Articles tagged “middle east”

Expanding in a pandemic is a bold move unto itself. But Dubai-based Leva Hotels' plans to operate hotels in the U.S. are doubly courageous — and its success or failure will be closely watched back in the Middle East.

Tucked away in the lively city of Jenin in the West Bank, the Jenin Creative Cultural Center prides itself on offering the perfect blend of local art and culture to welcome visitors. But, being at the heart of the never-ending Middle East peace process, the center has faced difficulties in changing perceptions to attract tourists in a region rife with unrest.

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.

Middle Eastern travelers spend a lot of money on outbound trips. It’s time the travel industry started paying attention to this region.

Outbound travel from the Middle East hasn’t garnered the attention of some other outbound markets, but given the high travel expenditure and growth of the region, we think this is one that’s worth paying attention to.

Is visiting a country an implicit endorsement of its leadership? Or can intrepid travelers frame it simply as a gesture of connection with its people? The situation in Syria raises these questions and more.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is opening its borders and taking many steps to grow its tourism industry. This report will provide an inside look at the current trends and potential of domestic, inbound, and outbound travel in the Kingdom.

Third-party management is a relative unknown in the Middle East’s hospitality landscape. The challenge that white-label companies face is convincing owners and operators to relinquish control.

Online travel in the Middle East is not an opportunity to be scoffed at, and smaller online travel outfits and travel search engines are flexing their muscles against established portals like Booking.com and TripAdvisor to capture the increasingly digital traveler.

In the effort to attract high-spending tourists, states often look overseas. That's a good idea — international visitors typically spend more than domestic travelers. But certain international markets present a more complicated consumer landscape than others. That's what Visit California has discovered as it starts wooing more travelers from the Middle East.