Latest headlines in Travel News

  • WTTC and ICC unite to strengthen the voice and growth of millions of Travel & Tourism SMEs worldwide (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:49:09)
    The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen the voice, growth and competitiveness of millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the global Travel & Tourism sector.The partnership brings together WTTC’s specialist Travel & Tourism expertise, economic research and industry insight with ICC’s global business network spanning more than 45 million businesses across over 170 countries. Together, the organisations will provide SMEs with practical guidance, tools, insights, connections and opportunities to help them grow and compete.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Adeeb Ahamed Twenty14 Holdings (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:46:53)
    Adeeb Ahamed approaches hotels as both experiences and long-duration assets. Since founding Twenty14 Holdings in 2014, he has assembled a portfolio valued at more than $750 million, with properties in the UK, the Middle East and India. The collection includes Great Scotland Yard in London, Sheraton Oman, Pullman Dubai Downtown, Port Muziris in Kochi and the historic Caledonian in Edinburgh.Ahamed’s route into hotel investment was not conventional. He began his career in hospitality, with experience connected to Grosvenor House, JW Marriott and Baglioni in London, but later built businesses across financial services and food retail. He established LuLu International Exchange in 2009 and became the driving force behind Tablez, a food and beverage and retail platform.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Philippe Zuber Kerzner International (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:43:54)
    Philippe Zuber leads a company whose properties are expected to be destinations in their own right. Atlantis, One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds operate in different parts of the market, but each depends on a strong concept rather than simple accommodation. Zuber’s role is to make those concepts commercially scalable without making them feel manufactured.He became chief executive of Kerzner International in 2020 after joining the company in 2015 as president and chief operating officer of One&Only. Before Kerzner, he held senior roles at Emaar Hospitality Group, including chief operating officer and acting chief executive. There, he contributed to the creation and growth of Vida and Rove, giving him experience of brand development across luxury and contemporary segments.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Ghaith Al Ghaith flydubai (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:41:25)
    When flydubai was created in 2008, its purpose was to connect Dubai with underserved regional markets using a simple narrowbody model. Under chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith, it has grown into something more complex: a network airline that complements Emirates, carries premium as well as value-conscious travellers and reaches cities larger aircraft cannot serve efficiently.Al Ghaith brought more than two decades of aviation experience to the launch. He joined Emirates in 1986 and rose to executive vice president for commercial operations worldwide, giving him direct exposure to route planning, sales and the development of Dubai as a hub. Leading flydubai allowed him to apply that knowledge to a more agile platform.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Bander Almohanna flynas (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:39:08)
    Bander Almohanna’s career at flynas spans nearly the entire modern history of the airline. He joined in 2006 as chief financial officer, became executive vice president in 2008 and took the chief executive role in 2015. That continuity has allowed him to influence not only the carrier’s network, but also its capital structure and operating model.His background is unusually well suited to that task. Almohanna earned an accounting degree from King Saud University, an MBA from American University and a master’s degree in actuarial mathematics and finance from the University of Michigan. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Before joining flynas, he spent approximately 11 years at the Saudi Central Bank in banking supervision and later moved into private business.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Guy Hutchinson Hilton (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:37:04)
    Guy Hutchinson’s appointment as Hilton’s president for the Middle East and Africa was a return as much as a new beginning. Before leading Rotana from 2020 to 2024, he had spent 16 years with Hilton in operational and regional roles across the Middle East, Europe, Japan, China, Australia and India.That combination gives Hutchinson an uncommon perspective. He understands the systems, brand architecture and loyalty economics of a global hotel company, but he has also run a regional competitor whose strength depended on local relationships and quick decision-making. Hilton’s growth strategy needs both instincts.
  • PREFERRED HOTELS & RESORTS EXPANDS PRESTIGIOUS LEGEND COLLECTION (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:36:44)
    Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest independent hotel brand, announces the continued expansion of its prestigious Legend Collection with the addition of 11 distinguished properties in 2026. The growth has brought new representation across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, further strengthening a collection that now encompasses over 125 legendary properties worldwide.
  • JULES VERNE LAUNCHES 2027/28 WORLDWIDE COLLECTION FEATURING NEW TOURS ACROSS ASIA AND EUROPE (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:34:41)
    Jules Verne has unveiled its new Worldwide Collection for 2027/28, bringing together over 120 small group tours across more than 80 destinations and introducing a range of new itineraries for 2027.Designed for curious travellers seeking deeper cultural experiences, the collection includes escorted tours, rail journeys, wildlife adventures and river cruises. Among the new additions for 2027 are new tours to Venice, Malta and Madeira, as well as longer-haul adventures across India, China, Japan and the Five Stans.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Imad Barrakad Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:34:09)
    Tourism strategies often begin with targets and end with marketing. Imad Barrakad works in the complicated middle: land, finance, infrastructure, investors and the conversion of concepts into operating destinations. As chief executive of the Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development, known as SMIT, he has occupied that space since 2011.Barrakad is an industrial engineer with postgraduate training in project management. Before moving into tourism, he built his career at Morocco’s national electricity utility. He joined in 2000, worked on cooperation with municipalities and the development of products and services, became regional director in Rabat in 2006 and moved into commercial and marketing leadership in 2009.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Duncan O’Rourke Accor (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:32:47)
    Duncan O’Rourke manages hospitality at continental scale. As chief executive for Accor’s premium, midscale and economy division across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, he is responsible for markets ranging from mature tourism economies to cities receiving their first internationally branded hotels.O’Rourke assumed the expanded role in 2023 and joined Accor’s executive committee. By September 2025, the group owned 37 hotels and managed 808 across the region under his remit. Management and franchise revenue for the third quarter of 2025 reached approximately $64 million, illustrating both the size of the platform and the importance of fee-based growth.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Philip Barnes Rotana (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:30:58)
    Rotana’s competitive advantage has always been proximity. The company grew from the region, built brands for its markets and established owner relationships long before the Middle East became a priority for every global hotel group. Chief executive Philip Barnes must preserve that local intelligence while giving the business the systems and reach required for its next phase.Barnes joined Rotana as chief executive in 2024 after spending approximately 25 years with Fairmont. His career there covered hotel operations, openings and regional leadership across multiple markets. It gave him experience of managing landmark luxury properties and of working within a global brand platform where owner returns, service standards and talent development must align.
