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Middle East and North Africa Edition

APril 2, 2011 issue 73

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costA cruises to DominAtethe meDiterraneAncosta cruises, the italian travel group andcruise company, is set to reign themediterranean with estimated 9 millionpassenger movements.

In This Issue

Gulf Air to touch Downin AfGhAnistAnGulf Air is set to debut in Kabul, thecapital of the islamic republic ofAfghanistan, by launching four weeklyflights starting on June 15.

www.traveltradeweekly.travel

Marriott Signs Deals for Abu Dhabi HotelsMarriott Signs Deals for Abu Dhabi Hotels

Marriott International has revealed plans to manage two properties in Abu Dhabi, UAE,

that will open in 2014.

April 2, Issue 73

costa eyes a leader role in themediterranean ports withabout 2,800 calls in 92destinations and with almost 9million passenger movements,

achieving an increase of 33 percent over 2010.The 21 italian ports are predictedto witness a significant, almost 50percent increase in movementsgenerated by costa cruises, bywelcoming nearly 4 millionpassengers. The 17 spanish and

11 Greek ports are projected to see more than 1million while the nine french ports about halfmillion passenger movements. As part of costa’s intensive expansion in themediterranean, and the eur9.6 billion(usD13.7 billion) fleet enhancements, the 15thvessel of the flotilla, Costa Favolosa is set todepart from Venice on July 4, while CostaFascinosa is due for delivery in summer 2012. following the launch of the new sister shipscosta projects around 9.5 million passengermovements by 2012.

APril 2, 20112

TRAVEL TRADE WEEKLY

Managing Editormary Kammitsi

mary@traveltradeweekly.travelJournalistsrita Kasziba

Duncan macraemarianna Keen

Design & Layoutelina Pericleous

Sales & MarketingDimitris Thomaidis

DirectorsAndreas constantinides

mary Kammitsi

HeadquartersP.o. Box 25255

nicosia 1308 cyprustel: +35722820888fax: +35722318958

Websitewww.traveltradeweekly.travel

Emailsinfo@traveltradeweekly.travel

editorial@traveltradeweekly.travelsales@traveltradeweekly.travel

COUNTRY CURRENCY 1USD=uAe (AeD) Dirham 3.67egypt (eGP) Pound 5.96saudi Arabia (sAr) riyal 3.75lebanon (lBP) Pound 1503Bahrain (BhD) Dinar 0.37Jordan ( JoD) Dinar 0.71syria (sYP) Pound 47.35Kuwait (KwD) Dinar 0.28Qatar (QAr) riyal 3.64oman (omr) rial 0.38tunisia (tnD) Dinar 1.38morocco (mAD) Dirham 7.96iran (irr) riyal 10,42Yemen (Yer) rial 214.99Algeria (DZD) Dinar 72.13libya (lYD) Dinar 1.22

MENA Exchange RatesAccurate as of 31/3/2011currencies shown in red are fixed against the us Dollar

Travelport Revives Partnership with SaudiaTravelport has renewed its partnership with saudi Arabian Airlines (saudia) bysigning a multi-year content agreement with the carrier.The compact warrants enhanced and seamless access to Galileo and worldspan-connected users worldwide to the airline’s flight and fare inventory with fullbooking capability for agents in the Kingdom. saudia’s adaptation of travelport’s ‘inside availability’ will ensure great benefitsto the agents, will owen hughes, senior director of airline services, middle eastand Africa, travelport comments on this. “As the national carrier of the middle east’s largest economy and our largestcustomer base in the region, saudia remains an important, long-standing partnerof travelport. we believe this content agreement will not only meet the needs ofour travel agency customers, but maximise the growth potential of an emergingtravel market.”

Costa Cruises to Dominate the Mediterranean SeaCosta Cruises, the Italian travel group and cruise company, is set to reign theMediterranean with estimated 9 million passenger movements.

