The UAE Connect event was held in the Westin Hotel in Dublin yesterday, 26th October. The event brings together the best of the Emirates including hotels, airlines, travel experience and tourism organisations with representatives from across the travel industry serving the United Arab Emirates.
UAE Connect was the event to discover the Emirates, all in one place. The event brings together all key organisations serving the UAE and enables attendees to network with a range of companies present.
Fabulous Prizes
Three fabulous prizes went to the following:
Lorraine Quinn (The Travel Suite) – Emirates Return Flights for 2 to Dubai with a two-night stay at Marsa Al Arab Jumeirah with airport transfers and a desert safari excursion provided by Desert Adventures.
Trisha O’Reilly (Best4Travel, Navan) – Etihad Airways Return Flights for 2 to Abu Dhabi with a 2-night stay at the Atlantis The Royal and complimentary tickets to Dubai parks & resorts.
Helen Kelly (Platinum Travel) – Luggage organiser from Ras Al Khaimah plus a fabulous goodie bag which included blue tooth speakers, a Dubai hat, T-shirt and €30 Amazon Voucher from Visit Dubai.
Ambassador of UAE to Ireland
Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Ireland, H.E. Mohammed Hmoud Hamad Rahma Alshamsi spoke at the event:
“Since 2018 trade flows between the two countries have been steadily increasing with a constant annual growth rate of about 8%.”
“Our bilateral relations with Ireland has a number of milestones since 1947 when we established diplomatic relations. This was strengthened by the opening of the Embassy of Ireland in Abu Dhabi in 2009 and the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in 2010. Following the opening of the two embassies there has been an increase in the number of Emirati students studying in Ireland. And an increase in the number of Irish nationals studying in the UAE.”
“Tourism plays a major role to connect our two nations… The number of tourists reached about 85,000 in 2022. Current flights between the UAE and Ireland UN amount to 21 flights weekly operated by Etihad and Emirates. Such a number makes a huge impact, on both the aviation and tourism sectors by connecting Dublin with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the Far East in Asia.”
“Emirati and Irish officials have made it clear that cooperation between the two countries is heading towards a new frontier in the upcoming period. Both countries are looking forward to a future of closer collaboration in order to develop strategic relations in the years ahead.”
Jason Aaron Kearns & Callum Philip Elsdon / Etihad Airways
Jason Aaron Kearns (Account Manager Ireland) & Callum Philip Elsdon (Marketing Officer, UK & Ireland) for Etihad Airways
Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal A is opening this November. This will be the new home of Etihad Airways and the team in Dublin promises that this will provide unparalleled travel experiences, and seamless connectivity all under one roof as well as a new lounge offering for passengers. Terminal A will also offer streamlined check-in areas for Economy, Business and First Class as well as for families.
The move to Terminal A commences on 9th November and the team asks that if you are travelling with Etihad between 9th November and 14th November, make sure passengers check their terminal within 72 hours before flight departure – follow the link here. Flights operating between 1 – 8 November will arrive and depart from Terminals 1 and 3 while after 11 am on 14th November, all Etihad Airways flights will operate to and from Terminal A.
Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal A
In terms of time from plane to kerb, from disembarking the flight, collecting luggage and arriving at the doors of a taxi, impressively this is expected to take under 20 minutes.
Terminal A is located less than 20 minutes from Yas Island, the entertainment capital of Abu Dhabi and is around half an hour from the city centre and major attractions like the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Taxis are easy to get from the airport or Etihad Coach service is a quick and cost-effective way to travel between Abu Dhabi airport, Al Ain and Dubai. It’s complimentary if passengers book in advance, or AED 25 (c. €6.45) on the day.
If passengers are travelling in First Class or on select Business tickets, there is the complimentary Etihad Chauffeur service for a quick and convenient transfer to anywhere in the UAE.
Filippo Rocchi Details Demand for Emirates
Filippo Rocchi (Account Manager, Emirates) spoke to ITTN in relation to the event, “The day was great. UE Connect really connected several agents. Dubai has never been so strong on numbers.”
Filippo explained they have many Irish visitors and continue to operate a Boeing 777 double daily which is working really well, in particular, the K164 service that flies overnight and lands in Dubai in the morning and flies back in the afternoon.
Passengers are reminded that Etihad offers free Wi-Fi on board which is quite popular. Passengers should register for Etihad’s frequent flyer program, Emirates Skywards, before check-in to avail of this offer. Enter your frequent flyer number onboard and get free wifi for the flight.
