ArabWeeks

A planned portfolio of 20 hotels and 6 residential complexes in Saudi Arabia over the next seven years with SR 1.5 billion investments will definitely enhance Dur hospitality’ leadership position in Saudi Arabia and will sure reflect positively on the revenues, which are expected to increase 3 times by 2023.

The Hospitality industry in the Middle East in general and the Kingdom in particular especially the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah, has been discussed duringthe Regional Leaders’ Panel at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) 2015. Dr. Bad Al Badr, Dur Hospitality’, Chief Executive Officer, elaborated“The market is promising as reputable sources expect 25 million visitors to Makkah and Madinah by 2025, and the Domestic Tourism expenditure growth is forecasted to increase by 11% annually and Inbound Tourism by 13% Annually especially after the completion of the two Holy mosques and the mega infrastructure projects.”

Dur Hospitality also revealed its expansionary plan targeting the emerging cities in Saudi Arabia such as Jubail, Yunbu and Tabuk, thus attracting business visitors, by announcing the first Holiday Inn in Tabuk, the first hotel to be developed under the master development agreement (MDA) inked between IHG and DUR Hospitality Company last year.

Dr. Badr Al Badradded, “Hotels are one of the investors’ most favorite investment assets but they require professional expertise and operational capabilities, thereforeDurdeveloped its operational strategy to cope with the investors who are looking for the perfect hospitality partner, byintroducing 3 operationalmodels; The Dur-owned hotels operated by international brands that rely on management agreements with international operators, under which falls our Partnership with Marriott since 1979 and will soon announce 2 new projects in Riyadh. Another model, are hotels operated by Dur Hospitality under its 10-year-old operational brand, Makarem that has recently re-launched its new brand identity and announced operating 10 new hotels in the coming 5 years. And finally Franchise agreements, represented by our partnership with IHG”

Dr. BadrAl Badr concluded his speech by affirming the stability of the Saudi Economy, which was not affected by the geo- political environment and the oil prices; on the contrary, the government expenditure did not change and with the fresh young leadership, things will become better.

Dr. BadrAl Badr pointed out the Saudization is one of the major challenges that face the hospitality industry and the importance of attracting Saudi Calibers to work in the hospitality industry which needs their contribution for healthy & sustainable development.

Hollywood actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, world-renowned Malaysian fashion designer Datuk Jimmy Choo and British supermodel Georgia May Jagger added glitz and glamour to the launch of British Airways’ flights to Malaysia with a Cinderella-inspired photoshoot in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

With the iconic Petronas Twin Towers serving as a stunning backdrop, Tan Sri Yeoh and Jagger dazzled while seated in British Airways’ Club World business cabin seats as Datuk Choo slipped on a glass shoe specially designed for the occasion.

Jagger wore a TEMPERLEY LONDON ‘Long Sand Goddess Dress’ in Almond while Tan Sri Yeoh looked stunning in her own evening gown as they posed for the photograph.  Datuk Jimmy Choo was in a suit by Lord’s Tailor.

British Airways’ inaugural flight to Malaysia arrives at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 2:35pm local time on May 28, 2015. The non-stop route is served by the long-range Boeing 777-200ER aircraft offering customers a choice of four cabins – First and Club World business cabin featuring award-winning flat beds, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy cabin.

Datuk Jimmy Choo said: “Being a proud Malaysian, it has been such a pleasure to support British Airways as they begin services to Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has so much to offer those looking for new business and investment opportunities, or a memorable holiday destination for a few weeks. Beyond the action and nightlife of Kuala Lumpur, my hometown of Georgetown in Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a marvellous place and one that I highly recommend that tourists visit.”

Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh said: “Malaysia is the place I call home so I think it’s tremendous British Airways have launched a new route linking London and Kuala Lumpur. There’s so much to see and do here, be it visiting the historic monuments dotted around the city, tasting the mouth-watering delicacies served at our famous street food markets or wandering one of the many art galleries. I was born to the north in the city of Ipoh and it’s just one of the many inspiring places visitors can explore within easy reach during their stay.”

Georgia May Jagger said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time in Malaysia. The people are so welcoming and the food is amazing. I’ve been trying the local speciality dishes. It has also been an incredible experience working with Datuk Jimmy Choo on this one-of-a-kind photoshoot for British Airways. Being made to feel like Cinderella was a truly magical moment – after all, British Airways knows how to treat its customers.”

To celebrate the inauguration, British Airways is offering special fares to London, the UK and Europe from Kuala Lumpur starting from just RM3,088 for travel between May 28 and November 30.  The fares are valid for booking until 16 June 2015.