Saudia remains an important, long-standing partner of Travelport

3APril 2, 2011

Dubai’s Budget AirlinesTakes on 16th Aircraft

flydubai celebrated its third anniversary by welcoming a 16thaircraft to its fleet.The aircraft arrived in Dubai on march 23 after making thejourney from the manufacturer’s base at Payne field, seattle.The Boeing 737-800nG will support the low-budget airline’s

expanding network of 33 routes across the middle east, Asia, Africa and europe. it is the airline’s seventh aircraft to be fitted with Boeing’s sky interior andrevolutionary fibre-to-The-screen in-flight entertainment system by lumexis.Ghaith Al Ghaith, ceo, flydubai, commented that the airline had come along way in its first three years.“we started out with one aircraft, a couple of destinations and thedetermination to be unique as well as accessible. less than two years afteroperations began, we have a fleet of 16 aircraft, a growing network that spansdestinations across the Gcc, middle east, indian subcontinent, Africa, russiaand the former cis, and have served hundreds of thousands of travellers. The numbers alone speak volumes about flydubai’s rising prominence as anairline that provides quality, comfort, convenience and value for money,”Ghaith added.

Abu Dhabi Experiences Double -Digit Growth Across the BoardThe Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADtA)announced on march 24 that the emirate achieveddouble-digit growth across its key tourismperformance indicators during february,compared to the same month last year.in february, the number of guests staying in hotelsand hotel apartments in the emirate increased by17 percent to 175,309 and guest nights rose 29percent to 524,594, recorded the ADtA.lawrence franklin, strategy and policy director,ADtA, suggested reasons for the growth. “This yearon year february increase has been primarily drivenby major events held in the emirate including theiDeX international defence show, the Al AinAerobatic show and Gourmet Abu Dhabi. There isalso some evidence of shifting demand resultingfrom regional issues with hotel guests from saudiArabia rising by 90 percent while there has been atailing off of hotel guests from Qatar and oman.”

the hotel group signed theagreements with realestate Group llc, asubsidiary of BloomProperties.

The Abu Dhabi marriott hotel comprisesof 315 rooms, while the marriottexecutive Apartments AbuDhabi city centre will be madeup of 64 units.They will both be part of Bloomcentral, a mixed-use developmentincluding 16,200 m2 of office andresidential space on rashid binsaeed Al maktoum st, a 20minute drive from Abu Dhabiinternational Airport.ed fuller, president andmanaging director ofinternational lodging, marriottinternational, was pleased towelcome the new additions tothe company’s portfolio.

“we are delighted to introduceour upscale marriott hotels &resorts and marriott executiveApartment brands in Abu Dhabiand by the continued expansionof our lodging brands portfolioin the united Arab emirates.The middle east continues to beone of the most attractivetourism areas in the world andwe are confident these twoproperties will be welcomedadditions to the hospitalitysector of the market.”

Abu Dhabi marriott hotel will feature acasual restaurant, a specialty restaurant, alounge, open lobby area and a roof-levelpool-bar. There will also be a health and leisureclub, spa and fitness centre.  forconferences and social events, the hotel

will offer a ballroom, junior ballroom,three meeting rooms, two board roomsand a ViP room.executive Apartments Abu Dhabi citycentre will offer the convenience of five-star,full service hotel facilities with the space,ambience and privacy of residential living.

5APril 2, 2011

Marriott Signs Deals for Abu Dhabi HotelsMarriott International has revealed plans to manage two properties in Abu Dhabi, that will open in 2014.

The Middle Eastcontinues to be one of the most

attractive tourismareas in the world

- Accommodation

7APril 2, 2011

Gulf Air to Touch Down in AfghanistanGulf Air is set to debut in Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, by launching four weeklyflights starting on June 15.

Etihad: Five Years in JakartaEtihad Airways celebrates its fifth anniversary of scheduledflights between Abu Dhabi and the indonesian capital city,Jakarta. The airline debuted in the southeast Asian country on march16, 2006 with four non-stop flights a week, but increased itsoperations soon to six services a week, and then to daily flightsin response to the growing demand on services betweenindonesia and the uAe. Jakarta is now sorted among the top destinations of etihad’sroute map with passenger loads consistently reaching between80 and 90 percent of capacity. The route serves both leisure and business travellers, Jameshogan, ceo, etihad, commented on the route.“etihad is pleased to play a small but important role in buildingthe deep relationship between indonesia and the uAe, inparticular Abu Dhabi. in our first five years of service to indonesia,we have received tremendous support from the government,business sector and the people of this wonderful country. formaking etihad their airline of choice over this time, we owe thepeople of indonesia – the business travellers, religious pilgrims,holidaymakers, students, and migrant workers – our gratitude.”over the last five years etihad has demonstrated itscommitment to indonesia also on the ground by supportinglocal charities and educational initiatives.

