Airline’s commitment to attract more travellers

Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) opened its doors to the public at the Dubai World Trade Center on Monday. The exhibitors are upbeat about this year event. Gulf Today shares the candid views of various exhibitors and companies.

Emirates signed eight Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on the first day of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) with the Tourism Boards of Sharjah, The Philippines, Maldives, Visit Britain, Thailand, Japan National Tourist Organisation (JNTO), Uganda and Hungary.

These agreements demonstrate the airline’s commitment to attract more travellers across its extensive network of more than 140 destinations to experience each locale’s distinctive sights, culture and attractions, as well as boosting tourism to the wider UAE through strategic collaborations.

Emirates and Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Authority (SCTDA), will work together to jointly promote tourism and boost visitor arrivals to the UAE emirate of Sharjah.

The new partnership, which takes effect from Monday, will see Emirates and SCTDA explore and implement promotional activities and offer bespoke packages for tour operators and the wider travel trade in key markets. Emirates and SCTDA will also explore opportunities to create unique products and packages marketed directly to Emirates’ customers via ‘Dubai Experience’ on the airline’s website. This is in addition to advertising and cross promotional marketing campaigns, familiarisation programmes for travel trade and media, as well as promotional competitions aimed to encourage visits to Sharjah as part of their overall UAE holiday.

Emirates and the Department of Tourism Philippines will work to promote the Southeast Asian nation and help drive inbound tourist flows, particularly from the Middle East and Europe. Both entities will explore avenues of cooperation across marketing and advertising to further boost visitor traffic to the Philippines, in addition to organising familiarisation trips for media and key tourism stakeholders from European and Middle Eastern markets.

Emirates and the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation for the Republic of the Maldives will collaborate to attract more visitors to the archipelago nation through the airline’s global network. The strategic partnership underscores Emirates’ commitment to promoting tourism to the destination, which has been part of its West Asian and Indian Ocean network since 1987. Emirates will promote the Maldives in key markets across its global network through joint advertising campaigns, familiarisation trips, customised travel packages, as well as activate tour operators and travel agencies. The airline will also support the development of business and trade opportunities in the Maldives, via its cargo-handling capabilities.

Emirates has signed a declaration of intent with VisitBritain to boost inbound tourism to the UK, including key strategic markets across the Middle East, Far East Asia and Australasia. Under the agreement, Emirates and VisitBritain will explore joint promotions and tactical efforts, familiarisation trips to the UK for media and travel agents; and support other promotional activities that will increase travel demand to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. According to VisitBritain’s forecast, the UK is expected to welcome 43.4 million visits in 2025. Playing a vital role in supporting this growth, Emirates operates 133 weekly flights to/from the UK across eight gateways.

Emirates and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have established a new strategic partnership aimed at driving inbound tourism from the airline’s global network to Thailand.

Emirates and TAT will collaborate on a range of marketing and promotional initiatives to highlight Thailand’s appeal as a premier destination. The partnership will include joint advertising campaigns, familiarisation trips for key media representatives, and joint efforts with travel agents and tour operators to offer promotional packages, giveaways, and incentives across Emirates’ key markets.

Emirates has pledged its support to help grow tourism demand with the Japan National Tourism organisation (JNTO) between Japan and the Middle East. The partnership will include a series of data sharing, joint analyses and potential promotional campaigns to drive awareness and visitation to Japan.

Building on a successful year of collaboration, Emirates and Uganda Tourism Board have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 2025. With a focus on driving inbound tourism to Uganda, the partnership underscores the airline’s ongoing commitment to market Uganda as a premier tourist destination. Since signing the MoU in 2024, Emirates and the Uganda Tourism Board have hosted familiarisation trips for key trade partners, hoteliers, travel agency partners and tour operators, who are instrumental in driving awareness of the destination worldwide. Emirates has also noted a 16% uptick in passengers on the Dubai-Entebbe route, since January 2025.

Emirates and Visit Hungary will work together to boost inbound tourism to the country. Under the agreement, Emirates and Visit Hungary will drive joint marketing and advertising campaigns to showcase Hungary’s touristic appeal. The two partners will also work closely to organise familiarisation trips for media and travel agents, as well as support other promotional campaigns to increase travel demand to Budapest.

Central Hotels & Resorts: Central Hotels & Resorts, one of the fastest-growing hospitality management companies in the UAE, exhibited at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025.

With a bold vision for the future of hospitality, the homegrown brand will reveal a dynamic roadmap of expansion, unveil transformative tech solutions, and spotlight strategic alliances—all designed to elevate the guest journey and redefine excellence in the region’s thriving travel and tourism sector.

