WTM 2017 NEWS YOU CAN USE
Ras Al Khaimah unveils training site Katie McGonagle
katie.mcgonagle@
travelweekly.co.uk
Ras Al Khaimah has developed its first agent training programme and announced fam trips for next year to educate the trade about the emirate.
This comes as the United Arab
Emirates destination gets ready to unveil the world’s longest zipline – open for VIPs from December 4 and for the public from January 1, 2018 – among a host of adventure product set to open next year. Haitham Mattar, chief executive
of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said: “We
will continue education through fam trips, and we will be launching our online training portal for the trade in December. “It’s the first time we’ve had a
training programme. We thought it the best way to ensure we keep our travel agents abreast of the developments.” The online course will
initially have three modules – an introduction to the destination, adventure, and culture – with further modules to be added. Agents who complete the course
will be eligible for discounts on activities and attractions in the destination and will receive invitations to workshops and get the chance to attend a fam trip.
ZIP IT: Entrance to Ras Al Khaimah’s new zip line attraction
Thomas Cook opened its Smartline Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort this month, one of 13 properties set to open by 2020. There has also been significant
investment in adventure tourism product: enhancing capacity on the via ferrata (protected climbing route) on the UAE’s highest mountain Jebel Jais; installing a
Magaluf’s upmarket strategy boosted by new Meliá property
A five-year plan to transform Magaluf will include an upmarket resort and shopping centre by the beach next year. Tourism chiefs say the strategy is starting to reap its rewards after two years. The Majorcan resort is attracting more families and couples and relying less on the youth market, said Calvia mayor Alfonso Rodriguez, while the tourist season is being extended to run from March until November. A crackdown on pub crawls in
2014 banned drinking in the street between 10pm and 8am. Meliá Hotels International
is due to open a €45 million resort, comprising three hotels, underground parking and upmarket shopping complex, by the beach next May.
24
travelweekly.co.uk 16 November 2017
new Jebel Jais Viewing Deck; and mapping out hiking routes and biking trails to open in mid-2018. The tourist board is developing
a potential site for a Bear Grylls survival academy and working on a luxury campsite and adventure park in the mountains, which
could open by this time next year.
raktravelmaster.com
MAGALUF:Meliá is set to open a three-hotel complex next year
Meliá Hotels International chief
real estate officer Mark Hoddinott said: “We are rebuilding a hotel that has been shut for nine years. We have partially demolished it and rebuilt it with 5,000 square metres of shopping space.” The complex will include a
270-room hotel with a suspended glass swimming pool. Roads to the beach around the
complex are also being improved.
visitcalvia.com
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