Dubai world's fastest growing airport in 2007
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Dubai International was the world's fastest growing airport in 2007 in terms of international passenger throughput, handling 34.34 million travelers in a record growth of 19.31 per cent, its operator said.

Passenger throughput at Dubai International Airport is expected to reach 40 million in 2008. The record growth in 2007 over the previous year is likely to propel Dubai International higher on Airports Council International's list of the world's busiest airports in terms of international passengers.

In 2006, it was ranked 10th on the list with a passenger throughput of 28.78 million, a statement from the airport's operator said.

Mr Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and Chairman of Dubai Airports, said "Dubai International's growth is a reflection of Dubai's robust economy, and its rising popularity as an international commercia l and tourism hub."

The high growth rate in passenger throughput registered in 2007 means that for the sixth consecutive year, Dubai International has maintained an average growth rate of well over 15 per cent.

Connected to over 205 destinations across six continents through 120 airlines, Dubai International accounts for over 27 per cent of all passenger and aircraft movement in the Middle East and Africa region.

The airport will open its new Terminal and an associated facility in the middle of 2008 and another A380 specific facility in 2009, tripling its total capacity.

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South Africa, Turkey and Dubai set to become new golf holiday hot spots
Monday, November 12, 2007

South Africa, Turkey and Dubai could overtake Spain and Portugal as the most popular destinations for golf holidays, according to two exclusive surveys conducted by KPMG Golf Advisory Services. More than 70 tour operators and 50 golf course architects in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were interviewed for the surveys. When asked which countries or regions had the most potential to become significant golf tourism destinations, both the tour operators and golf course architects tipped South Africa, Turkey and Dubai for future growth. And while golf tour operators anticipated continued growth in the established markets of Spain and Portugal, they were also seen to be the most threatened by the emerging golf destinations.

Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG's specialist Golf Advisory Services Team for the EMA region, said: "The golf industry as a whole is likely to benefit from the continued growth of the broader travel and tourism industry. However, the traditional golf markets of Europe and North America can expect increasing competition from the emerging golf destinations that offer high quality golfing experiences at affordable prices."

The Caribbean and Latin America were also seen as emerging golf destinations. Ireland, Scotland and England were viewed as the most stable markets over the next 10-15 years.

Overall, 33 per cent of golf tour operators said they expected spectacular growth in the golf travel market over the next 15 years, while 56 per cent believed there would be steady growth. Eleven per cent expected the market to stagnate.

"The results confirm the changing face of the travel and tourism industry, boosted by more frequent travel, lower air fares, greater accessibility of new destinations, plus increases in family travel and sports and activity based holidays," concluded Andrea Sartori.

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Emirates Airline may order more A380s in future to meet growing capacity
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Dubai's Emirates Airline is likely to place more orders in the future for the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, to meet its expansion plans.

Emirates Airline and Group is Airbus' biggest customer for the massive jet, with 55 A380 planes already on order. It is expected to start taking delivery of the plane in August 2008.

"Fifty-five, so far. There could be more later," Executive Vice Chairman Maurice Flanagan told the Associated Press on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Singapore. He declined to give details.

Flanagan said the airline is expanding its capacity by more than 20 percent a year, and that its rapid growth is likely to continue in tandem with Dubai's increased presence as an aviation hub.

"We see that going on and on in the future," Flanagan said. "It's linked to what's happening in Dubai and the power of Dubai as a global aviation hub whereby we can connect any two points in the world now with one stop only in Dubai."

Flanagan said the 55 planes currently on order would take the airline into 2030. Future orders would depend on any restrictions posed by the handling capacity of the airport in Dubai, which claims to be the world's fastest growing city.

About 29 million passengers passed through Dubai International Airport last year, an increase of 16.2 percent from the previous year.

To cope with the growth, the airport is undergoing a US$4.5 billion (€ 3.1 billion) expansion that will allow it to accommodate 70 million passengers a year by 2009, according to the airport's Web site.

Flanagan said Emirates expected to have 599 "big," or wide-bodied, aircraft in its fleet by 2019 if there were no capacity constraints at the airport. The carrier's fleet comprises only wide-bodied aircraft, and it currently has 110 of them, he said.