As part of the intensiveexpansion of the carrier’snetwork, following theintroduction of newservices to ethiopia, iran,

iraq, italy and switzerland, Kabul is set tobecome the next destination. samer majali,ceo, Gulf Air, commented on the new route. “The launching of our service to Kabulfollows extensive safety and security audits,and further demonstrates our strategy toconnect the Kingdom of Bahrain with nicheand under-served markets within the regionthat have high growth potential. The islamicrepublic of Afghanistan has seen someremarkable growth recently and thegovernment is committed to facilitate andpromote the development of a dynamic,

competitive private sector by closelyworking in partnership with local businessesto revitalise and expand the economy.”with the launch of the new service, GulfAir is set to become the first middleeastern commercial carrier to operate ‘fullservice’ scheduled flights to Afghanistan. “By connecting Kabul with Bahrain we areopening a huge commercial opportunityfor Afghanistan’s well known traditionalindustries such as carpets and gems, andthe industrial sectors namely constructionand engineering, it/telecommunications,transportation, and of course mining,which are poised for take-off. we alsoforesee a huge opportunity for Bahrain’sprivate sector businesses in Afghanistan,”added majali.

The carrier believes that the new routebetween Bahrain and Kabul will live up tothe expectations. “in addition, there are many internationalcorporations and organisations working onseveral multi-million development projectsin Afghanistan and there is a vast Afghancommunity living and working in themiddle east, north America, europe andAsia. Gulf Air will be the only ‘full service’commercial airline to provide seamless andconvenient flight connections to thesepassenger segments between Kabul and theentire Gcc network, the levant region,europe, india, Pakistan and Bangladesh. weare confident that our service to Kabul willbe as successful as our recently launchedroutes,” concluded the ceo.

- Air News

APril 2, 20118

- Air News

easyJet Touches Downin JordaneasyJet has added yet another destination to its globalnetwork with the introduction of its new services toAmman, the capital of Jordan.

the uK-based airline will operate three-flights-a-week from london Gatwick to one of the oldestcities in the world. with its newly launchedservices the carrier ensures quick and convenientconnection between europe and the entire Gulf

region, highlighted carolyn mccall, ceo, easyJet. “This new route between london and Amman is a great exampleof us making it easy and affordable for people to visit greatdestinations. Jordan has a rich history and diverse range ofattractions. with easyJet having one of the best europeannetworks, we hope to be able to connect Amman with otherdestinations from across our network in the future.”By choosing Amman as its latest destination, easyJet added oneof the fastest growing cities of the region to its route map, pointedout curtis Grad, ceo, Airport international Group.“The introduction of easyJet to the Jordan market will furtherpropel Amman’s phenomenal growth, which has witnessed a 40percent rise in passengers and a 65 percent growth in weekly flightsover the past three years, ranking Amman as one of the fastestgrowing airports in the region. with our new terminal comingonline in 2012, we will be well positioned to serve the new demandstimulated by easyJet, further sustaining this strong growth trend.”

Qatar Airways to Transfer AlexandriaFlights to Borg El ArabQatar Airways announced on march 22 that it will transferits Alexandria flights from el nozha international Airport tothe city’s Borg el Arab Airport, effective from march 27.The Doha based airline is one of a number of internationalcarriers moving its egypt destined services to Borq el ArabAirport for operational reasons. Qatar Airways operates daily,non-stop flights from Doha to Alexandria. schedules forflights will not be affected by the change.Borg el Arab Airport is situated approximately 50 km fromAlexandria city centre. in addition to Alexandria, QatarAirways also flies to cairo and luxor in egypt.The airline operates a modern fleet to 99 destinations acrosseurope, the middle east, Africa, Asia Pacific, north Americaand south America. By 2013 it plans to serve over 120 keybusiness and leisure destinations worldwide.