“Our participation at ATM 2025 is a testament to our continuous drive to innovate and enhance the guest experience while maintaining our commitment to sustainability,” said Abdulla Al Abdulla, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Central Hotels & Resorts.

“By leveraging AI-driven personalisation, predictive analytics, and smart automation, we are transforming hospitality services to meet the evolving needs of modern travellers. Our vision is to blend cutting-edge technology with warm, authentic hospitality to create seamless and memorable stays for our guests.” As part of its forward-thinking approach, Central Hotels & Resorts is revolutionizing hospitality with AI-powered digital transformation. By harnessing advanced technologies, the group is optimizing customer engagement through personalized recommendations, AI-driven marketing strategies, and automated operational processes. These innovations enhance efficiency while ensuring tailored experiences that cater to individual guest preferences.

GNTO GCC: The German National Tourist Office GCC (GNTO GCC) that GCC visitors to Germany have grown steadily to over 489,689 in 2024, a steady year-on-year increase of 1.2% and an impressive 21% increase when compared with the total visitor numbers in 2022.

The announcement was made during a press conference, which was held on the opening day of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025.

Yamina Sofo, Director at the German National Tourist Office GCC (GNTO GCC), an affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), commented, “We have now witnessed considerable growth in visitor numbers from the GCC countries since the end of the pandemic.

“These figures underscore Germany’s increasing post pandemic popularity with GCC visitors and bodes well for 2025. With direct flights from the GCC countries to Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hannover, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hamburg, this year we want to encourage GCC residents to visit Germany and experience our diverse year-round tourism offering.” Luis Monreal, Senior Director Sales Middle East Lufthansa Group Airlines, commented: “Lufthansa Group is proud to team up this year with the DZT as their official carrier. We connect the GCC with Germany nonstop since 1960 with its flights to Saudi Arabia. Lufthansa and Eurowings offer both to our passengers German hospitality already on board. Lufthansa, as a premium carrier, offers stable and year- round connections to Frankfurt and Munich from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam. Our value-airline Eurowings is expanding substantially since 2023 in the GCC by offering more direct connections to other German such as Berlin, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hanover.

musafir.com: musafir.com, the UAE’s leading travel management platform, announced the official launch of musafirtag, a next-generation booking tool tailored for travel agents, sub-agents, and reseller partners across the GCC and beyond. The unveiling took place at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025, reinforcing musafir.com’s commitment to innovation and digital transformation in the region’s travel trade ecosystem.

Built for the modern travel professional, musafirtag combines robust Agent Tools, an intelligent Back Office, and a supplier-facing Extranet—all housed in one seamless interface. Travel agents gain access to a full inventory including Flights, Hotels, Transfers, Activities, and Visas, with real-time booking capabilities, scalable controls, and deep customization options.

“musafirtag is more than a product—it’s our bold step forward in reshaping the B2B travel landscape across the region. We’ve brought together deep industry insight and cutting-edge technology to build a platform that empowers every agent, every sub-agent, and every customer touch point,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani Chairman and Co-Founder of musafir.com.

What Sets “musafirtag” Apart Unmatched Flight Connectivity: Access to multiple GDS providers, combined with direct integrations with low-cost carriers. One of the first in the UAE to integrate Emirates’ New Distribution Capability (NDC).

Smart Agent Management: Customize access, markups, commissions, and credit limits across a multi-tiered agent hierarchy, making the platform ideal for scaling regional networks.

White-Labelling & Custom Branding: Agents can launch fully-branded travel portals with real-time engines and curated content, turning resellers into independent travel brands.

Live Dashboards & Reporting: Stay on top of every booking, cancellation, and sale with customizable reporting dashboards—filtered by agent, market, or product.

Inventory Management System (Charter Module): to manage bulk inventory and special fares Unified Platform, Multiple Services: From flights inventory to visa offers, holiday packages, hotels, transfers and activities everything is managed within one powerful ecosystem.

musafirtag isn’t just a technology launch, it is a strategic move to empower regional travel professionals with the tools to compete and grow in an increasingly digital economy. With built-in CRM capabilities, booking insights, secure transactions, and partner management tools, the platform ensures agents can focus more on selling and less on admin.

“With musafirtag, we’re putting cutting-edge tools directly into the hands of travel agents—because they’re the ones driving the industry forward,” said Sachin Gadoya, CEO and Co-Founder of musafir.com. “We’ve built a platform that’s smart, scalable, and future-ready—so our partners can spend less time on operations and more time growing their business.”