TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
China is an important source market to the UAE. Already the travel between UAE and China has been on the rise, especially business travel. With Etihad and Emirates announcing additional flights to both Beijing and Shanghai due to the high demand, it’s a positive comeback after over two and a half years to welcome this important source market.
Shehara Rizly
When it was announced that Chinese travellers will be able to start their outbound destinations, Riyadh Airports Company (RAC) started to work on Chinese standards to be implemented at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) to make it friendly for the Chinese tourists. Chinese travellers view the “Welcome Chinese certification” as the global standard for hospitality services for international travel. An E-visa is already available for Chinese travellers to Saudi Arabia and KKIA is enhancing its welcome to all Chinese travellers and carriers to Riyadh. From UAE, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority conducted a special workshop for their stakeholders on how best they can receive the Chinese travellers to the destination. Raki Phillips – CEO – Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, shared, “With China lifting travel quarantines for inbound travellers, we will no doubt see a positive impact on Chinese tourists travelling abroad too. With the recent hotel openings and new attractions, Ras Al Khaimah is well positioned to actively attract Chinese travellers.”
Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations, Far East, Emirates, added, “We have been serving mainland China since 2004. We are proud to contribute to China’s travel and tourism sector, and help build trade and tourism links between the UAE and China. We are optimistic about China’s international travel recovery and are proud to play a major role in facilitating air connectivity that drives both inbound and outbound traffic via our Dubai hub, while keeping our ‘fly better’ promise of offering a world-class service and industry-leading products to our customers.”
Martin Drew, Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Cargo, at Etihad Aviation Group, explained, “Etihad is committed to developing operations to China, and we look forward to welcoming more travellers onboard in the new year to experience our award-winning hospitality.”
Anson Lau – Managing Director – Shiji Distribution Solutions, said, “Travels between China and the Middle East region looks promising in 2023 and beyond. UAE has always been uniquely positioned to attract travelers from China. Our leisure travellers want to see and experience the Arab history & culture.