More Extensive Collaboration BetweenCyprus Airways and Olympic AirGeorge Mavrokostas, executive chairman, cyprus Airways,and Yiannis Karakadas, executive chairman, olympic Air,announced an agreement on march 22 for comprehensivecooperation between the companies as of march 27.The agreement, which was signed in nicosia, involves carryingout shared code sharing of direct domestic and internationalscheduled flights. it opens up new opportunities for the twocompanies and lays foundations for strengthening theirpresence in the wider region of southeastern europe.the airlines will begin code sharing flights to and fromlarnaca and Paphos, as well as Athens, rhodes, heraklionand thessaloniki, on march 27, and they plan to expandthe scheme from April 15. By this time cyprus Airwaysand olympic Air anticipate code-sharing for most routescovered.The partnership means that the airlines will also cooperate inthe provision of ground services, the joint use of ViP loungesand other infrastructure sharing at airports in cyprus andGreece.

APril 2, 201110

- International

Accor Creates New Smart-phone Offerings

A ccor has introduced Accorhotels.com applications forthe BlackBerry and samsung, equipped with the newBada operating system. The application will give usersof the smartphones access to more than 3,000 hotelsaround the world that operate under the Pullman,

mGallery, novotel, suitenovotel, mercure, Adagio, ibis, all seasons,etap hotel and formule 1 et hotelf1 brands.The Accorhotels.com applications include functions that enable usersto conduct searches according to predefined criteria, such asgeolocalisation and current date.search preferences can be memorised and refined, for example, on preferredbrands or number of children. members of Accor’s A|club loyalty programcan also enter their membership number and earn points each time theybook from their smartphone. The applications are in addition to the iPhoneapplication the hotel group launched more than a year ago.Business travellers will soon also be able to find negotiated rates onBlackBerry and iPhone Accorhotels.com applications. The company hasalso updated its website to meet new customer needs with an ambitioustarget of 260,000 bed-nights that has been set for 2011.

The Westin Houston MemorialCity Opens its Doorsstarwood hotels & resorts worldwide inc. announcedon march 24, the opening of the westin houstonmemorial city, situated in houston’s vibrant west side.The hotel has been awaited as a key element of the city’smemorial city complex and is considered aconvenient, fully equipped hub for business travellersas well as offering ample facilities for leisure guests.ideal for business meetings and social functions alike,the westin houston memorial city offers a three-storeyglass and wood staircase ascending to a conference andbanqueting space of over 30,000 square feet. The hotel, with 267 guest rooms, joins two otherwestin hotels in houston and is the third starwoodproperty to open within the memorial city complex.nancy london, Brand leader, westin hotels &resorts commented on the significance of the newhotel."The westin houston memorial city is a primeaddition to our fast-growing portfolio of hotels andgives us an even greater presence in this keymetropolitan centre."

11APril 2, 2011

Andrew FairbairnAndrew fairbairn has beenappointed as director ofsales and marketing at lemeridien Kuala lumpur tolead the property’s salesand marketing team andensure optimum returnsfrom all revenue channels.The 30 year old, who isarmed with experience inaccount management ofwholesale, fit and mice markets, as well as public relationsand e-commerce, began his career as marketing executive fortourism noosa. he joined starwood hotels and resorts in2004 as business development manager at sheraton noosaresort & spa, before taking on the role of director of sales insheraton & westin resort fiji. most recently he worked asdirector of sales and marketing at laguna, nusa Dua, Bali.fairbairn holds a Bsc of business majoring in marketing anda diploma of market research.

Enad Tannousenad tannous has been promoted to general manager atintercontinental Aqaba resort, Jordan. tannous, who has over21 years of management experience in food and beverage, rooms

division and hospitality, has heldvarious supervisory andmanagerial positions in oman,uAe and saudi Arabia. hereturned to Jordan in 2006 asexecutive assistant manager forintercontinental hotel Aqababefore taking on the position ofgeneral manager of crown Plazaresort in Petra prior to beingappointed to his current role.

Frank Normann Eikelandfrank normann eikelandhas been appointed asgeneral manager at Park innAl Khobar. eikeland, whobrings more than 26 years ofexperience to his new role,started his career with worldleading hotels. he thenmoved to sheraton in oslo,before joining radisson sAsin 2000 where he heldseveral managerial positionsin operations and sales andmarketing. Prior to taking onhis current role, he led rica

Victoria hotel in oslo as general manager. eikeland graduatedin 1981 from the hotel management school in his homecountry, norway.

