UAE’s tourism continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s most dynamic and dependable travel destinations. Industry leaders share with TravTalk how cooperation, agility, and determination have defined the sector’s response.
Dr Shehara Rizly
The United Arab Emirates has shown one of the best examples to the world as its travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors worked together to ensure safety and stability of the industry in recent times. Amid periods of disruption and global uncertainty, the industry showed that collaboration between the public and private sectors remains its greatest strength. Government authorities, airlines, hospitality groups, and travel partners worked in close alignment to safeguard traveller confidence, maintain operational stability, and ensure seamless visitor experiences.
HE Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri
Minister of Economy and Tourism UAE
Tourism remains a cornerstone of the UAE’s economic diversification strategy and a key driver of sustainable growth. Over the years, the UAE has built a highly connected travel ecosystem that brings together tourism authorities, airlines, airports and private sector, ensuring the sector remains resilient.
Noor Ahmad Hamid
CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association
Travel depends on peace and stability. As PATA marks its 75th anniversary, we are reminded that tourism itself is a product of stability and cooperation. This may be the moment for global tourism associations to come together and call for de-escalation, constructive dialogue, and responsible leadership.
Gloria Guevara
President & CEO, WTTC
WTTC’s members and partners are working together to prioritise safety, share information, and support travellers and communities affected by disruption. Travel & Tourism plays a vital role in connecting people, sustaining livelihoods and fostering mutual understanding.
Jai Kishan Tewani
Managing Director & Partner, Blueberry Travel
During the Middle East airspace closures, our priority was to ensure our travellers remained supported, informed, and reassured at every step. Our teams worked closely with airline partners, airport authorities, embassies, and Dubai authorities, while continuously monitoring official government channels to maintain accuracy of information. As flight disruptions escalated, our agents, in coordination with airline partners, also initiated charter flight requests.
Dinkar Dasaur
General Manager – UAE, Satguru Ttravel
During the airspace closures, our focus was on ensuring travellers continued to receive timely support. We worked with airline partners to organise special and charter flights. A dedicated hotline was introduced so that travellers could quickly reach our teams for guidance. In addition, a dedicated reservations team handled urgent re-bookings and last-minute itinerary changes. We were also able to support corporate clients.
Sushant Pilankar
Manager – Leisure and MICE, Uranus Travel
During the recent airspace closures, our team activated Crisis Support to collaborate with airlines, network partners, and following authorities directives to ensure our travellers received accurate updates, timely support, and safe passage. UAE’s authorities were instrumental in safeguarding the wellbeing of people.
Ali Asgar Hussain
Managing Director, Turning Point Tourism
When the airspace closures happened, our focus was on staying connected with partners across the travel chain. As a destination management company, we were in constant contact with airlines, hotels, transport providers, and local authorities to adjust itineraries and make sure travellers already in the country were supported.
Victor Abou-Ghanem
CEO, STORY Hospitality
During periods of volatility, our travel ecosystem works best when we act as one value chain. Airlines secure airlift and predictable capacity; hotels use that info and translate into compelling experiences. Tourism boards coordinate global storytelling and data, while governments invest in infrastructure, safety, and visa facilitation.
Habeeb Rahman
Manager – Operations, Airline Affairs & ASU, ATS Travel
During the recent Middle East airspace closures, ATS Travel activated its 24/7 crisis management team. 1,862 travellers outside the region — on business or bleisure trips — were contacted and provided with options to either extend stay or travel safely via alternative routes.
Giacomo Puntel
General Manager, Grand Millennium Hotel Dubai
The past weeks have been a powerful reminder that the travel and tourism ecosystem only works when all stakeholders move together. What we are witnessing across the industry is a remarkable example of collaboration under pressure. Aviation, hotels, and travel partners worked in tandem.
Anna Skigin
Founder & CEO, Frank Porter
In the holiday homes sector, our focus is on supporting our guests during this time. We are offering cancellations when needed, extending stays, and providing better rates for those who can’t travel. We are continuously in touch with government entities, including DCT Abu Dhabi.
Dumani Ndebele
Regional FBO Director, ExecuJet Middle East
The safety of our guests and team members remained our top priority throughout the situation. Our first step was maintaining close communication with aviation authorities, airport operators, and industry partners to ensure we were working from the same verified information as the situation evolved.
Eti Bhasin
Executive Director, Majestic Hotels, UAE
We managed to maintain similar or optimum rates considering the situation of stranded passengers, especially via our industry partners. After directives from the authorities, we gave a clear and better understanding to our guests on what precautions need to be undertaken and latest updates on flights.
Dhruv Ranjan Verma
Founder & CEO, Thriwe
Organisations working in the travel space are in a special position to support travellers in situations where the usual travel services are impacted. The potential of a loyalty-based travel ecosystem to give travellers more flexibility, security, and benefits is a powerful way to build trust in travelling even in uncertain times.
Scott Wilcox
Founder & Senior Advisor, Sicuro Group
Nationals from many countries were waiting on clear, unambiguous guidance from their home governments. It was guidance that, given the pace of events, was genuinely difficult to provide and disseminate. In that gap, our role was to give clients the operational picture they needed to make informed decisions.
