(May 5, 18:10) Just one last comment from Emirates before we wrap up for day 2. Emirates’ president Sir Tim Clark, who previously said he would resign if the report claiming the airline had received billions in subsidies from the Dubai government proved accurate, upped the stakes and invited the heads of the three US carriers making the accusations to follow suit if they are disproved.
“If you are wrong, and we show you to be wrong … will you resign? What will do when this rebuttal comes back at you and shows the political entities that you’ve managed to orchestrate to come behind you that you are fundamentally wrong?”
(May 5, 17:55) HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline & Group, has just spoken to Sarah Townsend inside the rotating Emirates globe stand. Here’s a roundup of the highlights:
– On claims by US carriers that Emirates received billions in subsidies from the Dubai government, Sheikh Ahmed said it was “only fair” the airline be given two years to respond, pointing out the US carriers took the same time to compile their white paper.
– On the open skies agreement with the US and threats it may be reviewed he said the UAE “always saw it as something that had the potential to limit our growth,” even when it was first signed back in the 1990s.
– On Dubai’s bid to attract 20 million visitors by 2020, he was confident there was “absolutely no doubt” the emirate will meet its target by the end of the decade.
– A Boeing executive this week told ATM audiences he believed more and more airlines in the Middle East will launch under a low-cost business model. Sheikh Ahmed did not rule out a new low cost airline entering the Gulf market. Does this mean more competition for Emirate’s budget sister airline flydubai?
Tune in tomorrow more more detailed analysis of Sheikh Ahmed’s insights at ATM.
(May 5, 17:40) Passenger traffic through Dubai International Airport, which passed London’s Heathrow last year as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger business, rose 7.2 percent from a year ago in March, it was announced on Tuesday at ATM. Passengers totalled 6.74 million, boosted by new flights added by Dubai carriers Emirates and flydubai.
(May 5, 17:25) Ever wondered where the best airport hotels in the world are located? Well, wonder no more as the winners of the World Airport Awards have been unveiled. The awards are based on 13.02 million customer nominations across 112 nationalities of air travellers, and included 550 airports worldwide. The bad news is just one airport hotel from the Gulf is included. Click here for the full results.
(May 5, 17:10) Dubai’s Jumeirah Group, the luxury hotel operator behind the iconic Burj al Arab, saw revenues rise by over 5.2 percent last year, as a result of average occupancy rates of 80.1 percent and an average revenue per available room (RevPAR) of AED1,708 ($465). During the first four months of 2015, it also reported that occupancy levels reached 84.6 percent and the RevPAR came in at AED2,018. It’s biggest source market remained the UK, followed by Russia.
(May 5, 15:50) Sarah Townsend has just spoken to Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, who has predicted a growth in intra-Arab traffic, with travellers flying within Gulf states for just one day for shopping or business meetings, which he says was a big growth driver for the Dubai low cost carrier in the last year.
(May 5, 15:40) Yesterday we reported how Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor was spotted in conversation with Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International. Well, all has just been revealed: Al Habtoor Group has signed a deal with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for the group’s hotel in Budapest. The 192 room hotel overlooks Erzsébet Square and reportedly has great views of St. Stephen’s Basilica. The property will undergo renovation work and will reopen as a Ritz-Carlton property in early 2016.
(May 5, 14:55) The results of the latest Visa Global Travel Intentions Study 2015 were released today and here are the highlights:
– UAE is also among top future travel destinations for travellers globally,
– Big spenders: While the global average for those surveyed was a travel budget of $2,281 per trip, those from the MENA region spend substantially more. Of the 25 countries surveyed, travellers from Saudi Arabia said they spend the most (on average $5,866 per trip), followed by Egyptians ($4,917), Chinese $4,780), while those in the UAE spend an average of $2,518 per trip.
– Solo travel: The survey also found that up to 24 percent of global travellers are now opting to travel alone, compared to 15 percent in 2013. While about three out of 10 travellers (31 percent) from the UAE and Egypt are likely to travel solo, Moroccans are the biggest solo travellers from the region at 36 percent.
(May 5, 14:25) Chief Reporter Sarah Townsend has been networking with the tourism bosses at ATM and brings us some interesting statistics. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) revealed some statistics which showed that tourism receipts in the Middle East last year rose 5.7 percent to $49 billion, while he observed that the first quarter of this year was so far looking positive.
