.S. Customs and Border Protection allocates resources considering its goal of speeding the clearance of 90 million passengers who arrive on international flights annually. In the A4A’s crosshairs is the recent CBP agreement with Abu Dhabi Airport to establish a preclearance facility [...]
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Egypt’s economy in a tailspin as tourism & investment dries up
DestinationsEgypt is suffering its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a former finance minister of the country and one of its leading economists have warned. In terms of its devastating effect on Egypt’s poorest, the country’s current economic predicament is at its most dire since the 1930s, Galal Amin, professor of economics at the [...]
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Viceroy Hotels takes first step into Dubai with management of $1 billion resort
DestinationsSKAI Holdings – the Dubai-based, family-owned real estate investment company – yesterday announced plans for a US $1 billion hotel with refurbished residences, which will be operated by Viceroy Hotels and Resorts marking the company’s first venture into Dubai; its second in the UAE alongside sister-property Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi. The company says construction on [...]
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Dubai’s latest flashy hotel opening looks to Hollywood for star power
DestinationsParamount Hotels & Resorts CEO Thomas van Vliet says merging Hollywood and hotels is rather like making a movie, and reveals the concept and cast behind the operator’s first big release, the US $1 billion Damac Towers by Paramount in Dubai. Like a film production, the concept behind Paramount Hotels & Resorts is the result [...]
