RIYADH: The four-day Riyadh Travel Fair, which ended Monday, was the focus of business networking opportunities, seminars, ministerial discussions and recognition of 12 months of the tourism industry’s achievements.
The fair was inaugurated by Majid A. Al-Hokair, chairman of the Committee for Tourism and Entertainment (Riyadh Chamber), and chairman of the board of directors for the Riyadh International Conference and Exhibition Center.
At the event, Bahrain launched its new tourism identity under the slogan “Ours. Yours” to further develop the tourism sector as a prime contributor to the national economy.
Taiwan’s government mapped out its medium- and long-term tourism and travel development programs.
Yunus Faith Kadirolu, deputy secretary general of the Turkish city of Bursa, said at the event: “Bursa is an important destination with its historical, touristic and religious places, as well as its varied shopping facilities both for domestic and foreign tourists ... Tourists from Saudi Arabia are rapidly growing each year.”
With its thermal springs, Bursa is the only Turkish city that is a member of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association.
Ajantha Rathnayaka, assistant director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, said: “Sri Lanka offers travelers a remarkable combination of stunning landscapes, pristine beaches, captivating cultural heritage and unique experiences within its compact location.”
The Orange County Visitors Association promoted exclusive packages including car fairs, a self-driving experience, VIP shopping and discounts on premier shopping destinations and luxury accommodation.
Reynaldo L. Ching, assistant secretary at the Philippines Department of Tourism, said: “The Riyadh Travel Fair is an excellent platform for Philippine tourism leaders to meet with Saudi travel industry professionals and the general public to highlight the attractions, special events and value-added campaigns designed exclusively for Middle Eastern visitors.”
Ching added: “With a year-long special calendar of events planned in 2017, there is no better time to visit the Philippines.”
Countries vie for tourism opportunities at Riyadh Travel Fair
Countries vie for tourism opportunities at Riyadh Travel Fair
Airbus seeks to strengthen Saudi defense ties
MALHAM: Airbus is aiming to deepen its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, a “core customer” in the region, according to Head of Air Power, Airbus Defense and Space Jean-Brice Dumont.
“Saudi Arabia is one of our customers in the region that we have a very strong link with,” Dumont told Arab News on the sidelines of the World Defense Show in Riyadh.
“We have a very strong link with decades of history of Airbus in the country, be it for helicopters, but in my case for military aircraft.
He said the Kingdom was “sort of a hometown for us for these flying platforms and for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of these platforms.”
Airbus has a longstanding partnership with Saudi Arabia in both commercial and defense aircraft that dates back nearly 50 years.
“We have already invested quite significantly in the region,” Dumont said. “Notably, we have a JV (joint venture) with SAMI (Saudi Arabia Military Industries) in Saudi Arabia and that, I believe is the beginning of a longer journey. But so far, when we see what’s happening in the region, it’s already quite good.”
In 2021 SAMI, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund and the National Champion of Military Industries Localization, and Airbus signed an agreement to form a joint venture on military aviation services and maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities.
During the interview Dumont also looked ahead, detailing the strategic roadmap for 2026–2030 that moves beyond traditional hardware toward a digitally-dominant battlefield.
“I think we are reaching the end or the limits of the ‘fighter goes alone’ kind of model,” he said. “Now, the fighters need to communicate, to command drones, to be themselves receiving information by a mass, high-throughput data link so that they can play their role — their new role — in the battlefield.”
He also spoke about how the A330 aircraft was moving beyond its basic reputation as a “flying gas station” to become a high-tech “command center” in the sky.
“The A330 can be first much more automated. The air-to-air refueling can be automatic, and we have developed that capability,” he explained.
“On the other hand, it’s a big platform flying high, which can act as a command-and-control node in the system of systems that the air forces are all aspiring to.”
On the Eurofighter, he said it was “a bit symmetrical,” while speaking about the “buzz” around artificial intelligence he said that while neural networks have been embedded in Airbus platforms for nearly 20 years, the next decade would see AI move to the forefront of decision-making.
From mission preparation to real-time command, he said, the goal is to process vast amounts of data to act faster than the adversary.
“The one who gets that right has won,” he said.
