Articles tagged “abu dhabi”

November: The U.S. chose a new president and vaccine manufacturers showed promising test results, but Europe saw coronavirus cases rising and the Singapore-Hong Kong bubble burst before it even took off. Out of it all came some surprising frontrunners.

Many people remain stranded far from home because they can't get transit flights onward to their final destinations. So it's good news for many workers and families that Emirates and Etihad are restarting transit flights through hub airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

New tech can screen passengers for elevated heart rates, respiratory rates, and temperatures. The kiosks sound minimal enough. But their accuracy and speed still need to be proven under busy airport conditions.

Wizz Air's announcement of a move into Abu Dhabi was certainly eye-catching, but we maybe shouldn't expect anything similar elsewhere. Rather, the airline seems to be happy just moving into those markets like Armenia, Georgia, and Israel that had previously been underserved.

As event planners transition to experience designers, destination selection will be an asset to delivering better meetings and events in 2020. Innovation, collaboration, and sustainability are key trends; a forward-thinking destination will be an important partner for delivering on growing attendee expectations.

Midsize cities are smart to focus on transformative placemaking projects that will not only allow them to bridge together different economic strata and cultural communities, but become in-demand destinations for travel, events, meetings, and conferences.

Creating a hospitality experience at scale in the middle of one of the world's largest deserts is quite the challenge. But from the isolation springs problem-solving, tight and cohesive teams, and having to make do and get creative.

Abu Dhabi has a long way to go to become a destination and not just a stopover. Here are some ideas.

Abu Dhabi is preparing for dramatic growth ahead of demand by modernizing IT systems and introducing more automation to the passenger process. This is a general trend at major international hubs, which serve as convenient transfer terminals for extra long-haul flights, and want to have passengers spending more time shopping or dining and less time standing in line.

While there's significant interest among U.S. associations to organize conventions in the Arabian Middle East, only one third have done so due to a young regional industry in the Gulf still learning how to engage Western convention planners.