  • FIVE BORDERS IN ONE EUROPE: THE EES CONFUSION FACING BRITISH TRAVELLERS (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:30:01)
    Almost a year after EES began its rollout, British travellers are still encountering markedly different border procedures depending on where they enter Europe.The EES was designed to create a common digital system across the Schengen area’s external borders, replacing manual passport stamping with the electronic registration of non-EU travellers’ passport details, facial images and fingerprints. The system was intended to be fully operational last month, but travellers are still facing inconsistent border experiences rather than a single, uniform process.
  • THE LUXURY HOSPITALITY GROUP MARKS GLOBAL DEBUT IN THE MALDIVES (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:29:42)
    Set within the shimmering waters of the Kaafu Atoll, Maxx Royal Maldives emerges as a new icon of luxury hospitality. Announced for autumn 2027, the resort marks not only the brand’s first international location outside Türkiye, but also the start of its global expansion. Across five interconnected islands, an extraordinary destination is taking shape that reinterprets the classic single-island concept, combining exclusive retreats with lively places to meet.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Antonoaldo Neves Etihad Airways (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:27:57)
    Antonoaldo Neves inherited an airline that had already endured one of the most difficult restructurings in global aviation. His task at Etihad Airways was not to repeat the retrenchment, but to prove that the carrier could grow again without returning to the excesses of its earlier expansion.Neves became group chief executive in 2022. His career had prepared him for the assignment through strategy consulting, finance and airline leadership. A former McKinsey partner, he went on to senior roles at Azul in Brazil, where he helped lead the airline through its New York Stock Exchange listing, and later became chief executive of TAP Air Portugal, overseeing a major turnaround.
  • Hale Hōkūala Kauaʻi Debuts as Curio Collection by Hilton’s First Hawaiʻi Resort (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:24:36)
    Hilton has announced the opening of Hale Hōkūala Kauaʻi, Curio Collection by Hilton, a 210-room lifestyle resort. Marking Curio Collection by Hilton’s debut in Hawaiʻi, the property brings the brand’s focus on individually remarkable hotels and memorable stays to one of the world’s most sought-after island destinations. Overlooking Nāwiliwili Bay and neighboring Kalapakī Beach, Hale Hōkūala introduces travelers to the island through contemporary design, destination-driven dining, cultural programming and outdoor recreation.
  • HOW HERITAGE CONTINUES TO SHAPE SOUTH AFRICAN HOSPITALITY (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:22:55)
    For generations, South Africans have known how to welcome people, whether through a steaming pot of umngqusho shared around the fire or the careful sweeping of a verandah before guests arrived.Hospitality is a vital part of our heritage and has long been one of the threads connecting our various cultures and traditions. As a nation, we are well-known for it: a quality closely linked to the philosophy of ubuntu, which reminds us that our humanity is bound up in one another.
  • Top Middle East leaders - Thomas B Meier Jumeirah (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:22:41)
    Jumeirah has never lacked recognition. Burj Al Arab gave the company one of hospitality’s most photographed symbols, while its Dubai beachfront hotels helped define the emirate’s luxury resort market. The challenge facing chief executive Thomas B Meier is to turn that recognition into a more globally balanced luxury brand.Meier joined Jumeirah as chief operating officer in 2021, became interim chief executive in 2024 and took the permanent role in January 2025. By 2026, he oversaw 29 properties in 11 countries, including 15 in the UAE. His mandate is not expansion for its own sake. Jumeirah wants a carefully curated portfolio of about 50 properties by 2030, with growth in gateway cities and resort destinations that can strengthen the brand.
  • The American Vacation Is Proving Surprisingly Resilient (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:22:17)
    Americans may be watching their wallets, but they aren’t giving up their vacations. New findings from MMGY’s 2026 Portrait of American Travelers™ “Fall Edition” reveal that travel demand is rebounding this fall, with Americans expecting to spend $5,655 on leisure travel over the next 12 months and take nearly four vacations, both up from the “Summer Edition” of the survey.
  • HYATT CENTRIC SAPPORO OFFICIALLY OPENS IN THE HEART OF HOKKAIDO’S CAPITAL (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:20:33)
    Hyatt Hotels Corporation have announced the opening of Hyatt Centric Sapporo, marking the first Hyatt Centric hotel in Hokkaido, northern Japan. Located in the heart of Hokkaido’s capital Sapporo, the hotel offers an easy starting point for discovering the city’s neighborhoods and the wider island, with local expertise woven into the stay.
  • Aiva: How two Ibiza founders are using AI to rethink the hotel guest experience (Breaking Travel News 2026-10-03 06:11:32)
    Artificial intelligence is rapidly finding its way into hotel operations, but for Aiva founders Lucía Marí Sanguino and Paula Rodriguez, the opportunity is not simply to give hotels another chatbot. Their ambition is to create technology that understands what guests might need, acts at the right moment and connects the fragmented systems already operating behind the scenes.