Also, new figures from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing revealed that the number of Russian tourists visiting the emirate last year slumped 23.5 percent as the economic situation in Russia deteriorated.
(May 5, 14:00) Ferrari World Abu Dhabi has announced its expansion plans at ATM: Already home to the world’s fastest roller coaster, it will soon be home to the world’s steepest steel rollercoaster featuring a starting hill inclined by 51 degrees and the world’s tallest loop of 52 metres.
(May 5, 13:05) Breaking News: Dubai’s Emirates Airline is set to announce its annual results on Thursday but its president Sir Tim Clark told an audience at ATM it has been the airline’s “second best year yet,” although he said Asia has been “a bit of a fight.”
In relation to the subsidies debacle with US carriers, which claim his airline has gotten billions in subsidies from the Dubai government, he had some strong words, saying his team will “need more time” to respond to allegations, but once it has studied the white paper he “will deal a sledgehammer” to the accusations.
(May 5, 12:15) Breaking News: Dubai is unlikely to get US pre-clearance facilities for at least 10 years, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths has confirmed. He said it was very difficult to segregate pre-clearance passengers at Dubai International but it would be part of plans for phase two of DWC. “Unfortunately, it is unlikely before DWC phase 2, which is another 10 years away,” Griffiths said.
Almost a year ago, the US ambassador to the UAE has told Arabian Business the facility was set to be extended to include Dubai within 12 months. Speaking at an event in Los Angeles to celebrate the launch of direct flights from Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways, Michael Corbin said: “We are looking at Dubai as an option for pre-clearance. It has only been operational for a few months in Abu Dhabi but has been a huge success and we want to expand it in the UAE. President Obama has made it his priority to encourage more visitors to the US and this is a big part of that.”
Already available in Abu Dhabi Airport, the facility allows all passengers travelling to the US to clear US immigration in the UAE capital before boarding their flights.
(May 5, 12:00) Breaking News: Dubai World Central, the emirate’s second airport, is to undergo “major extension” to expand its capacity from 5 million to 26 million by 2018. “The idea of this is to be able to facilitate the growth of DWC and start migrating some of our airlines to DWC,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said at a press conference at ATM (below). He said despite having only one runway it can handle, stress free, any airline schedule.
“This is just the prelude of what’s going to be coming to DWC,” Griffiths said.
(May 5, 11:50) Minor Hotel Group announced it will enter Oman with two Anantara properties in Salalah and Muscat. The Thai operator will make its Oman debut with an Anantara property in Jabal Akhdar by the end of 2015 and a second will follow in Salalah in the second quarter of 2016. Last month, MHG announced a partnership with Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company has partnered to build two hotels in Africa – one in Tangier and one in Tunisia. The company also made its Qatar debut earlier this year with Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara.
(May 5, 11:25) Not unsurprisingly, the news that Qatar Airways is to expand its flights to the US has not gone down well with the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, which have accused the Doha airline, along with Emirates and Etihad, of receiving $42 billion in subsidies from their home governments. Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, issued the following statement: “This is yet another example of the Gulf carriers racing against the clock to dump more subsidized capacity on the US and diverting passengers away from the US airlines. The harm from these actions is real and immediate and it is why we need the US government to quickly freeze additional flights by the Gulf carriers and to request consultations with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.”
(May 5, 11:00) The Seychelles is making a big push at ATM this year and both the Minister of Tourism & Culture, Alain St. Ange, and the CEO of the Tourism Board, Sherin Naiken, over in Dubai courting regional media and travel bosses. They have announced that the UAE is now the Gulf’s leading feeder market to the Seychelles, and the GCC is the fifth important market globally. Figures revealed 68 percent year-on-year growth of UAE visitors during Q1 2015, with visitors from the emirates now accounting for 75 percent of the total number of GCC travellers to the Seychelles.
However, what we do find unusual is the announcement that Seychelles Tourism Board has signed global marketing agreement with Dubai carrier Emirates Airline which is “aimed at using the world’s largest international passenger airline’s growing network to further boost visitation.” Especially when the country’s flag carrier, Air Seychelles, is 40 percent owned by that other big UAE global airline, Etihad Airways? Anyway, speaking of Air Seychelles, it announced it has struck a codesharing agreement with India’s Jet Airways, which is no great shock as the Indian carrier is also part of the Etihad family, with the Abu Dhabi carrier buying a 24 percent in 2013.
