Emirates launches complimentary ‘Home Check-in’ service for First Class customers

DUBAI, Emirates has started a new ‘Home Check-in’ service that offers customers the option to check in from home.

 

This service is provided free of charge to Emirates’ First Class customers based in Dubai and Sharjah, where the Check-in Agents will visit their homes or hotels at pre-booked timings to complete all check-in formalities, including document verification, checking-in of baggage, and issuing boarding passes. There is an allocated counter at the airport for any last-minute extra luggage.

 

The Check-in Agents will take the luggage directly to the airport, while customers can choose to go to the airport at their convenience using the pre-booked Emirates complimentary chauffeur-drive service.

 

The complimentary Home Check-in service must be booked at least 24 hours prior to flight departure time and the latest check in for the home service is six hours before the flight’s departure, Emirates said in a press release.

 

On arrival at Dubai International airport (DXB), which must be minimum of 90 minutes prior to the flight, customers can proceed directly to immigration and security, and then continue to Emirates’ dedicated First Class Lounge.

 

All Emirates customers can experience a smooth and contactless experience at the airport by using the Emirates App to check-in and issue a mobile boarding pass and using the Emirates’ self-service bag drop.

 

Registered customers can continue hands-free through the airport by using the integrated biometrics tunnel and smart gates at DXB.

 

From the Emirates Lounge, customers can directly board their flight through a private air bridge on certain routes.

 

The airline offers over 1,700 First Class seats across its fleet of A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

 

Source: Emirates News Agency

Dubai records real estate transactions worth AED1.2bn on Thursday

DUBAI, Dubai real estate market recorded 293 sales transactions worth AED 917.85 million, in addition to 92 mortgage deals of AED 294.6 million, and 16 gift deals amounting to AED 47.86 million on Thursday, data released by Dubai’s Land Department (DLD) showed.

 

The sales included 410 villas and apartments worth AED 816.03 million, and 32 land plots worth AED 101.82 million, while mortgages included 80 villas and apartments worth AED 209.65 million and 12 land plots valued at AED 84.96 million, bringing the total realty transactions of today to over AED1.2 billion.

 

Source: Emirates News Agency

‘Dubai Destinations’ campaign continues with focus on unique summer experiences

DUBAI, Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, the #DubaiDestinations initiative is continuing its campaign with a focus on highlighting the city’s exceptional experiences, and exciting events and activities during the summer.

 

The campaign encourages Dubai’s diverse community to discover the city’s unique destinations in the summer and enjoy its distinctive offerings ranging from beach activities, dining and family-friendly activities at hotels, to waterparks, water sports adventures and indoor entertainment that capture the essence of Dubai’s summer experience.

 

The initiative aims to create and disseminate to local, regional and global audiences engaging content that highlights Dubai’s unique character and identity as well as its emergence as the world’s best place to live and visit.

 

The current season of the #DubaiDestinations campaign, running until the end of August, brings together a wide range of public and private sector stakeholders to showcase the emirate’s various exciting experiences. Key partners in the campaign include: the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai; Dubai Municipality; the Roads and Transport Authority; the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority; Dubai Sports Council; Dubai Ladies Club; Emaar; Dubai Holding; Nakheel Properties; Majid Al Futtaim Group; and Merex Investment Office.

 

Mona Al Marri, Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of the Dubai Media Council and Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO), said, “Since its launch, the #DubaiDestinations campaign has focused on highlighting the quintessential Dubai experience and its uniqueness as a destination that offers a range of experiences that meet the tastes and interests of people across ages and nationalities. With the focus now on Dubai’s various summer destinations, the campaign will showcase all that the city has to offer during this season with the objective of further raising the city’s profile as a leading global destination.

 

“As with each season of the campaign, the initiative aims to inspire citizens, residents and tourists to explore the captivating variety of leisure and entertainment choices in the city, including Dubai’s vibrant dining scene, its picturesque beaches, pools, outdoor activities and indoor attractions,” she added.

 

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), noted, “The #DubaiDestinations campaign has contributed to enhancing domestic tourism and boosting the city’s appeal among foreign tourists as a must-visit destination. It has also been able to showcase Dubai as a top family destination by highlighting the city’s exceptional activities and experiences. The latest season of the campaign complements DTCM’s efforts to raise the visibility of the emirate’s various summer attractions and promote the city as an attractive summer destination that offers families a diversity of offerings and experiences to choose from.”

 

Shaima Al Suwaidi, Director of Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office, commented, “The #DubaiDestinations campaign is a key initiative that highlights everything that makes the emirate one of the world’s most distinctive destinations, from its mix of cultures, its culinary melting pot, world-class shows, events, festivities, and entertainment activities. During the next few weeks, Brand Dubai will continue to enhance the profile of Dubai’s various destination offerings, with a special focus on promoting summer destinations and telling stories about the Dubai experience through interactive guides, creative videos, social media platforms and other activations.”

 

Al Suwaidi added that Brand Dubai is set to launch a series of guides designed to help people discover hidden gems in the emirate. These guides will cover exciting summer and weekend activities, summer camps, seaside dining options, and other businesses running fun programmes during the summer. Brand Dubai will also be partnering with several content creators to develop videos and promotional content that will highlight the top activities, experiences and events in the city and where to find them.

 

The #DubaiDestinations campaign will also promote indoor attractions, such as cinemas, indoor sports activities and theme parks, in addition to showcasing Dubai’s most-loved homegrown food outlets from the ‘Proudly from Dubai’ network, an initiative launched by Brand Dubai to highlight the success stories of businesses born and initiated in Dubai.

