Tag Archives: Middle East

ITA Airways announced that connections between Tel Aviv Ben Gurion and Rome Fiumicino will be resumed starting 5 September, 2024.   The airline will initially operate a daily daytime service, with the following schedule: AZ807 Tel Aviv-Rome Fiumicino, departing from Tel Aviv at 2:30 p.m. (local time) and arriving in Rome at 5:15 p.m. (local time). AZ806 Rome Fiumicino-Tel Aviv, departing from Rome at 9:10 a.m. (local time) and arriving in Tel Aviv at 1:30 p.m. (local time). In addition, ITA Airways will resume nighttime flights from 1 October, 2024 (AZ809 from Tel Aviv to Rome and AZ810 from Rome to Tel Aviv), which will remain suspended until 30 September, 2024. The airline will continue to closely monitor geopolitical developments in the Middle East and evaluate their potential impact on operations.

Ruhani Duggal, Director, Vilasa Luxury Travel, said, “Minar is now venturing into the US market. We have been present in Latin America for 7-8 years. Hence, we have expanded our footprint in the US with an office in New York and one more in the Middle East. We have also opened an office in the Middle East. This year, we are going to focus more on development and are excited to explore Northeast and Ayodhya as part of our itineraries.”

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said, “The boom in outbound travel from India is driven by the growing middle class. In 2020, only 37 million households had annual income between $10,000-$35,000, but owing to rapid economic growth, by 2030 it will rise to 177 million households.”

70 per cent of Indians travelling overseas choose nearby destinations, with one-third choosing destinations in the Middle East, as per booking.com and McKinsey report. The UAE is the top choice in the Middle East for outbound visits, followed by Saudi Arabia. Around 1.9 million Indians visited Dubai in first 10 months of 2023.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President – Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO & Founder – Emirates Group and Chairman – Dubai World, inaugurated Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021, marking the start of the 28th edition of the Middle East’s largest travel and tourism exhibition. He was accompanied by HE Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO – Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Director-General – Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and other VIPs. Taking place from May 16 to 19, this year’s event has 1,300 exhibitors from 62 countries. Consistent with the existing density restrictions and social distancing guidelines and regulations, there will be 11,000 people in the halls at any given time.

In light of the changing global situation relating to the COVID-19 virus, Arabian Travel Market will now be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 16-19, 2021. An official statement on the event website reads as follows: “Many meetings took place with the Dubai World Trade Centre and we reviewed other options to organize an event in the last quarter. However, after consultation with our key stakeholders and after listening to our Industry, ultimately it became apparent that the best course of action, and with everyone’s best interests in mind, is to postpone the event to 2021.” Furthermore, it states, “We are firmly focused on delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the Middle East’s vast travel and tourism community and as such are excited to announce that we will be running an ATM Virtual Event across 1st – 3rd of June 2020. Join webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, 1-2-1 meetings, plus so much more keeping the conversations going and delivering new connections and business opportunities online.”

An Indian traveller spent approximately USD 1100 on a trip to the Middle East in 2018, as per the data from Euromonitor International. An Indian business or experience-seeking traveller is likely to spend at least 15% more than the average spend per trip while a budget traveller is likely to spend up ot 15% to 20% less than the average spent per trip.

The domestic market of India continues to perform strongly, again registering double digit growth over the year to February, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). China and Russia topped the growth chart with 11.4 per cent and 10.1 per cent year-on-year growth rates respectively. This marks the 54th consecutive month of double-digit domestic RPK growth for India. A generally solid economic backdrop, combined with continued growth in the number of airport pairs have all contributed to this sustained growth performance.

Residents of India can now apply for visas to Russia at VFS Global Visa Application Centres (VACs) opened for the Embassy of the Russian Federation. The new centres will cater to the growing needs of outbound travellers to Russia, and increase accessibility to, and convenience of, visa services. With approximately 55,000 travellers visiting Russia from India each year, the application process through the new centres will prove to be more streamlined. The centre in New Delhi was inaugurated by H E Nikolay Rishatovich Kudashev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of India. He said, “The new Russian Visa Application Centre looks very impressive, very advanced and it perfectly fits into the new substance of our bilateral ties as well as our global co-operation. As you would surely know our relationship is a relationship of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. It carries political, economic, cultural and humanitarian content, but after all and finally, it is all about people; it is all about people to people connection, making this enormous relationship going. And this person to person connection will not be possible without such a simple thing as visa. I hope this visa application centre will make a real contribution to the growing strategic connection between our countries and our people.” Speaking about the development, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group Chief Operating Officer – Middle East, South Asia & China, said, “The network of Russia Visa Application Centres serves the needs of the ever-increasing numbers of travellers to Russia from this region and we are confident it will deliver services that exceed the expectations of the applicants.”

South Africa Tourism has recently announced the appointment of Neliswa Nkani as Hub Head—Middle East, India and South East Asia at a networking dinner hosted in Mumbai for the travel trade. Hanneli Slabber now takes charge as the General Manager— Asia, Australasia and Middle East for South Africa Tourism. The event of Nkani’s appointment was attended by Sthembiso Dlamini, Chief Operating Officer (COO), South African Tourism along with ML Ramokgopa, Consul General—South African Consulate, Mumbai.