Emirates has made a bold start at the Arabian Travel Market show by signing with no fewer than eight international tourism boards on the first day of the show.
The airline has inked eight Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with the tourism boards of Sharjah, the Philippines, Maldives, Visit Britain, Thailand, Japan National Tourist Organisation (JNTO), Uganda and Hungary.
These agreements demonstrate the airline’s commitment to attract more travellers across its network of around 140 destinations to experience each locale’s distinctive sights, culture and attractions, as well as boosting tourism to the wider UAE through collaborations.
Briefly, the deals are as follows:
Emirates and Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Authority (SCTDA), will work together to jointly promote tourism and boost visitor arrivals to the UAE emirate of Sharjah, Dubai’s neighbour. The partnership will see Emirates and SCTDA explore promotional activities and offer packages for tour operators. Emirates and SCTDA will also explore opportunities to create packages marketed directly to Emirates’ customers via ‘Dubai Experience’ on the airline’s website. This is in addition to advertising and cross promotional marketing campaigns, familiarisation programmes for travel trade and media, as well as promotional competitions aimed to encourage visits to Sharjah as part of their overall UAE holiday.
Emirates and the Department of Tourism Philippines will work to promote the Southeast Asian nation and help drive inbound tourist flows, particularly from the Middle East and Europe. Both entities will explore avenues of cooperation across marketing and advertising to further boost visitor traffic to the Philippines, in addition to organising familiarisation trips for media and tourism stakeholders from European and Middle Eastern markets.
Emirates and the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation for the Republic of the Maldives will collaborate to attract more visitors to the archipelago nation through the airline’s network. The partnership underscores Emirates’ commitment to promoting tourism to the destination, which has been part of its West Asian and Indian Ocean network since 1987.
Emirates has signed a declaration of intent with VisitBritain to boost inbound tourism to the UK, including key strategic markets across the Middle East, Far East Asia and Australasia. Under the agreement, Emirates and VisitBritain will explore joint promotions and tactical efforts, familiarisation trips to the UK for media and travel agents; and support other promotional activities that will increase travel demand to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. According to VisitBritain’s forecast, the UK is expected to welcome 43.4 million visits in 2025. Playing a vital role in supporting this growth, Emirates operates 133 weekly flights to/from the UK across eight gateways.
Emirates and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have established a new strategic partnership aimed at driving inbound tourism from the airline’s global network to Thailand.
Emirates and TAT will collaborate on a range of marketing and promotional initiatives to highlight Thailand’s appeal as a premier destination. The partnership will include joint advertising campaigns, familiarisation trips for key media representatives, and joint efforts with travel agents and tour operators to offer promotional packages, giveaways, and incentives across Emirates’ key markets.
Emirates has pledged its support to help grow tourism demand with the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) between Japan and the Middle East. The partnership will include a series of data sharing, joint analyses and potential promotional campaigns to drive awareness and visitation to Japan.
Building on a successful year of collaboration, Emirates and Uganda Tourism Board have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 2025. With a focus on driving inbound tourism to Uganda, the partnership underscores the airline’s ongoing commitment to market Uganda as a premier tourist destination. Since signing the MoU in 2024, Emirates and the Uganda Tourism Board have hosted familiarisation trips for key trade partners, hoteliers, travel agency partners and tour operators, who are instrumental in driving awareness of the destination worldwide. Emirates has also noted a 16% uptick in passengers on the Dubai-Entebbe route, since January 2025.
Emirates and Visit Hungary will work together to boost inbound tourism to the country. Under the agreement, Emirates and Visit Hungary will drive joint marketing and advertising campaigns to showcase Hungary’s touristic appeal. The two partners will also work closely to organise familiarisation trips for media and travel agents, as well as support other promotional campaigns to increase travel demand to Budapest.
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