Within the UNWTO-UAE Tourism Leadership Programme, this year’s Workshop on “Innovative Approaches to Destination Branding” was inaugurated on 1st May by Mohamed Elnaggar, Tourism Affairs Expert from the National Tourism Programme of Ministry of Economy of United Arab Emirates; Omar Valdez, UNWTO.Themis Foundation Executive Director; Prof. Dr. Jörg Finsinger, Academic Head of MODUL University Dubai; Dr. Edith M. Szivas, Academic Director at UNWTO.Themis Foundation; and the facilitators of the workshop, Adam Bates and Jesse Desjardins.

 

This year’s UNWTO-UAE Executive Training Workshop is organized by the World Tourism Organization and its UNWTO.Themis Foundation, in partnership with MODUL University Dubai and with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates.

 

The 3-day Workshop wishes to share - with a step-by-step practical methodology, short presentations, discussions, debates, group work and practical activities - knowledge, processes and tools on global tourism trends, brand types, the experience economy and branding strategies.

 

Zaid Maleh, Managing Director of MODUL University Dubai, said: “This is a landmark achievement for MODUL University Dubai to be hosting this unique, first-of-its-kind workshop by UNWTO. Through this, the participants aim to acquire knowledge on the tourism trends, understand key concepts on the brand types, and branding strategies and look at ways at developing a brand for a destination. This is a great learning curve for tourism and hospitality professionals in the GCC and region and we thank the UAE Ministry of Economy and UNWTO for their faith in MODUL University Dubai in hosting such a prestigious event.”

The UNWTO.TedQual Programme is pleased to announce that the following Tourism Education Programm at Ammon Applied University College, Jordan, has been awarded the UNWTO.TedQual Certification:

• Renewal Process:
• B.A. in Hotel Management

List of Institutions with UNWTO.TedQual certified tourism education and training programmes

 

Category tags

PR No.: PR 18007

Organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Casa Árabe, the public consortium headed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event focused on current trends and short term prospects in the region and discussed policies and strategies for consolidating recovery and to stepping up tourism’s contribution to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development.

Opening the event, UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, said that “The MENA holds a strong tourism potential. The region has proven yet again its resilience and demand will continue to recover as consumer confidence rises and rises. There are many reasons for optimism and I come into this meeting full of confidence for the region’s future. UNWTO forecasts point to MENA receiving 195 million international tourists by 2030”.

Participating in the debate were H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Bahrain, Mr. Hesham El Demeiry, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, Mr. Abdel Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director of Jordan Tourism Board, H.E. Mr. Avedis Guidanian, Minister of Tourism of Lebanon, H.E. Ms. Rula Ma’ayah, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine and H.E. Mr. Mohamed Al Muhairi, Undersecretary for Tourism at the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates.

According to the latest UNWTO International Tourism Barometer, international arrivals to the Middle East grew by 5% and by 13% to North Africa in 2017.

 

Useful links:

Ministerial Round Table on Tourism Development Policies and Strategies in the Middle East and North Africa Region

UNWTO Regional Programme for the Middle East

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

Contacts:

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / mrisi@UNWTO.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

 

With nineteen participants from Bahrain, Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia and UAE, the UNWTO/UAE Tourism Leadership Programme in the United Arab Emirates on “Digital Marketing in Tourism”, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the Ministry of Economy of UAE (MOE), was closed on 21st November by Abdulla Al Hammadi, Director of the National Tourism Programme for the Ministry of Economy of UAE and dr. Edith Szivas, UNWTO.Themis Course Coordinator, with presence of MOE and UNWTO.Themis Course facilitators.

 

 

If you are interested in hosting a UNWTO course or workshop in your country please visit: /content/unwtocapacity

The UNWTO/UAE Tourism Leadership Programme in the United Arab Emirates on “Digital Marketing  in Tourism”, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, was inaugurated on 19th November by Abdulla Al Hammadi, Director of the National Tourism Programme from the Ministry of Economy of United Arab Emirates, Omar Valdez, UNWTO.Themis Foundation Executive Director, Dr. Edith M. Szivas, Course Coordinator at UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the facilitators of the course, Montserrat Peñarroya and Dimitrios Buhalis.

In today's fast-changing and competitive environment, consumers unquestionably desire unique products and experiences - and destinations and businesses respond to this request by designing and promoting experiences that add value to their goods and services. Technology has emerged as the pervasive and robust platform for tourism organizations and for destination distribution and management. New developments such as Augmented Reality provide incredible opportunities for tourism organizations to develop their competitiveness. Furthermore, increasingly SoLoMo marketing which brings together Social Media, Location and Context Based Marketing and Mobile platforms and application will be critical for the competitiveness of tourism. The competitiveness of tourism organisations and destinations in the future will depend on their ability to manage digital tourism in a strategic and operational way to generate technology empowered constant innovation to manage consumer experiences and local assets and resources profitably and sustainably.

This Executive Training Course will challenge participants to think of their use of technology and their digital footprint to maximize their visibility, engagement, conversion and loyalty. Participants will be encouraged to think of how they can co-create tourism experiences and how they can develop benefits for all participants in the marketplace. A theoretical-practical methodology will be followed which includes presentations, discussions, debates, Q&A sessions, group work and practical activities.