Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is coming to Abu Dhabi next Tuesday, it was revealed yesterday. Putin will travel to the capital of the United Arab Emirates after spending two days in Saudi Arabia as part of an official visit. Putin will spend a day in Abu Dhabi and talk with its Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, who is also the UAE Armed Forces’ Deputy Supreme Commander. The pair are to talk about…

The United Arab Emirates has lifted the ban on its citizens travelling to Lebanon as of Tuesday. The undersecretary of the Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Khalid Belhoul, says that the decision was made after the ministry followed up on issues relating to exit security. The Lebanese government also provided a number of guarantees with the issue, strengthening neighbourly relations between the two countries. The decision was announced in tandem with Lebanese…

The aviation market in the United Arab Emirates will grow by as much as 170% by the year 2037, according to the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). On Tuesday, the IATA, which is based in Montreal, declared that the market will contribute $128bn to the economy of the UAE and support as many as 1.4m jobs by that date. The organisation’s most recent study on air transport’s importance to the UAE revealed that the present…

Four new innovative tourism projects have been announced at Dubai’s Gitex Technology Week 2019 by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). The SCTDA joined with a number of important private sector and local government entities that are participating in the event, which takes place over a five-day period. A number of tech-driven projects were introduced to hundreds of thousands of worldwide visitors. One of the projects was the ‘Al Tour Guide Chatbot’, which…

Passengers in Dubai will no longer require a boarding pass or passport to travel due to a new biometric system. The system is to be launched at Dubai International Airport, according to officials on Sunday. The General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai says that the Biometric Passenger Journey (BPJ) will make it easier to travel through airports in Dubai. The airline Emirates is also cooperating with the new system. Passengers will…

The award-winning Emirates A380 touched down at Cairo International Airport on 2nd October. The arrival marked the debut of the popular aircraft in Egypt. The landing highlighted the readiness of the airport to adapt to the A380, which is the world’s largest commercial passenger jet. Egyptian captain Hesham Essawy led the flight with first officer Abdullah Alyammahi, a national of the United Arab Emirates. A ceremonial salute with water cannon was used to welcome the…

Accor has opened the first Novotel hotel in Sharjah. The lively and relaxed hospitality model that has become a trademark of the midscale brand has finally come to one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the United Arab Emirates. The Novotel Sharjah Expo Centre, which has as many as 200 rooms, is in a prime city location next to the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as the exhibition and convention centre. The…

The airline Emirates, which is based in the United Arab Emirates, is commemorating an enormous milestone in its South Africa operations. It is the 10th anniversary of the first flight taken by the airline between Durban and Dubai. The flight took place on 1st October 2009, and since then, more than two million passengers have flown on the route with the airline. The regional manager for the Southern Africa division of Emirates, Fouad Caunhye, says…

The World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress (WMTC) is to be held in Abu Dhabi for the very first time. The 12th such conference is to be held between 15th and 17th October in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Medical Tourism Association’s (MTA) annual conference has previously always taken place in the US. The Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau organised the event in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Department of Health. The…

A top German official says that an increase in tourist traffic between the United Arab Emirates and Germany has strengthened bilateral economic relations and people-to-people exchanges. The enthusiasm to support the economic transition of the UAE by companies in Germany has also contributed to the shift. Over 560,000 German tourists came to the UAE in 2018, and 85,000 Emirati tourists reciprocated this by visiting Germany. The German Federal Foreign Office’s Minister of State, Niels Annen,…