17 minute read
UPFRONT
DUBAI COULD WELCOME
BACK international visitors as early as July or as late as September, according to the emirate’s tourism chief.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Helal Almarri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTM), said the destination and its partners were preparing for overseas travellers to return and would be ready for “any eventuality”, but acknowledged the tourism bounce back would be gradual and depend on multiple global factors.
“Tourism is on pause and I see that continuing for at least a couple of months, but after that, I see a staggered and tentative approach across the world,” he said. Essential travel would be the first to resume, followed by “postCOVID-19” leisure travel when consumer confidence returned.
“What we do know is that more people than ever are looking online to plan their next holiday and they are looking at Dubai,” said Almarri.
Travel trends already witnessed pre-COVID-19 would dominate, he continued. They included reduced group travel, replaced by more individual independent travellers, while late bookings would become the norm. Travellers will seek health and hygiene assurances first and foremost, Almarri added. Dubai mulls July tourism reboot
DUBAI HAS INTRODUCED stringent hotel health and safety guidelines as the emirate starts to ease lockdown restrictions for UAE residents.
Only guests with booking confirmation or those who have pre-paid online are permitted into hotel lobbies and they must complete mandatory health declarations and wear face masks at all times, the Dubai Government announced last month. Social distancing procedures are robust too, with one guest permitted every four square metres.
The new guidelines also make it compulsory for hotel entrances to implement contactless screening for all guests and employees, with security staff tasked with ensuring compliance. Online check-in and check-out procedures are encouraged and there must be a minimum of 24 hours before a room is re-occupied by a new guest. This time period is extended to 72 hours if the room has been occupied by a suspected COVID-19 case or frontline workers such as nurses.
Hotel restaurants must not surpass 30 per cent occupancy and maintain a minimum distance of two metres between tables. The government also advises that hotels encourage in-room dining and take-away services. Private hotel beaches are now open to in-house guests, all of whom must undergo temperature checks and adhere to social distancing rules. However, at the time of press, hotel bars, waterparks, theme parks, pools, sauna and steam rooms, spas, nightclubs and prayer rooms were told to remain closed.
DUBAI ISSUES NEW HOTEL HEALTH AND SAFETY RULES
GLOBAL AVIATION BODY, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), supports passengers wearing face masks on board aircraft as a “critical part” of biosecurity measures when commercial air travel resumes, but does not support mandating social distancing that would leave middle seats empty. “Evidence suggests the risk of transmission on board aircraft is low,” it said in a statement. “Maskwearing by passengers and crew will reduce the already low risk, while avoiding the dramatic cost increases to air travel that onboard social distancing measures would bring.” F A C E M A S K S O V E R S O C I A L D I S T A N C I N G : AVIATION BODY
TIME HOTELS has launched two new promotional packages to make it more convenient and wallet-friendly to stay at its UAE properties. Due to current uncertainties surrounding the lifting of travel bans, the local hotel company has rolled out a fully flexible booking option. It means guests can book now and pay for their stay when they check-in; cancel or modify their booking free of charge; and enjoy a 4pm check-out on their final day. TIME is also launching a package to give guests a third night free when booking a two-night stay, with complimentary breakfast and late check-out included. Both promotions include access to all hotel leisure facilities, complimentary WiFi and indoor parking and are valid until September 30, 2020, subject to availability. Flexible booking with TIME Hotels
UAE flights get slowly back on track
THE UAE’S TWO MAIN CARRIERS, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways, are slowly and cautiously resuming air services to select international destinations.
Dubai-based Emirates started operating scheduled ight services to nine destinations on May 21: London Heathrow Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne. Travellers are only accepted on these ights if they comply with the eligibility and entry criteria requirements of their destination countries. is includes an approval from the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) for UAE residents who wish to return to Dubai.
“We are working closely with the authorities to plan the resumption of operations to additional destinations,” said Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating O cer, Emirates Airline.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad announced a schedule of “special ights” to select destinations from May 19 to June 15 and at time of press, CEO Tony Douglas told media the airline was targeting mid-July for a “meaningful” return to regular passenger ights if government approvals allowed.
“Etihad continues to follow UAE and international government, regulatory and health authority directives, and is playing its part in helping to limit the spread of COVID-19,” said an Etihad Airways statement.
Both airlines have announced stringent health and safety measures (see pages 18-27).
Emirates has introduced complimentary hygiene kits to be given to every passenger upon check in at Dubai International Airport and on all flights to Dubai. These kits include masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitiser.
E TIHAD IN AIRPOR T HE ALTH TECH FIRST ETIHAD AIRWAYS IS the first airline globally to trial new health-check technology at airports. The UAE carrier has teamed up with Australian firm Elenium Automation to introduce self-service devices that help identify travellers with medical conditions, potentially including the early stages of COVID-19.
The technology monitors the temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate of any person using an airport touchpoint such as a check-in or information kiosk, a bag drop facility, a security point or immigration gate.