Diana BanksDiana Banks has been appointed as vice president of sales andmarketing at raffles hotels & resorts. Banks, who bringsover 30 years of experience to raffles, will spearhead theluxury hotel group’s global sales, marketing andcommunication operations. Previously she held strategic salespositions with prominent companies, including Pegasus /utell and langham hotel and The Grove resort in the uK.Prior to joining raffles she worked as vice president of salesand marketing, europe, middle east and Africa at mandarinoriental hotel Group.

Frank Normann Eikeland

Andrew Fairbairn

Enad Tannous

APril 2, 201112

Travel Talk is your space – this is a casual forum for travel industryprofessionals to discuss current issues and share stories. We want to hearfrom you, so send your comments, questions, frustrations andobservations to editorial@traveltradeweekly.travel

Ahmed Al HaddabiSenior vice president, airports operations, Abu Dhabi Airports Company "february proved to be a good month for Abu Dhabiinternational Airport, welcoming the new services of V Australiaand additional frequencies  for  our other airline partners. Allsegments continue to grow,despite  the  impact of theunrest in certain countries.”

Peter Baumgartner, Chief commercial officer, Etihad“At etihad, we are committed to action when it comes tomitigating negative impacts of our operations on theenvironment,including minimisingour fuel use andemissions, wiselyusing our power, waterand other resources,and recyclingwherever possible.This has led to usworking closely withmasdar and other AbuDhabi companies.”

Salim Damji, Senior General Manager, UAE, Budget Rent-a-Car“we were delighted to see the meeting hosted in Dubai thisyear. it was a well attended event, and highly productive. it willgo a long way in providing motivation and fresh ideas forbusiness development in different markets of the menAregion. we also had the opportunity to welcome Philippe Dye,the new regional Director for middle east & Africa and bidfarewell to his predecessor, robin Borton”.

All segmentscontinue to grow,

despite the impact of the

unrest in certaincountries Ahmed Al Haddabi

Budget Rent a Car International held their Middle East Regional Meeting inDubai in February. The meeting was attended by Budget principals and alllicensees from the MENA region.

We were delighted to see the meetinghosted in Dubai this year

Peter Baumgartner

We are committed to action when itcomes to mitigating negative impacts of

our operations on the environment

13APril 2, 2011

Name: Yahya Masoud Al AbrawiPosition: Managing DirectorCompany: Arabian TrailsLocation: Oman

Agent’s Insight

Who are you?my name  is Yahya masoud AlAbrawi, and i have long dreamedabout establishing my own traveland tourism agency to show thebeauty of my homeland, oman, tothe world. with almost 16 years ofexperience in the hospitality andtourism industry, i have successfully set up my owndestination management company (Dmc), Arabian trails,which now operates in several different physical and culturalenvironments. our focus is now on becoming a leadingprofessional organiser and service orientated company inoman, the uAe and the whole Gulf region. What is your favourite thing about working in the travelindustry?tourism is a very interesting field, and being part of a Dmc,i have the possibility to show our culture to the whole world.furthermore, i really enjoy challenges, such as providingexciting excursions, and creating new ideas and venues atplaces which have not been considered before.  When is the best time to visit Oman?The ideal time to travel to oman is between september toApril. however, to visit salalah, the southern part of oman,i would suggest July or August, when travellers canexperience the unique “monsoon” climate. Where would you like to travel for your next holiday?i would love to visit Brazil and discover its nature and jungles. Why should people come to you for travel advice?Arabian trails translates simple ideas into tangible reality. inevery stage of the planning process we are continuallycognizant of how to actualise and materialise a tour or eventvision. we incorporate unique spatial design, lightingelements and environmental production methods in creatingnot only a seamless event, but an atmosphere with impact.Arabian trails specialises in the design and production ofcorporate functions, fundraising galas, live concerts andsocial events, group and leisure programs and cruisehandling. we are committed to the personal attention andpassion for details that ensure success, thereby exceeding theexpectations of every client. That’s why Arabian trails’ staffstrives to deliver on time and on budget every time.

