Articles tagged “uae”

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.

Dubai has faced a slump in recent years as it struggled amid a global economic slowdown, an oversupplied real estate sector, and slow tourism activity due to regional unrest. But its ability to build a reputation for itself as a medical tourism hub in the Middle East has provided some much-needed support for its travel sector.

Holidayme has scooped up $16 million in new investment from Gobi. But can the UAE eagle soar in Asian skies where Tripfez, Gobi’s first investment in the Muslim travel space, had barely tapped the potential of the market?

Dubai might not offer meetings and convention attendees the culture of Tokyo or the cuisine of New York, but its location, growing room and space inventory, and desire to bring in more events will drive its growth beyond the 2020 Expo.

The #MyDubai initiative was a first step towards telling a more human story about the city, but Dubai's challenge moving forward will be making the city relevant outside of its iconic buildings so that visitors will travel far to visit and have reason to come back after the bucket list items are ticked.

Luxury brands across all sectors are entering the Middle East to tap into the local and visitor base of high-spending customers. Their online presence is as, if not more, important than their on-the-ground services.

Wyndham plays on the middle and low end of the market, so the CEO has a reason for saying what he did. But he is right, opulence for opulence sake is Dubai's specialty.

These airline industry groups are as opaque about their opposition to the UAE pre-clearance facility as they are about their financial backers, and we have the unfortunate feeling that its based more on prejudice than funding concerns.

RAK is the slower, quiet cousin emirate to the flashiness of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and is rapidly rising in tourism ranks.

The rulers of these tiny nation-states have realized the geopolitical advantage of being located where they are, and used the airlines as a proxy to extend their power.