Emirates closed the second day of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai with eleven new or renewed partnership agreements, covering tourism promotion across seven destinations, a welfare pact for overseas Filipino workers, European trade expansion, and a new codeshare arrangement with Kuwait Airways.
His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, visited the Emirates stand during the day, where senior airline leadership briefed him on recent cabin innovations and passenger experience developments.
On the tourism side, Emirates renewed its agreement with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, extending a collaboration in place since 2022.
Sri Lanka received more than 2.3 million international tourists last year, a 15.1 percent increase on the prior year. The renewed deal will continue joint marketing, trade incentives, and familiarisation trips across key feeder markets.
A separate MoU with the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority will drive visitor traffic from select markets within Emirates’ network, including joint campaigns and bespoke packages available through the airline’s Dubai Experience channel.
In Japan, Emirates formalised a new MoU with the Japan National Tourism Organization to deepen travel ties between Japan, Dubai, and the wider Middle East. The airline operates direct services to Narita, Haneda, and Kansai, with weekly flights expected to reach 28 by October 2026.
Emirates and the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation also renewed their longstanding partnership. Air arrivals to the Maldives rose nearly ten percent last year, reaching 2.25 million, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Environment’s Tourism Statistics 2025 report.
A Memorandum of Agreement with the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will develop support structures for Overseas Filipino Workers and their families, covering welfare, repatriation assistance, and community engagement across the Middle East.
The UAE is currently the second-largest destination for Filipino workers globally, home to an estimated 271,000 OFWs according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2024 Survey on Overseas Filipinos. Cash remittances from the UAE reached US$750.3 million in the first half of 2026, up 4.3 percent from US$719.6 million in the same period last year, per Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data.
Emirates also signed an MoU with Sharjah Police, offering travel benefits to employees and formalising promotional support across the police force’s communications channels. The agreement was signed by Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, and Major General Dr. Ali Ahmed Bu Al Zoud, Director General of the General Department of Resources and Support Services.
In Europe, Emirates expanded its deal with DERTOUR Group to broaden product availability across the tour operator’s sales channels, accelerate New Distribution Capability adoption, and develop premium leisure offerings across Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe.
Two further Italian agreements, with Bologna Welcome and Parma Welcome, will promote the Emilia-Romagna region through marketing campaigns and trade outreach. A separate MoU with Cisalpina Tours, part of MSC Group, positions Emirates as a preferred carrier for marine crew travel, a specialist segment that sits alongside Cisalpina’s corporate travel and MICE operations.
On the airline side, Emirates and Kuwait Airways agreed to expand their existing interline partnership into a reciprocal codeshare, allowing passengers on both carriers to book multi-sector itineraries on a single ticket with through-checked baggage.
