News

AAT & The First Group Are Transforming Hospitality For Deaf Tourists

The collaboration will bring several innovative solutions to existing MENA establishments, including accessible booking and comprehensive sign-language support.

Published

3 years ago

October 2, 2023

Nour Nasir

att and the first group are transforming hospitality for deaf tourists

Amsaan Accessible Tours (AAT) is the first company in the MENA region to specialize in unique tourism experiences for Deaf people. Now, the company has joined forces with The First Group, one of the MENA region’s fastest-growing hospitality investors and providers, in a bid to enhance accessibility across its chain of hotels for Deaf tourists staying in Dubai and beyond.

AAT’s standout product is an accessible booking platform that includes comprehensive sign-language support. Deaf tourists using British Sign Language (BSL) can use the system to easily make reservations, smoothly check in to hotels, and even request room service or emergency assistance through the AAT mobile app.

The First Group, a brand renowned for its upscale properties, including The First Collection Business Bay, Wyndham Dubai Marina, and TRYP by Wyndham Dubai, will integrate AAT’s cutting-edge accessible booking platform with all its existing hospitality brands in Dubai.

“The First Group and Amsaan Accessible Tours share core values of inclusivity, diversity, and equal opportunities in hospitality for all. We are driven by our commitment to provide exceptional experiences to our guests, and we look forward to championing responsible tourism and reinforcing our dedication to state-of-the-art hospitality”, explained Karim Abdelhamid, Vice President of Hotel Operations at The First Group.

Also Read: A Floating Drone Is Helping To Clean Up Dubai Harbor’s Waters

Oleksandr Koltsov, Chief Executive Officer of Amsaan Accessible Tours, added: “This partnership represents a monumental step forward in AAT’s mission to break down barriers for Deaf travelers. Our accessibility solutions will reach a wider audience, making a positive impact not only on individual guests but also on the broader hospitality industry. It should serve as a model for other hotels to follow suit in prioritizing universal accessibility. With The First Group, we are reshaping the hospitality landscape with the power of innovation and technology, ensuring Deaf guests can explore the world with ease and confidence”.

The collaboration with First Group comes as AAT is poised to expand further across the UAE and beyond, with future partnership options being negotiated with hotel chains, tourist attractions, and even airlines.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.