A roadshow is visiting three countries in the region offering the opportunity to explore Abu Dhabi Summer Season’s offers, events and much more to encourage potential GCC visitors to spend a thrilling summer experience across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region over the next few months.
The delegation is being led by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), which is presenting the three-month long season of headline theatre shows, comedy acts, famous singers, illusionist and international children’s performances across the emirate from June 11 until September 5.
In addition, hotels, attractions and malls across Abu Dhabi are also joining in the festivities and delivering excellent summer promotions and offers for visitors and residents during the period. More than 40 offers for hotel-rooms are presented emirate-wide, while shopping malls offer mega promotions and some stunning prizes to be won for 12 consecutive weeks.
Joined by leading UAE-based event organisers, the TCA Abu Dhabi roadshow starts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 26 before heading to the capital Riyadh and then on to Al Khorbar in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom. The roadshow then ventures to Kuwait on June 2nd before ending in Muscat, Oman on June 4.
Promising ‘Fun for All’, the Summer Season will host more than 60 performances in venues across Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and the Western Region, including Saudi singing sensation Mohammed Abdo, Sesame Street Live, Hans Klok – the world’s fastest illusionist, Mythbusters and Arabic and Western comedy nights as well as a range of other leading shows.
“During our last summer season, we saw a highly impressive increase of 20% in our guest arrivals into our hotels and hotel apartments over the previous year to 786,376, with guest nights from visitors within the GCC increasing by 25%. Hotel occupancy also grew, even with an additional 2,495 rooms across the emirate,” said Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director of Tourism Sector, TCA Abu Dhabi.

“We are looking to again further increase the number of visitors coming to the emirate during this summer period and have already had an excellent first quarter of the year in terms of visitor numbers. Working with our event organisers, who are travelling with us from the UAE to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, we want to display why Abu Dhabi is such an attractive proposition for families to come and visit and spend their summer while offering them an unforgettable summer season.”
The shows begin on July 18th with an Eid Al Fitr celebration, starring Mohammed Abdo live in Abu Dhabi at the du Forum on Yas Island and Emirati singer Habeeb El Yasi in Al Ain on the same night, followed by his appearance the following evening in Abu Dhabi.
Throughout the season, children will be treated to a stunning line-up of some of their favourite characters live on stage, including Barney, Sesame Street and Shaun the Sheep.
For a full list of events and timings visit: abudhabisummerseason.ae and follow @AbuDhabiEvents on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

A must for all railway fans – beauty and boldness combined. With its 65m high pillars, tapering towards the top, the viaduct is one of the most elegant bridge constructions in Graubünden. The most frequently photographed feature of the Rhaetian Railways

Between Thusis and St. Moritz the Landwasser viaduct is the most spectacular construction on the 63 kilometers long Albula stretch. And the Albula and Bernina routes of the scenic Rhaetian railway form part of the UNESCO World Heritage list since mid July 2008 – as first of three railway lines worldwide.

The construction of the main pillars of the Landwasser viaduct in 1901/1902 was considered a huge architectural feat, as this took place without scaffolding and solely two cranes. And 106 years later, in the year 2009, the masonry and track trough of the viaduct were repaired for the very fist time. The viaduct wall of natural dolomite lime is 142 meters long and at 65 meters high extends in a curve over the rugged Landwasser Valley and inside a tunnel, the entrance of which is on a vertical rock wall.

From the Filisur village you reach a beautiful vantage point in just half an hour on foot, from where you have amazing views of the viaduct. Next a path leads either down to the river, under the viaduct and into a ravine, or at the fork to the lookout point in around 2 hours and on to the Wiesner viaduct. This viaduct you can cross on a footpath while enjoying incredible in-depth views down under.

Lichtenstein. Warhol. Koons. Stella. Calder. Rauschenberg. Holzer. Elíasson. Since a BMW 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder lined up for the Le Mans 24-hour race exactly 40 years ago, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated both art and design enthusiasts as well as car and technology fans all around the world.

Ever since the invention of the motor car, artists have drawn inspiration from the thrill of speed, from the phenomenon of mobility and from racing cars as examples of modern sculpture. Since 1975, BMW Art Cars have been a central feature of this story. The idea behind the BMW Art Cars was the brainchild of French racing driver and art enthusiast Hervé Poulain: 40 years ago, Poulain asked artist friend Alexander Calder to apply his creative talents to his race car. Together with Jochen Neerpasch, then BMW Motorsport Director, the first BMW Art Car was born – and it became an instant crowd’s favourite on the race track. Since then, new additions to the BMW Art Car Collection have been made over the years at irregular intervals, with unique works of art from artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

“The BMW Art Cars provide an exciting landmark at the interface where cars, technology, design, art and motor sport meet,” reflects Maximilian Schöberl, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Governmental Affairs, BMW Group. “The 40-year history of our ‘rolling sculptures’ is as unique as the artists who created them. The BMW Art Cars are an essential element and core characteristic of our global cultural engagement.”