The Elenium system automatically suspends the self-service check-in or bag drop process if a passenger’s vital signs indicate potential symptoms of illness. It then diverts to a teleconference or alert qualified sta on site, who can make further assessments and manage travellers as appropriate. In partnership with Amazon Web Services, Elenium has also developed ‘hands free’ technologies that enable touchless use of self-service devices through voice recognition, further minimising the potential of any viral or bacterial transmission.
Etihad is currently trialling the monitoring technology at its Abu Dhabi hub.
AIRLINE NEWS
WIZZ AIR LAUNCH
European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has revealed the five new routes it will launch from Abu Dhabi this year. The budget airline will connect the UAE capital with Budapest in Hungary and Bucharest in Romania from this month (June) and with Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Katowice (Poland) and Sofia (Bulgaria) from September.
EURO MASK PUSH
Member airlines of Germany’s Lufthansa Group - Lufthansa,
Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airline - now insist that all passengers wear a face mask before, during and after their flight, applicable until at least August 31. Similarly, Dutch airline
KLM has made masks mandatory when boarding and on board. Lufthansa will resume DubaiFrankfurt operations in early June, starting with a threetimes-weekly service.
RYANAIR RETURNS
Europe’s Ryanair will return to 40 per cent of its planned flight schedule from July 1. All passengers must wear face masks on board.
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DWTC GIVES EVENTS SECTOR A HELPING HAND
DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE
AUTHORITY (DWTCA) has unveiled a series of impactful measures to aid the sustainability of key business sectors in its ecosystem, including Meetings, Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE).
The DWTCA COVID-19 Extraordinary Measures Programme provides critical remedial aid to tackle immediate challenges faced by clients and vendors and also applies to the authority’s retail tenants, free zone businesses, SMEs and start-ups.
MICE business measures include: ▶ For organisers: zero cancellation and/or rescheduling fees; no penalties for late payments; the ability to carry forward pre-paid fees and credit to 2021; and ▶ For exhibitors (DWTC-owned exhibitions): full refund on cancelled events and where a new schedule is not feasible for participants.
Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), which won the coveted ‘Middle East’s Leading Exhibition & Convention Centre’ title at the 2019 World Travel Awards, welcomed a record 3.43 million delegates in 2018, up four per cent year on year.
The trade hub and events venue hosted 54, 717 exhibiting companies from 162 countries and attracted 1.04 million business travellers from overseas to Dubai, representing 41 per cent of total participant volumes.
EXPO 2020 DUBAI POSTPONED TO 2021
EXPO 2020 DUBAI, the first World Expo to be staged in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee is now gearing up to stage the event from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, after a two-thirds majority of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) Member States voted in favour of postponing it by one year. The delay will enable all participants to “safely navigate the impact of COVID-19’ and allow the World Expo to “focus on a collective desire for new thinking to identify solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our time”, according to a committee statement.
Due to be staged from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021, and billed as ‘The world’s greatest show’, Expo 2020 Dubai was expected to attract around 25 million visitors from at least 180 nations and generate an economic impact of around US$24 billion. Despite the new dates, the event will still be called Expo 2020 Dubai.
Hotel rooms for hire
IF YOU ARE FED UP
WITH WFH (working from home) and fancy a change of scenery, why not hire a hotel room to use as your private office for the day? Rove Hotels and Letswork, which operates a network of workspaces across the UAE, have expanded their co-working partnership to offer trendy guest rooms as day-time offices at two Dubai properties – Rove Dubai Marina and Rove Healthcare City. An office room day pass, which can be purchased through the Letswork app, costs just AED 79 (US$21) providing guests with access from 6am to 10pm. Guests must check-in via the app and present their ID at the hotel front desk for verification and their room key. Unlimited tea, water and coffee and in-room amenities including high-speed Wi-Fi and a comfy sofa are all part of the package. There’s also a meal ‘add on’ option priced AED 35 ($9.40) for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
A SURPRISING PREFERENCE TO TRAVEL MEMBERS OF THE Preferred Hotels & Resorts loyalty programme, ‘I Prefer Hotel Rewards’, have indicated an overwhelming desire to travel as soon as restrictions are lifted or eased. Of the 4,000 ‘I Prefer’ members who took part in the group’s future travel survey in April, more than 50 per cent said they’d book a trip in 2020 when it is possible to do so.
Reuniting with loved ones was a priority, with 75 per cent of respondents planning to travel with family and friends having spent so much time apart. More than 80 per cent said they would travel by air and 40 per cent wanted to visit another continent. Florida, Italy, the UK, France, Spain, Japan and Mexico were among the top 10 destinations members intended to visit.