Flanagan also said Emirates could afford to fund its own expansion and had no plans for an initial public offering. Reports earlier this week said the airline is seeking a US$20 billion-US$30 billion listing.

"There is no intention for an (initial public offering)," he said. "We are cash-rich with about US$4 billion (€2.7 billion) in the kitty. We can certainly fund our expansion."

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Dubai Tourism Projects to Reach $122 Billion Dirhams by 2018
Tuesday, May 08, 2007

4th May 2007

Tourism-related projects in Dubai would touch 450 billion dirhams ($122 billion) by 2018, or more than 50 percent of the 858 billion dirhams ($231 billion) being projected for the whole of United Arab Emirate (UAE), WAM news agency reported Friday.

In a press statement Thursday, the Tourism Development Projects and Investment Market (TDIM), quoting a survey, said the total value of projects for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region would be 1.2 trillion dirhams by 2018.

The survey by Reed Exhibition was commissioned in time for the first major TDIM show to be held Dubai on January 20-22,2008.

'The move to organise TDIM in Dubai underlines Reed's commitment to conceive and stage events that support the development objectives of governments and needs of the corporate sector in the region,' said Frederic Thux, president of Reed.

'And I believe the show will play a key role in acting as a catalyst in the region's tourism development,' he added.

In a press conference at the ongoing Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Thux said TDIM 2008 would address various important issues in the tourism industry, particularly the co-operation between and among key government institutions, private project developers, and key industry players.

TDIM said UAE's tourism projects would spread over 558 million square metres of space when completed in 2018, or more than 75 percent of the 737 million square metre area being planned for the entire GCC.

Posted by Co-op Travel 9:18 AM 0 comments    

Marathon Tourism Lets you Combine Race, Vacation
Monday, April 30, 2007

29 April 2007

Running an out-of-town marathon used to be a weekend experience: fly or drive down on Friday, go to the expo on Saturday, race on Sunday morning and head home Sunday night or Monday morning.

Now, according to travel industry experts (who are mostly people at travel agencies trying to sell trip packages), marathon tourism is on the rise. People are booking vacations around their marathons and visiting exotic destinations where they combine sight-seeing and racing, rather than zipping in and out as quickly as possible.

One thing to consider is how to fit the marathon into your vacation timeline. If you put the race at the end of your visit, pre-race anxiety and diet restrictions may limit your holiday fun. If you race first and tour later, you may have to set aside a day or two for recovery.

Many tourists head for the world's biggest marathons in New York, Boston, Chicago, London and Berlin or to other big-city races like Paris and Rome.

However, here are eight different marathons in exotic and touristy locations that promote themselves as ideal places to race and visit.

Great Wall Marathon

May 19, 2007 and May 17, 2008: Held in China's Tianjin province, the Great Wall Marathon includes six kilometres of running on the wall itself, including 3,700 steps, plus a

flatter portion through the Chinese countryside. "A little tougher than a usual course," the race website says, "but no extraordinary experience is obtained ordinarily." I'm not sure whether the second half of that sentence is Confucian or just confusing, but "a little tougher" might be an understatement. Last year, only four runners broke four hours.

Easter Island Marathon

June 10: Some marathon courses make you feel like you're running in the middle of nowhere, but Easter Island is 3,700 kilometres from any major population centre, a little dot in the South Pacific. You get to run past the giant monolith statues for which the island is famous and ... well, that's it really.

Safaricon Marathon, Kenya

June 23: Had enough of Kenyan runners coming to North America and winning our races? Then go win the marathon in Kenya. The race is run on dirt roads through an African game park and wildlife conservatory. Trying for a personal-best time? Consider that lion following you as a pace bunny. Seriously, the organizers actually provide armed rangers to protect runners from pesky animals.

Niagara Falls International Marathon

Oct. 28: The only cross-border marathon in the world, the race starts in Buffalo and crosses the Peace Bridge into Fort Erie, Ont. The course then follows the Niagara River Parkway and finishes right at the Falls. Once it's over, you can begin a second marathon of tacky souvenir shopping.