The anniversary celebrations got under way with exhibitions in Hong Kong, at the Centre Pompidou, the BMW Museum and the Concorso d’Eleganza at Lake Como, where the first four BMW Art Cars by Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, plus the M3 GT2 created by Jeff Koons, were all on display. Further presentations are set to follow later in 2015 in New York, Miami and Shanghai.

Various image material of the BMW Art Cars can be accessed and downloaded via the global BMW PressClub:

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/photoTeaserList.html?left_menu_item=node__9537

For video footage please refer to the link below: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/tvFootageTeaserList.html?left_menu_item=node__9537

The group of seventeen artists who have designed BMW models so far since 1975 is very international, and interest in the “rolling sculptures” has spread all around the world. Several cars are usually on display at the BMW Museum in Munich, the home of the BMW Art Cars, as part of its permanent collection. The remaining BMW Art Cars are travelling the globe – to art fairs in Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong, as well as exhibitions at the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai.

To date, many of the BMW Art Cars have not only turned heads in museums, but have also – in their earlier life – done so on the race track: Alexander Calder (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975), Frank Stella (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976), Roy Lichtenstein (BMW 320 Group 5, 1977), Andy Warhol (BMW M1 Group 4, 1979), Ernst Fuchs (BMW 635CSi, 1982), Robert Rauschenberg (BMW 635CSi, 1986), Michael Jagamara Nelson (BMW M3 Group A, 1989), Ken Done (BMW M3 Group A, 1989), Matazo Kayama (BMW 535i, 1990), César Manrique (BMW 730i, 1990), A. R. Penck (BMW Z1, 1991), Esther Mahlangu (BMW 525i, 1991), Sandro Chia (BMW M3 GTR, 1992), David Hockney (BMW 850CSi, 1995), Jenny Holzer (BMW V12 LMR, 1999), Ólafur Elíasson (BMW H2R, 2007) and Jeff Koons (BMW M3 GT2, 2010).

The BMW Group would also like to introduce the 40th anniversary of the BMW Art Car Collection into the public sphere through social media. While exploring the vision of each artist for their car on its social media channels, the company also wants to ask people what the ‘art of the car’ means to them. To track the content, it will be shared under the hashtag #BMWArtCar.

In 2014, Hatje Cantz published the first comprehensive publication on the BMW Art Cars. The 200-page book is richly illustrated and reviews the history of this extraordinary collection of cars from its beginnings in 1975. It uses portraits and interviews to shed more light on the various artists’ themes and approaches.

Further information on the BMW Art Cars publication can be found here:

http://www.hatjecantz.de/bmw-art-cars-5319-1.html-Ends-

Air Arabia has been named “Best Low-Cost Carrier” at the World Tourism Forum Awards in Istanbul, Turkey. The World Tourism Forum is an annual gathering of leading business figures and industry experts to discuss the future direction of the global tourism sector. Among the topics discussed were online tourism, destination marketing and the economic benefits of tourism.

Air Arabia took home the award for “Best Low-Cost Carrier” based on its performance over the last year, which has included the opening of two new international hubs in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and Amman, Jordan, and increasing its global network to 104 destinations.

The airline also reached another major milestone during the period when it became first low-cost carrier from the Middle East and Africa to enter the Chinese market with the start of regular non-stop services to Urumqi, the largest city in Western China.

Adel A. Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia, said: “It is a source of great pride for everyone at Air Arabia that our contribution to the aviation sector continues to be recognised, not only within the Middle East and North Africa, but also by our peers around the world. We thank the organisers of the World Tourism Forum for this accolade and we would like to express our gratitude to the millions of loyal customers who have enabled our success for more than a decade.”

This is the latest in a series of recent accolades won by Air Arabia including “Low Cost Carrier of the Year” from Aviation Business, “Middle East’s Leading Low-Cost Airline 2014” at the 21st World Travel Awards, and the “Airline Business Award” at the Airline Strategy Awards 2014.

Taiwan is a delightful holiday destination and a green island country that offers vast and diversified natural landscape and cultures for a great travel experience. Apart from having a well-earned reputation of being a world leader in producing precision high tech commodities, Taiwan was also the first to have the world’s tallest building.