 

As part of the campaign, some of the emirate’s most accomplished creatives including influencers, photographers, digital media content creators, visual artists, animators and videographers will also be invited to create captivating content about Dubai’s destination offerings.

 

Source: Emirates News Agency

Dubai records decade-high sales transactions in May

DUBAI, Dubai recorded May 2022 6,652 sales transactions worth AED18.4 billion, the highest volume of transactions for the month of May in the past decade, recent data from Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales and rental performance index launched by Dubai Land Department, showed.

 

The emirate’s real estate market recorded a total of 6,652 sales transactions in May 2022, a 51.60 percent increase in volume and a value growth by 66.14 percent, in comparison to the same period last year.

 

The base year for Mo’asher- launched by DLD in cooperation with Property Finder- is 2012, and the base month for the monthly index is January 2012, with the base quarter for the quarterly index being Q1 2012.

 

In May 2022, Mo’asher recorded a 1.296 monthly Index for sales and an index price of AED 1,261,379. The apartment monthly index recorded 1.368 and an index price of AED 1,175,363, additionally the villa/townhouse monthly index recorded 1.338 and an index price of AED 2,150,469.

 

Furthermore, Mo’asher recorded a 0.962 monthly index for rental and an index price of AED 52,013. The apartment monthly index recorded 0.966 and an index price of AED 47,910 and the villa/townhouse monthly index recorded 0.867 and an index price of AED 132,401.

 

Mo’asher’s data for May highlights the continuous positive performance of Dubai’s real estate sector throughout 2022. Overall, sales transactions continue to surpass 2021’s average monthly transactions; the overall sales price index shows a healthy growth since June 2020.

 

The secondary market for sales transactions continues to dominate the real estate market with a steady growth capturing the largest transactions by 58.55 percent in terms of volume and 66.29 percent in terms of value. Both transaction value and volume indicate the strength in ready and off-plan properties, especially regarding apartments, which accounted for 82.34 percent of total transactions, whereas villas/townhouses represent around 17.66 percent.

 

Comparing the overall performance of the first five months in 2022 to the same period in 2021, year-on-year data presents an exceptional performance on the total sales transactions in terms of volume with a record of 34,126 transactions compared to 20,713 transactions in the same period last year. This presents a significant 64.76 percent growth rate year on year.

 

On the other hand, the total rental contracts in May 2022 attained 35,327 registered leases of which 59.6 percent included new contracts whereas 40.4 percent were renewed. Annual contracts acquired 80.9 percent of the total contracts while 19.1 percent were non-annual. Furthermore, the registered leases for residential purposes acquired around 73.8 percent of the total contracts, while 25.3 percent were registered for commercial purposes.

 

When compared to May 2021, the total number of rental leases increased by 2.1 percent driven by the renewal contracts which increased by 4.4 percent compared to the first five months in 2021 as well as an increase in annual leases by 11.5 percent.

 

As for the rental properties by usage, the commercial rental leases witnessed an increase of 8.47 percent compared to the first five months in 2021.

 

The top areas according to Ejari Registrations for the most rental transactions in May 2022 were Jabal Ali First (1,398 contracts), Al Warsan First (1,285), Business Bay (1,029), Al Barsha South Fourth (958), Nadd Hessa (957), Marsa Dubai (946), Muhaisanah Fourth (934), Al Nahda Second (893), Al Thanyah Fifth (798), and Al Karama (776).

 

Source: Emirates News Agency

UAE participates in St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

ABU DHABI, Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, is participating in the 25th session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), running from 15th-18th June, 2022.

 

Addressing the forum, Al Olama highlighted the depth and width of the UAE-Russia relations and the importance of strengthening ties towards more joint cooperation in the economic fields, in a way that achieves the developmental goals of the two countries and ensures a prosperous future for their peoples.

 

During his participation, the Minister signed an agreement of intent to organise UAE’s participation as the guest of honor at the forum’s next edition in 2023, noting that the SPIEF helps open up wider trade development and investment partnerships between the two nations.

 

On the sidelines of the forum, Al Olama met with a number of Russian ministers and officials, in addition to delegations from the participating countries, to review the prospects of strengthening joint economic cooperation over the next period.

 

The UAE and the Eurasian Economic Commission, in its capacity as the permanent body of the Eurasian Economic Union, also signed an MoU on developing trade and economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union member states and the UAE towards achieving higher levels of trade exchanges and exploring paths to ease trade development.

 

The areas of cooperation include customs, financial markets, transportation, agro-industrial sector, industry, intellectual property, information and communication technology, in addition to digital transformation of the economy.

 

Source: Emirates News Agency

Global Village invites bids to bring innovative F&B concepts to life in Season 27

DUBAI, Global Village has opened bids for restaurants and cafes for the upcoming 27th season, with kiosks and street food carts invited to register on its online B2B portal.

 

Dubbed as the “wonder you can taste”, Global Village brings together regional and international cuisines in an eclectic mix of dining options at the multicultural destination.

 

Each season, millions of guests enjoy dining experiences from every corner of the globe at the 200+ restaurants, cafés, and street food kiosks, which deliver unique culinary adventures. In Season 27, the park is set to host new and innovative concepts that offer truly diverse flavours and celebrate dynamic food cultures from around the world.

 

Ahmed Khidir, Senior Leasing Manager, Global Village, said, “Global Village has become a “foodie” destination with one of the most diverse offerings in the region. Our partners bring guests on a culinary journey around the world with both traditional and innovative cuisines from different countries. This time of year is always an exciting period as we explore fresh concepts with new partners. We make it easy for both seasoned restaurateurs and new entrants to pilot concepts. It is so rewarding when we see businesses that started in Global Village expand to other locations across the country and the region.”

 

Source: Emirates News Agency