The chairman of Emirates, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, was named as one of the year's top tourism personalities by a major German business magazine.
Shaikh Ahmed was the only Middle Eastern representative named in the top 20 tourism innovators by Focus, Germany's weekly million-circulation news magazine. The magazine gave him a green 'upward trend' indicator for 2003 and called his plans to expand Emirates' fleet from 44 to 100 aircraft a visionary development'. The accolade for Shaikh Ahmed means he is one of only two non-German business leaders to appear on the list. Shaikh Ahmed said: "Thank you to Focus and to its German readers for their confidence in Emirates and Dubai. Flights on our German routes to and from Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf are very popular and have expanded substantially in the past year."