Taipei 101, is currently the third tallest building in the world and is situated in business district of Taipei which is a great world metropolis, apart from being a superb shopping destination and Asia’s best foodies paradise. 

In the sixteenth century, when Portuguese sailors landed on the island, they were clearly impressed by its natural beauty and named it Ilha Formosa – or Island Beautiful. Taiwan is also one of world’s most mountainous country as it possess natural beauty of 250 or more 3000 meters above sea level jade green mountains together with stunning coastal scenery. Taiwan is a beautiful island that is blessed with an abundance of native flora and fauna including some rare Taiwan orchids. Taiwan provides modern infrastructure that allows you to travel up high above 3000 meters to the mountain, and travel low down to the tropical beach within three hours. Along with the beautiful landscape, Taiwan is also blessed with rich cultural heritage that making it a perfect family holiday destination.

Taiwan people are very hospitable and friendly; and it is a country where all ethical religions are practised and respected, by its multi-racial background people who have lived in harmony in Taiwan. It has recently been rated by MasterCard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index 2015 as the world’s top 10th country that has facility in place to meet the demand for Muslim travellers and is striving to continuously make improvements. Taiwan is also ranked by all world standards as one of Asia’s most safe countries to travel around.

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau participated in Middle East’s premier travel exhibition, Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) that is held annually in Dubai; with a display that stretched over four days with beautiful orchids and high mountain Taiwan tea as the theme of the Taiwan stand that were flown in specially for the exhibition. Visitors thronged to the Taiwan stand and sampled a number of flavored teas, certified Halal pineapple cakes that are typical of Taiwan; sticky rice cake (Muagi) that is a popular tea snack; enjoyed watching the Tea Ceremony and learnt how to make that perfect cup of tea; and discovered why Taiwan is known as the Kingdom of Butterfly Orchid. Especially flown down from Taiwan for ATM was the classical musician Zither who collaborated to the soothing atmosphere.

Also, in an effort to strengthen its relationship with the travel trade industry in the region and to singularly reach out to the travel agents, consolidators, media and the DMC community in the Middle East; TTB held a series of workshops across the region — the cities where the workshops were conducted include Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Khobar.

The delegation comprised of senior members from various organizations: Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s Singapore Office, Golden Foundation Tours, Edison Travel Service, Happy Go Travel, Pro Tour and Big 5 Tours;conducted B2B sessions and interacted with agents in each city.

The event kicked off with B2B sessions followed by the opening ceremony that was marked by a soothing Zither performance, for which an award winning performer was specially flown down.

“I am confident that the Middle East will emerge as a top source market for Taiwan, as it offers culture, food, shopping, nightlife all in a safe environment that makes it an ideal holiday destination for the traveller from the region. As we continue to reach out to the trade and consumers alike through various activities such as outdoor advertising and branding, ads in the mainline newspapers, trade and media FAM trips etc, we will see positive growth in numbers,” saidMr. Liu Hsi-Lin, Deputy Director-General of Taiwan Tourism Bureau.

The 11th German breakfast and Catalogue Show 2015 in Riyadh, organized by the German Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (GESALO), was a huge success. During the show more than 20 German exhibiting companies representing construction, engineering, fashion & lifestyle, communication, environment, chemical, infrastructure, industries, medical, petrochemical, recycling, security technology, water, waste water, consulting and food presented their products. Hundreds of businessmen attended this event. It was a well-established opportunity to get together to share experiences and to deepen existing relations.

The opening ceremony was held by the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi-Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, Mr. Andreas Hergenroether and Assist. S. General for Economic Affairs of Saudi Chambers, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Al-Sowailem. “Today’s catalogue show is not just a presentation of German products and service but also a proof of the long lasting and sustainable business relations of our two countries,” Mr. Hergenroether said. “The German economy is not only an important trade partner for Saudi Arabia, but equally an important technology and Know How supplier for the Saudi businesses,” he added.

The German Breakfast and Catalogue Show, organized by the German Saudi-Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs has been a huge success for the last 10 years. Since 2004 GESALO is successfully hosting this exclusive event for business guests covering various industries and also the public sector. The show is a major platform for German as well as Saudi business people, CEOs and VIPs to get together to share ideas and visions for the future. It offers an outstanding opportunity for German companies to get in touch with the Saudi market. The Catalogue Show creates and deepens relations between German companies seeking to enter the Saudi market, and Saudi companies looking for new and innovative products and partners. It was the 4th event this month after the catalogue show took place in Manama, Jubail and Dammam. The event is supported by the Platinum Sponsors Henkel, Lufthansa, MAN and Automotive Sponsor Volkswagen.