Kurban Travel Deploys AmadeusKurban Travel, a lebanese travel agency became the latest userof Amadeus’ solutions after fully migrating its business to thetransaction processor and provider’s technology.The solutions set up to Kurban travel will provide a wider scaleof choices of airlines, accommodations and other travel relatedservices and will allow clients to review their bookings viaAmadeus checkmytrip mobile application.The migration to Amadeus will hugely enhance the agency’soffers to its customers. nadine Kurban, managing director,Kurban travel, highlighted.“The decision to replace our reservation system for Amadeus,after 15 years of using another provider, represents a turningpoint for our company. it means that we have the latesttechnology and that while increasing our business efficiency, wewill be able to bring an improved offer to our customers enablingthem to access to a wider range of content and services tailoredto their specific needs.”Acquiring Kurban travel, represents a milestone for Amadeus pointedout selim Boutros, general manager, Amadeus lebanon.“we are extremely pleased to support the biggest travel agent inlebanon with Amadeus’ proven technology and content.”

APril 2, 201114

MENA Trains For Better TourismA region’s transport infrastructure and the future development of its tourism sector are inextricably linked, so it isno wonder that vast sums of money are being invested in state-of-the-art railroads in Africa and the Middle East.

in 2009, Dubai unveiled theworld’s longest fully automatedrail system and this could be justthe beginning as far as impressiverailway projects in the region.

The most notable of these developmentsbeing the proposed pan-Arab railroad thatcould connect six Arab nations.one 1,970km railway line was to begin inKuwait and run through saudi Arabia,Bahrain, Qatar and the uAe beforeending in oman. A second 1,984km linewas to be constructed between Kuwait,saudi Arabia, the uAe and oman.rumours that the Gulf cooperationcouncil planned to create an inter-Gccrailway system began to spread about fiveyears ago and only now it appears that itmay actually come to fruition.

At the end of 2010, a consortium comprisingof a Jordanian and italian company wereselected to conduct an extensive study intothe feasibility of the project. This will examinethe feasibility of a rail network across the 21Arab states and the study will last for one yearhowever, it is expected that it will be a further25 years before the mammoth project iscompleted. such improvements to theregion’s transport infrastructure would be ahuge boost for visiting tourists, as well astravel trade businesses. some countries are already forging aheadwith plans to develop their own individualrail set-ups. saudi Arabia is bolstering itsreligious tourism with the creation of a440 km high-speed railway that will linkmecca and medina. Qatar has plans to build 354km of metro

lines within Greater Doha and a 345kmnational railway by 2022 in time for vastnumbers of tourists who will be attendingthe football world cup that year.in Kuwait there are plans to develop a171km inner-city light metro transportnetwork, including four metro lines acrossKuwait city. oman also has ambitions of creating arailway system. last year the country invitedbids for construction of a rail network inthree phases.tens of billions of dollars will be spent onimproving the region’s rail infrastructure inthe coming years. These new railways willhave a critical role in the promotion oftourism in north Africa and the middle eastso, as far as travel and tourism is concerned,the region is certainly on the right track.

Travel Trade Weekly: There aremany developments happening withHilton in Ras Al Khaimah. Can youtell us more about this? Rudi Jagerbacher: we went into ras AlKhaimah over 10 years ago when thedestination was not really on the market.we had an opportunity and after a veryshort period of time we were very successfulwith two hilton properties. At the sametime we felt that we should help the localrulers by assisting them in the tourismaspect in the emirate, and finally looking attoday we announced the waldorf Astoriawhich is very important to us.

Travel Trade Weekly: Why was WaldorfAstoria chosen for Ras Al Khaimah? Rudi Jagerbacher: we believe in de-segmentation on a global aspect within aluxury hotel group. There are other brandslike this being discussed and when thisproperty will be finished it will be reallyincredible. There will be challenges for theproperty, however, we have the expertiseto try and sell the destination in thesimilar line as Abu Dhabi, Dubai or forthat matter even Paris or rome. it is notgoing to be easy, but the product is of suchthat i believe it will sell itself.The journey to get into ras Al Khaimah isanother challenge because clearly theaccess cannot be compared to Dubaitoday, however the intention to become apure resort within the emirate is wayabove people’s expectations and we feelthat it is important to be part of thatjourney and hence we are out there wherewe are. There are other projects that weare presented with and i also believe thatcreating such a great niche market, thatsometimes people don’t necessarily onlywant to stay in Dubai where there is thehustle and bustle and you are not really

able to relax. we now can create an oasiswhereby you have the ability within onehour to go down the road and goshopping, come back, and the ability tostay in a beautiful hotel which is calm,relaxed, secure and we feel that it is perfectfor the tourists who make that journeyand also important for us in our journey.

