Emirates has signed a number of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on the first day of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) with Tourism Malaysia, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce.
These agreements demonstrate the airline’s commitment to entice more travellers across its network of more than 140 destinations to experience the sights, culture and attractions of each destination, in addition to supporting travel opportunities for local UAE companies and SMEs.
Tourism Malaysia
Emirates and Tourism Malaysia will work to promote tourism and boost visitor traffic into Malaysia from the airline’s global network. The MoU was signed by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East and Datuk (Dr.) Yasmin Mahmood, Chairman of Tourism Malaysia in the presence of Nabil Sultan, Emirates Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales & Country Management.
Through the strategic agreement, both parties will explore joint advertising and tactical campaigns and where viable, Emirates will facilitate familiarisation trips from key markets in the Gulf and the Middle East to Malaysia to generate awareness and demand.
Orhan Abbas commented: “For over three decades, we’ve been serving Malaysia with world-class service and industry-leading products, while seamlessly connecting the popular gateway with the rest of the world. We’re excited to collaborate with Tourism Malaysia to help drive more traffic growth into the market by leveraging our extensive global network to generate more opportunities for travellers to explore Malaysia’s rich attractions, unique landmarks, and cultural heritage.”
Emirates and Batik Air Malaysia
Last year, Emirates and Batik Air Malaysia launched a codeshare agreement, allowing Emirates’ customers to easily access five domestic Malaysian cities and three regional Southeast Asia points via Kuala Lumpur.
Türkiye Tourism
Emirates and the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) will collaborate on strengthening Türkiye’s touristic appeal in new and existing source markets. The agreement was signed by Thierry Aucoc, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and İsmail Bütün, General Manager of TGA in the presence of Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer.
Under the new agreement, Emirates and TGA will join hands to promote tourism from key markets across the airline’s global network, explore opportunities to organise familiarisation trips to Türkiye, and collaborate on joint marketing and promotional campaigns that highlight the destination’s uniqueness.
Thierry Aucoc commented: “We’re pleased to partner with the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), to boost visitor traffic into Türkiye. Through our extensive network and track-record of strong global partnerships, we’re well-placed to support the market’s tourism goals and air connectivity needs. Türkiye is one of the most popular destinations in our network due to its vibrant cultural highlights, world-renowned heritage sites and fantastic gastronomic offerings, we’re confident that our collaborative efforts will inspire more travellers to visit the country and explore its many attractions.”
Türkiye welcomed around 56.7 million visitors in 2023, and so far in 2024, has drawn in more than 7 million foreign visitors in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 13.37%. Emirates currently operates 21 weekly flights to Istanbul with a mix of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s.
The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Emirates and The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) will work together to provide travel services at preferential rates to ADCCI’s employees and members, in addition to providing Chamber members with additional benefits under its Business Rewards programme for SMEs. ADCCI will enable Emirates to promote its new products and destination network, as well as special offers, to Chamber members at its busy roster of events, and the airline will also serve its members with marketing promotions across its digital platforms.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