DNATA HAS EXPANDED ITS car rental portfolio by adding Dollar Rent a Car and Thrifty Car Rental to its offering. The travel management company now sells the products and services of Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty to cater to the needs of corporate and individual customers in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. More car rentals with dnata
THE UAE IS among the top 10 countries in the world for coronavirus treatment, according to a global ranking. The survey, conducted by the Deep Knowledge Group, a consortium of technology companies and non-profit organisations, considered 200 data points for each country to compile the list, with the UAE in 10th place. The ‘COVID-19 Treatment Efficiency Ranking Framework’ assesses countries based on the sophistication and effectiveness of efforts to monitor the spread of the virus and to treat patients, as well as the capacity to develop, test, validate and deploy experimental vaccines and treatments. UAE ranked in COVID-19 treatment top 10
Donate to refugees with Etihad Guest
ETIHAD GUEST, the loyalty programme of Abu Dhabi carrier, Etihad Airways, is encouraging members to donate their Etihad Guest Miles to support refugee relief efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. An initiative launched in collaboration with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) globally and with Emirates Red Crescent in the Middle East, Etihad Guest aims to support basic infection control and adequate containment measures for refugees and other forcibly displaced people. Etihad Aviation Group has called on the airline’s frequent flyers to demonstrate solidarity to support those in need and be “generous with their hard-earned miles”.
Donated miles will be used to purchase essential healthcare equipment including ventilators, gloves, masks and soap. Members who have donated will receive information detailing the monetary value of how their miles have helped those impacted or at risk by the pandemic.
NEW ALL VISA ON THE CARDS FOR ACCOR’S LOYAL MEMBERS MEMBERS OF ALL – Accor Live Limitless will soon have access to new payment experiences, thanks to a tie-up between the hotel group’s loyalty programme and Visa. Accor is collaborating with Visa partner financial institutions and banks in key markets, including the Middle East, to issue the new ALL Visa card. Members who apply for the card will be able to use it for everyday purchases where Visa is accepted. It will offer tailored rewards based on customer preferences and the ability to earn more loyalty points when staying at an Accor hotel.
DONATE WITH ALL ALL – Accor Live Limitless members can now donate their rewards points to several charity programmes, including an emergency COVID-19 fund. Accor has partnered with the Intitut Pasteur, which is conducting essential coronavirus research and has pledged to match all guest point donations.
emirateswoman.com
THAILAND’S TOURISM AGENCY has taken swift action to restore visitor confidence by introducing an ‘Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration: SHA’ certification.
Working with the public and private sectors, the programme is part of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT’s) efforts mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and accelerate recovery in the travel and tourism sector.
TAT is already working on SHA criteria, preparing the application and selection process and planning marketing and publicity for SHAcertified tourism establishments and services.
Thailand welcomes more than 39 million visitors annually, including 500,000-plus tourists from the Middle East and North Africa.
The SHA certification aims to reassure all visitors that Thailand is taking every necessary precaution to protect them, with certified tourism establishments and services following strict COVID-19 control guidelines set out by the country’s Ministry of Health’s Department of Disease Control. Thailand to launch health and safety certification
HOMES FROM HOME IN KSA
D A M A C A R J A A N BY ROTANA ROTANA HAS OPENED a luxury aparthotel property in the heart of Riyadh. Described as an elegant home-away-from-home, DAMAC Arjaan by Rotana features 448 top-notch fully furnished rooms, suites and penthouses, plus state-of-the-art meetings and leisure facilities including a wellness and fitness centre, separate temperature-controlled swimming pools for men and women and a wellequipped gymnasium. Rotana’s first Arjaan property in Riyadh is located on King Fahd Road, opposite Kingdom Tower in the city’s Al-Olaya district and housed in a striking twin-tower building that’s set to become another capital landmark. DAMAC Arjaan by Rotana, Riyadh
ASCOTT RAFAL OLAYA RIYADH IDEAL FOR LONG STAYS, family leisure trips or staycations, Ascott Rafal Olaya Riyadh presents luxuriously furnished studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom hotel apartments, complemented with comprehensive facilities including the city’s first outdoor swimming pool dedicated to women on the 27th floor, a health and leisure centre and a conference room. The property is strategically located in the King Abdullah Financial District and just a 20-minute drive from King Khalid International Airport.
ASCOTT CORNICHE AL KHOBAR THE ASCOTT LIMITED has also opened the doors to a new property in Al Khobar, offering short- and long-stay visitors elegant studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom hotel apartments with breathtaking views of the corniche. Described as an “exquisite” lifestyle destination for business and leisure travellers, the waterfront property is located on Prince Turki Street, close to restaurants, malls, Al Khobar’s main business district and a 10-minute drive from the Al Khobar-Bahrain causeway. Early bookers can take advantage of a 25 per cent discount throughout the year at the-ascott.com/offers.
IF YOU ARE A FAN of Mandarin Oriental and travel frequently to Turkey, you’ll be delighted to hear the luxury brand will open a second property in Istanbul in 2022. The new development, featuring a hotel and branded residences across three standalone towers, will be located in the exclusive Etiler residential area, close to the city’s central business district. One of the towers will house Mandarin Oriental Etiler, Istanbul, with 158 guestrooms and suites and 16 serviced apartments. The remaining two towers will house 251 luxurious Residences at Mandarin Oriental, pitched as some of the most exclusive homes in the city and offering extensive private gardens and impressive city views. Facilities will include three restaurants and bars; a selection of adaptable meeting spaces with outdoor areas and terraces, ideal for hosting business and leisure events; a spa and fitness centre; and an indoor and outdoor swimming pool. SECOND MO FOR ISTANBUL
THE HOME OF STORYTELLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST
WALT DISNEY