Venice Marathon

Oct. 28: The pace cars aren't gondolas but you do get to run alongside and across some of the city's famous canals. The race begins 25 kilometres outside the city and finishes in the heart of the City of Water. Just before the finish, you cross the Grand Canal on a pontoon bridge built specifically for the race.

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend,

Jan. 12-13, 2008: The perfect family vacation. You get to run through all the major theme parks and then limp along in a vain attempt to keep up with your kids as they race through them the next day. They hold the half-marathon the first day, the marathon the next. Finish both and you get a special Goofy medal!

Dubai Marathon

Jan. 18, 2008: It's one of the wealthiest cities in the world and the centre for banking and commerce of the Middle East, so perhaps it's no surprise that the 2008 race is being billed as the richest marathon ever.

You may not have a shot at the $1-million U.S. purse, but you can still make it your richest marathon experience by staying in a $1,500-per-night suite at the Burj al-Arab, which markets itself as a seven-star hotel.

Antarctica Marathon

March 5, 2008: The 2008 event is already sold out and the 2009 edition is half-booked. The marathon was created by a tour company, Marathon Tours & Travel, specifically so that some of its clients could form a Seven Continents Club by running a marathon on every continent. The trip starts with a few days in Argentina, followed by a cruise down to Antarctica including lectures and wildlife excursions. "You will come face to face with icebergs, penguins, seals and whales while exploring the most pristine corner of the planet," the marketing material says.

I didn't know icebergs had faces.

Posted by Co-op Travel 12:59 PM 0 comments    

EasyGroup Set to Take its Budget Hotel Franchise into the Middle East
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

26 February 2007

As per the information available, the first of six budget hotels planned for Dubai under the easyHotel.com brand will open in Karama early next year. The development follows a master franchise agreement signed last year between with London-based easyHotel Limited and Istithmar Hotels, a subsidiary of Dubai investment firm Istithmar.

“In some markets like Dubai you start with attention to luxury,” easyGroup Chairman said Stelios Haji-Ioannou reportedly said in an interview. “But you need also levels of hotel accommodations that represent value for money and plug a gap in the market.”

easyHotels aims to open 38 properties in the next five years in the region through a franchise agreement with Istithmar Hotels, whose $3 billion in investments last year included New York’s Knickerbocker Hotel and W Hotel Union Square.

Dubai will have about four of the hotels and the others will be located in 17 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, India and Pakistan, Haji-Ioannou said.

The total project will cost $400 million.

The specific countries where easyHotel will be present are: Dubai (six), India (eight), Saudi Arabia (three), Pakistan (three), Egypt (two)Lebanon (two), and one each in Sharjah, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria. Each hotel will contain between 80 and 120 rooms.

For more information visit eyefortravel.com

Posted by Co-op Travel 11:21 AM 0 comments    

Madame Tussauds Soon in Dubai
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

29 January 2007

The Tussauds Group is set to establish presence in Dubai, Mumbai besides United States by investing $75-million to open waxworks museums in Hollywood and Washington DC.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, the group, owned by the Middle Eastern investment firm Dubai International Capital sees overseas expansion as a key source of growth. After opening in Shanghai last year, it is now planning similar attractions also in Dubai and Mumbai.

In fact, the group is a large visitor attraction business operating primarily in the United Kingdom, in addition to five other countries.

Madame Tussauds in present in six cities: London, New York City, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Its attraction in the US capital is scheduled to open this autumn on the site of Woody's, an old department store.

Hollywood's branch of Madame Tussauds will follow next year. It is being built on a brownfield site next to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Los Angeles landmark, and is the first overseas Tussauds to be built from scratch.

While the Hollywood attraction will mainly feature waxworks of film stars such as Cary Grant and Brad Pitt, Washington will have a more political flavour. One feature will be a replica of the Oval Office in the White House.

Tussauds has acrossed the Atlantic, with attractions in New York and Las Vegas, and it is active in Asia, having opened in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It is estimated that 4-million people visit Madame Tussauds waxworks every year.

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