Update (18:01): We’ve received this statement from Sherin Naiken, CEO of Seychelles Tourism Board: “Over 50 percent of travellers to the Seychelles are coming on Emirates’ planes. However we also have an MOU [memorandum of understanding] in place with Air Seychelles – Etihad, which we have a very good working relationship with. We value all our airline partners as we rely on them for our inbound travellers. We always keep an open door and welcome new partnerships.”
(May 5, 10:50) If you love Zuma, you’re likely to be enticed by the yet-to-open Viceroy Hotel on the Palm’s signature restaurant. Regional president Anton Bawab will not confirm the brand just yet but says it was voted the best Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong – and it is bursting with “energy”. “What Zuma is for Japanese food, it is for Chinese food,” Bawab told us. “It’s got great energy. It’s not Chinese food for expats, it’s Chinese food for Chinese; it’s awesome.” The hotel is due to open Q3, 2016.
It is not really a surprise that luxury tour operator Elegant Resorts, originally from the UK but bought by Saudi Arabia’s Al Tayyar Travel Group from Thomas Cook for $21.6 million in February 2014, will be launching in the GCC this month and opening an office in Dubai in October. With so much wealth here, Elegant Resorts CEO Michelle Sephton told us no one is organising custom, luxury holidays from booking flights all the way to making a restaurant booking. “There’s luxury products, Emirates and hotel chains, but no one is actually putting the packages together the way we do it,” Sephton claims. She says many of the firm’s clients have been with them for more than 20 years and they have a “family-like” relationship. The GCC is going to be a “key component” of Elegant Resorts’ growth strategy over the next three years.
(May 5, 10:40) The head of Dubai’s tourism department has forecast “high single digit” growth in tourism over the next 12 months, and while he said Dubai was “on track” to meet its target of 20 million visitors a year by 2020 it faces some challenges. “We are on track but I wouldn’t say there’s no pressure,” Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) said. “Every year we face new challenges and it is about targeted marketing and continuing to raise awareness of Dubai as a global tourism destination. We want more word of mouth recommendations. But look, until last year there was no Boxpark, no The Walk at JBR, plenty of other things weren’t here – Dubai is not stopping. I am confident demand will grow and we will meet our goals.”
(May 5, 10:30) As we wait for news to stat flowing in, here’s a quirky piece of travel research carried out in the US. A survey of 110,000 Americans to find “The World’s Sexiest Nationalities,” carried out by a travel website called MissTravel, revealed the following results.
The sexiest nationalities for women (based on a survey of 44,873 American men):
Armenian 5,971
Barbadian/Bajan 4,036
American 3,402
Colombian 2,741
English 2,006
Australian 1,040
Brazilian 992
Filipina 651
Bulgarian 429
Lebanese 323
While a survey of 66,309 American women found the best looking nationalities for men were:
Irish 7,862
Australian 6,486
Pakistani 4,761
American 2,909
English 2,133
Scottish 1,554
Italian 905
Nigerian 721
Danish 670
Spanish 598
(May 5, 10:00) As we get under way for day two of the ATM marathon, the Arabian Business team is already on site to bring you the latest news, gossip and big interviews.
Check out all the news from the first day by clicking here. Our favourite highlights was news that Palm Jumeirah developer Nakheel is to build Dubai’s first all-inclusive beach resort, while the general manager at Four Seasons Doha told us around 2,000 people have already dined at the world’s largest Nobu restaurant at the hotel since it opened on April 17. Also, the award for best stand goes to Dubai Parks and Resorts, which was one of the largest at ATM and was packed with characters from it’s theme park partners – DreamWorks Animation, Lionsgate, and Sony Picture Studios.
Up today we have press conferences from Dubai Airports, Milliennium & Copthorne Hotels, Zagreb Tourist Board, Auris Group, Amadeus, Flynas, the Maldives, India Tourism and the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority. However, we are especially excited about the one-to-one interview with Emirates President, Sir Tim Clark, just before lunch.
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