Visit Dubai at UAE Connect
Katie Bifield (Account Director – UK and Ireland) represented Visit Dubai at the UAE Connect Conference.
Katie shared with ITTN, “It was a great opportunity to connect with the Irish travel trade and hear first-hand what their clients are seeking and enjoying from a holiday in Dubai. We are looking forward to strengthening our relationships in this market and doing even more to showcase the world-class hotels, attractions, and experiences of this incredible city”.
Visit Dubai, of course, hosted a fabulous fam trip highlighting the extensive experiences earlier this year. Check out ITTN’s reports to find out first hand what this destination has on offer: Visit Dubai delivers Exceptional Experiences, ITTN’s Shane Cullen interviews Caesar Palace Dubai or ITTN reports on Atlantis The Royal and Atlantis The Palm with Visit Dubai.
Arabian Adventures with Emirates Group
Adam El-Masri told ITTN “We’re one of the original DMCs in the destination. We’re part of the Emirates Group and we can cater for any aspect of your clients’ travel to anywhere in the UAE.”
“We’ve got our portal where people can sign up, they can log in and book everything through that. We also have a dedicated reservation team who are amazing. They work in two shifts in Dubai so they are always contactable. They have really great relationships with the hotels.
Adam has established a new office in the UK and he is supporting the UK and Irish markets. He explains “We pride ourselves on our service”.
Ras Al Khaimah and Camp 1770
Emma Charlesworth was delighted with the rising popularity of Ras Al Khaimah; “We’ve had the most amount of visitors we have ever had into the destination in 2022. We’ve already seen an increase in that in 2023, we’ve just seen some figures come through from the summer period. And we’ve had a massive increase in our UK and Ireland visitors.”
She added “And we’re hoping, we’re gonna have much more to come with all our future hotel projects in the destination.”
Concerning new excursions in Ras Al Khaimah, Emma shared, “So the start of this year, we started to do hot air balloon rides in the desert which is over the nature reserve and they have you in the air for when the sun comes up from behind the mountains, the views are incredible.”
“And we’ve also started to bring small groups up into the mountains to camp 1770, which is very much wellness classes and connecting with nature in the mountains.”
Explore the great outdoors, camping, sustainable locally cooked food and be at one with your soul and nature. Camp 1770 is the highest camp in the United Arab Emirates and allows guests to camp in the great outdoors, and experience locally cooked food. It offers stunning views of the Jebel Jais mountains as well as abandoned shepherd communities, date farms, fishing villages, and the Arabian Gulf’s coastline.
Dubai Parks and Resorts
Georgina Wixley told us about several great hotel options in the Dubai Parks region, Lapita being one of them. Lapita is a Polynesian-themed, luxury resort in Dubai offering unparalleled access to Dubai’s famous theme parks. This hotel has 504 rooms including 60 suites and 3 villas, 2 pools (Family and children-friendly) with a “Lazy River” feature, a play lagoon, a water playground, 5 restaurants & bars plus a health club & SPA.
Legoland Hotel offers 250 Lego-themed family rooms, sleeping up to 5 people (fantastic news for parents with 3 kids!). There are 5 room themes: Adventure, Lego Friends, Pirate Lego, Ninjago and Kingdom. The hotel also has an amazing outdoor swimming pool, workshops and master builder sessions. A Legoland Hotel stay includes breakfast and access to Legoland Theme Park and/or Water Park (access to 1 Park with 1-night stay; 2 Parks with 2-night stay). For more, check out https://www.legoland.com/dubai/legoland-hotel/.
Next to Legoland’s Dubai Theme Park & Water Park
This is just steps away from Legolands Dubai theme park & water park. This is the best in family-themed hospitality, located in the heart of Dubai Parks & Resorts
There is a colossal 1 million gallon Lego wave pool and over 20 water slides and attractions. 300 gallons of water splashing visitors every few minutes from the jocker soaker’s bucket. In addition, there is the DUPLO toddler play area and Build-A-Raft River where visitors can build their own LEGO raft.
Legoland Dubai offers 2 dining options, quick service outlets and 1 themed family restaurant. There is also VIP treatment with private cabanas.
Legoland Dubai has 15,000 Lego model structures made from over 6 million Lego Bricks, 40 Lego-themed rides, shows, attractions and building experiences, 7 retail outlets and a collection of kiosks, 6 theme lands, 5 themed family restaurants plus an array of quick-service outlets plus amazing entertainment and character meet & greets.
