Tourism

Sharjah, the 2015 Arab Capital of Tourism, is participating in this week’s World Travel Market in London, United Kingdom to showcase the emirate’s tourism portfolio. Sharjah’s pavilion aims to provide a glimpse of life in the Emirate and highlight the unique opportunities that it offers international markets looking for a new destination for business or pleasure. The premier tourism and travel ...

Sharjah International Airport‘s new AED 500 million (US$ 136m) airport runway was opened this week, significantly expanding the airport’s capacity, in line with its goal of handling 25 million passengers by the year 2025. The new runway adds capacity for large and new-generation ICAO Code F aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeings B747-8 Intercontinental and B747-8 freighter, plus ...

Sharjah International Airport passenger traffic registered a 16 percent increase in the third quarter of this year compared with the third quarter of 2013. Sharjah handled 2.4 million passengers during the same period, compared with 2 million passengers in Q3 2013, while, overall, 7.3 million passengers passed through the airport since the beginning of the year. 17,830 flights landed or took ...

Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia (AIRARABI:DFM), the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, has been named in the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies (GGCs) list for 2014. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), GGCs are the world’s most dynamic, high-growth companies from around the world. This year’s GGC list includes 28 trailblazers, shapers and innovators ...

The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) has introduced a new hotel classification system in an effort to improve quality standards, offer consumers more choice and so to help boost overall tourism industry growth. The new classification updates the criteria introduced in 2008, which falls under the Sharjah Hotel Classification and Licensing Law. According to HE Khalid Jasim Al ...

Sharjah registered a 15 percent increase in tourist numbers during the first half of 2014, with more than one million tourists staying in the emirate compared with 955,355 tourists during the same period last year, according to new figures announced by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). According to the SCTDA, Sharjah’s hotels enjoyed an average 74 per ...

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is leading a tourism promotion roadshow across India this week visiting the five cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru (Bangalore). Sharjah received more than 123,000 visitors from India last year, registering 41 per cent growth in visitors over the previous year. India has been identified as a priority market for ...

Sharjah’s tourism resort business had a busy start to 2014, with 180,000 tourists registering at beach hotels and resorts during the first half of the year. According to the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), beach hotels enjoyed a record 80% average occupancy during the period January to June 2014. Sharjah views tourism as a strategic pillar of the ...

Sharjah International Airport passenger traffic soared in the second quarter of 2014 as the airport added more than 200 flights over May, June and early July as a result of runway repair works taking place at the nearby Dubai airport. Sharjah handled 2.6 million passengers in the second quarter, being 20 percent more than during the same period in 2013, ...

Sharjah’s tourism sector expects a boost from visitors during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the following Eid Al Fitr holidays, which begin next week. The UAE is a popular destination for Eid vacations within the region, where some Middle Eastern countries will celebrate the end of Ramadan with holidays up to 9 days long. Whilst figures are awaited ...