Travel Trade Weekly: Any other newproperties coming up in the MiddleEast and North Africa areas?Rudi Jagerbacher: Yes, among some,we also have the Doubletree in ras AlKhaimah and we have tunisia, Jordanand egypt properties planned to openwhen egypt has a great pipeline. theother important part for us is Africawith a big development pipeline too. somaybe from the tourism point of view itis important to mention the Aqabaproperty opening; where Jordan andras Al Khaimah will have the first twoDoubletrees as an entry into the market.

Travel Trade Weekly: Will you belooking at opening a Hampton Inn’sin the Middle East?Rudi Jagerbacher: The issue with themiddle east is there is still the trend of the

customer today that would like to haveservice. The hampton inn concept is a bitdifferent. i think what will do well in themiddle east is the hilton Garden inn,particularly for the business man, wherethere is this business segmentation that isvery lucrative. we make sure thatwhatever brands are available that theywork! we aim for partnerships were wehave win -win situations, where we reflectgood integrity.

15APril 2, 2011

Q&A with Rudi JagersbacherHilton, one of the fastest expanding hotel chains in the Middle East and North Africa, has recently announced newdevelopments in the region and continues to identify growth opportunities. K. R. Rudi S.K. Jagersbacher, president,Middle East and Africa, Hilton Worldwide, talks about the hotel group’s latest projects and further strategy.

Rudi Jagersbacher

We aim forpartnerships

were wehave

win -winsituations,where we

reflect goodintegrity

APril 2, 201116

EventsChina Outbound Travel and Tourism MarketBeijing, China, April 13-15, 2011 (www.cottm.com)Dedicated business to business event targeting the growingmarket for outbound travel from china.

Arabian Travel MarketDubai, UAE, May 2-5, 2011 (www.arabiantravelmarket.com)The middle east’s largest travel and tourism exhibition.

IndabaDurban, South Africa, May 7-10, 2011(www.indaba-southafrica.co.za)showcases the widest variety of southern Africa's besttourism products.

The Hotel ShowDubai, UAE, May 17-19, 2011(www.thehotelshow.com)hospitality event for the menA, Gcc & emerging markets.

International Pow Wow 2011San Francisco, USA, May 21-25, 2011(www.ustravel.org/events/international-pow-wow)An international marketplace and the largest generator of Visit usA.

IMEXFrankfurt, Germany, May 24-26, 2011(www.imex-frankfurt.com)worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events.

CITY FAIR The European Cities Travel Workshop London, UK, 20 June, 2011(www.cityfair.travel)A one day event of pre-scheduled appointments dedicated to thesector of city tourism.

AIBTMBaltimore, USA, June 21-23, 2011(www.aibtm.com)us event for the business travel and meetings industry.

GIBTM: Strong Performance in the MICE IndustryDespite the recent regional turmoil themice industry remains a strongperforming segment in the middle east,according to delegates at the Gulfincentive Business travel and meetingexhibition (GiBtm) which took placethis week.At a panel discussion entitled ‘what ishappening in the world of meetings,’ 41percent of the delegates acknowledgedsome cancellations and lower interest dueto the recent unrest, while 19 percentremained optimistic and predicted apositive outlook for their business. in fact,53 percent forecasted an increase in theirmeeting and events business for the year.increased awareness is the key to drive theindustry according to 41 percent of the

voters, while 38 percent of them stressedthe importance of the political stability. The Abu Dhabi tourism Authority(ADtA) is poised to stimulate the micebusiness and position the emirate in theworld’s top 50 meetings destinations aspart of a 10-year plan. At the same time,following the recent unrest, the egypttourism Authority has launched severalendeavors to rebound the country’stourism industry, which employs about 10percent of egypt’s labour force. Theorganisation invested about usD5million on promoting the country andmany hotels dropped their prices by 50percent to accelerate the recovery of theindustry, which according to expertsmight take about four months.

Bahrain’s mice industry contributedusD184.6 million to the country’seconomy in 2010 and expected to remaina key driver to the economic growth bygenerating usD223.6 million this year,despite the political situation as it is. The delegates of GiBtm agreed on thegrowing importance of the social media inpromoting mice business, increasingawareness and improving customer service.