A major European news magazine has again named HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates, as one of the 20 leading figures in the German travel industry.
For the second year running, readers of Focus magazine, one of Germany’s most important periodicals and read by six million people a week, judged him to have made a major contribution to travel in the country.
Sheikh Ahmed is one of only two non-Germans to feature on the awards list, which was headed by Michael Frenzel, Chief Executive Officer of TUI, Europe’s top tour operator. The other was Michael O«Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair. The awards list is posted on the magazine website and will appear also on the print edition that goes on sale on 15 March.
Focus said Sheikh Ahmed owed his Top 20 ranking to Emirate’s contribution to tourism, its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany, its coup in signing up Franz Beckenbauer as Emirates’ Sports Ambassador, and its continuing growth inside and outside Germany.
Sheikh Ahmed said today: “This award really was earned by everyone working for Emirates, through their dedication and constant efforts to satisfy our customers’ requirements.”
News of the award came at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism fair, where Emirates showcased one of the $125,000 First Class suites installed on its ultra-longhaul Airbus A340-500 jets, in service since December on non-stop flights to Sydney and, from June, to New York and Melbourne.
Throughout the fair, a long queue of interested visitors waited to sample the suite, which quicklyÊ became one of the fair’s top attractions.
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