Travel Unpacked: Riyadh metro nears completion, plus Dubai's first vegan-friendly rooms

A new waterfront hotel and Dubai's first vegan-friendly rooms are on the horizon for the city, while Sharjah launches its first direct flights to Giza.

We also take a look at how Riyadh's metro is shaping up and why more travellers from the Gulf are heading to Germany.

Here's a round-up of recent travel and tourism news – in case you missed it.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Riyadh metro nears completion

The King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station in Riyadh, designed by UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects, is nearing completion, said design publication Dezeen, which observed its test trains running last week.

The 45,000-square-metre station is set to open early next year and it's built to serve the King Abdullah Financial District, one of many mega-projects being developed in Saudi Arabia.

This is one of 85 stations planned for Riyadh’s metro, which will begin welcoming passengers next year, and will be one of the largest in the network.

The five-storey building, which encompasses six platforms wrapped in a steel framework, was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. Its inspiration was drawn from mashrabiya screens and patterns generated by desert winds.

New waterfront hotel to open in Dubai in November

Next month, the First Collection Waterfront will open in Dubai’s Business Bay, offering 327 guest rooms and suites, featuring balconies looking over the Dubai Canal and skyline.

The four-star hotel is the third property from the home-grown hospitality brand, following another spot in Business Bay and one in JVC.

Inside the hotel is a Risen Cafe & Artisanal Bakery, as well as a restaurant serving international cuisine, and a rooftop pool bar and lounge. A pool, spa and fitness centre also feature, and the hotel will offer transportation for guests to and from Soluna Beach Club in Palm Jumeirah.

Gulf travellers head to Germany

Tourists from the Gulf are favouring German destinations, the German National Tourist Board said. The authority noted a 593 per cent increase in visits from travellers in the region in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2021, emphasising the country’s post-pandemic recovery. It also noted a 40.9 per cent increase from last year’s figures.

The GCC is the third-largest Asian source market for inbound tourism to Germany, said the tourism board, which has been promoting the country regionally as an eco-conscious destination with both cultural and natural diversity.

“Both long-standing and first-time travellers are increasingly eager to explore everything that Germany has to offer,” said Yamina Sofo, director at the German National Tourist Office.

Dubai’s first vegan-friendly rooms launch

NH Collection Dubai The Palm has launched vegan-friendly rooms, the first of their kind in the city. The move comes as part of the hotel’s sustainability ethos, which also encompasses an in-house water bottling plant, solar panels that generate hot water and the reuse of condensed water from the air conditioning for irrigation purposes.

The new rooms are available as of this month and they feature eco-friendly bedding, compostable amenities, vegan snacks, and toiletries that haven’t been tested on animals and don’t contain animal-derived ingredients.

The hotel also offers plant-based dishes across its food and beverage outlets, which includes a cafe, pub, rooftop pool bar and international restaurant.

“Being the very first hotel in Dubai with vegan-friendly rooms, we hope to create awareness about the positive impact of vegan and sustainable choices without compromising on comfort and luxury,” said the hotel’s general manager Manish Jha.

Earlier this year, Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi also launched six dedicated vegan rooms.

New luxury properties planned for Switzerland

Three new properties from luxury hospitality brand Ultima Collection will open across Switzerland over the next two years. Ultima Quai Wilson will launch on the south-west shore of Lac Leman in April, offering a lakeside city break. The property will feature five private full-floor apartments, ranging from three to six bedrooms, as well as a wellness area with sauna, hammam and two treatment rooms.

In June, Ultima Gstaad Promenade will open with a chalet set over four floors, with eight suites, a self-contained guesthouse, an entertainment area with cinema and arcade, plus a spa, sauna, indoor swimming pool and hammam.

Following that, Ultima Cologny will open in early 2025 with two lakeside villas boasting floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking Lake Geneva. These feature a 14-metre outdoor swimming pool, a basement with entertainment and wellness amenities, including a gym.

Air Arabia launches non-stop flight to Giza

Sharjah passengers can soon fly directly to Giza in Egypt, thanks to Air Arabia’s new route to Sphinx International Airport.

Five weekly non-stop flights will start from December 6, departing from the UAE at 7.55pm and arriving in Giza at 10.10pm local time. The return leg lands at 4.10am at Sharjah Airport, which has recorded more than four million passengers in the third quarter of this year, a 12 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.

The route, which will be served by the single-aisle Airbus A320 and A321 neo-LR aircraft, marks Air Arabia’s fourth destination in Egypt, following Cairo, Alexandria and Sohag.

Emirates expands in-flight meal pre-ordering service

Emirates Airline has launched an in-flight meal pre-ordering service across 92 routes globally, with 30 new destinations added last week, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Delhi, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. This allows business-class passengers to preselect their main course between two weeks and one day in advance of their flight by browsing the on-board menu on the Emirates website or mobile app.

The service ensures travellers get their preferred choice of meal, but also helps reduce food wastage, said the airline.

More than 10,000 pre-orders have been delivered on over 3,000 flights, with more than 600 requests made daily. The most popular pre-order dishes have been pan-fried beef tenderloin with thyme jus, roasted new potato wedges and steamed asparagus, as well as grilled beef tenderloin with creamy wild mushroom sauce, Kenya beans and potato gratin. The Suffolk roasted chicken with black garlic and potato fondant is also chosen often. A cheddar cheese and chive omelette is most popular for breakfast.