Emirates opened its participation in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2026 by signing seven Memoranda of Understanding with tourism boards across the Indian Ocean, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the UAE, alongside renewed agreements with technology and retail partners, the airline said in a statement Monday.

The Dubai-based carrier also welcomed Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to its stand during the event's opening. According to Emirates, Sheikh Hamdan sampled the airline's new Premium Economy electric seat with privacy dividers alongside senior Emirates leadership.

Emirates said it partners with tourism boards to build awareness of destinations across its network of nearly 140 cities, aiming to convert interest into bookings while giving partner destinations access to new markets and audiences.

Among the agreements, Emirates renewed a partnership first established in 2013 with the Seychelles Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, aimed at boosting inbound traffic to the islands through joint marketing campaigns and familiarisation trips for media and trade partners. The airline said it operates two daily flights to Mahé and that visitor arrivals to the Seychelles grew 13 percent to nearly 400,000 in 2025, up from 353,000 the year before.

Emirates also renewed its agreement with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, a partnership the airline said has spanned more than two decades. It said tourist arrivals to Mauritius from Middle East markets rose 10.5 percent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, and that its weekly capacity to and from the island currently stands at 19,096 seats in both directions across three daily flights.

A new partnership with Madagascar's Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts will support the island nation's target of attracting one million tourists by 2028, according to the statement, through joint advertising, incentives for tour operators, and familiarisation trips for media and trade.

In the UAE, Emirates renewed its partnership with the Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority, signed by Adnan Kazim, Emirates' deputy president and chief commercial officer, and Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, chairman of the Sharjah authority.

"Renewing our partnership with Emirates is a strategic step in advancing Sharjah's tourism agenda and consolidating the emirate's position as a distinctive, year-round destination at the heart of the UAE's tourism landscape," Al Midfa said. 

Emirates also signed a one-year agreement with Tourism Malaysia to support the "Visit Malaysia 2026–2027" campaign, which targets 47 million foreign visitor arrivals, and said it would promote Malaysia through its 21 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Dubai as well as onward connections via its codeshare with Batik Air.

A separate agreement with Visit Finland aims to boost inbound tourism ahead of Emirates' launch of Helsinki flights on October 1, which the airline said will establish the only year-round air link between Finland and the UAE. The carrier also signed an agreement with Fjord Norway, the tourist board for Western Norway, to support inbound tourism to that region.

Beyond tourism boards, Emirates renewed its strategic partnership with Chinese technology firm Huawei, a collaboration in place since 2020 that includes integration of the Emirates app with Huawei's ecosystem and joint marketing campaigns. The airline said the renewed agreement will focus on strengthening brand engagement in China and advancing personalised digital travel tools.

Separately, Emirates signed an agreement with Dubai Duty Free to offer passengers travelling to or through Dubai exclusive offers at outlets in Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. The agreement was signed by Mohammad Al Hashimi, Emirates' vice president of commercial products, Dubai, and Mona Al Ali, senior vice president of human resources at Dubai Duty Free, in the presence of Kazim and Ramesh Cidambi, Dubai Duty Free's managing director.

Source: PR