The Dubai Maritime Authority (DMA), part of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), has launched a new service allowing visitors to obtain licences to operate pleasure marine vessels in the emirate, the authority said.

The service is available to visitors holding licences issued by International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Europe, the US, and other internationally recognised countries.

Alongside the initiative, the DMA released an updated manual governing crew licensing in Dubai, based on Administrative Resolution No (5) of 2024.

The manual sets out conditions for obtaining licences to operate and work onboard marine vessels.

Creating a flexible maritime environment

“We believe in providing a flexible maritime environment that meets the aspirations of international visitors and offers them the opportunity to enjoy an exceptional marine experience in Dubai’s waters,” said Sheikh Dr Saeed bin Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, CEO of the Dubai Maritime Authority.

He added that the updated manual “reflects the authority’s commitment to strengthening maritime safety, ensuring the efficiency and qualification of marine crews, and unifying standards in line with local legislation and international best practices.”

The manual outlines requirements for professional qualifications, experience, medical and technical standards, as well as procedures for applications, examinations, renewals, and amendments.

It also introduces mechanisms for mutual recognition of licenses issued by accredited maritime authorities.

Qualified licence holders can apply under prescribed standards

The DMA said it recognises all international maritime licenses issued by IMO member states, including GCC countries, provided they meet prescribed standards.

Qualified foreign licence holders can obtain a local license through an electronic process that verifies authenticity and compliance.

This process includes submitting a copy of the national licence for verification, validating its authenticity and compliance with the required standards, and subsequently issuing the local licence.

“This initiative enhances the maritime experience of Dubai’s visitors and enthusiasts, enabling them to engage in leisure, tourism, and sports activities within a safe and well-regulated environment,” Sheikh Saeed said. “It further strengthens Dubai’s position as a world-class maritime destination … while also supporting the sustainable growth of Dubai’s maritime sector and its contribution to the local economy.”

Read: Dubai’s RTA now offers free Wi-Fi at all 43 bus, marine stations

The Ministry of Education in the UAE has firmly denied recent rumors circulating on social media about changes to the official school hours for public school students across all levels, including kindergarten.

A statement clarified that the official timings remain unchanged: for kindergarten students, school hours are from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, and 8:00 am to 11:45 am on Fridays. For students in other grades, hours are 7:15 am to 3:15 pm from Monday to Thursday, and 8:00 am to 11:45 am on Fridays, according to a post by UAE Barq.

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The clarification comes as the country prepares for a significant academic transformation in the upcoming school year.

AI becomes a core subject in UAE public schools

Also, starting from the 2025–2026 academic year, artificial intelligence (AI) will become a formal subject across all public school grades, from kindergarten to Grade 12, according to a report by state news agency WAM.

The UAE Ministry of Education has announced the deployment of 1,000 trained teachers to deliver the AI curriculum. The initiative aligns with the UAE’s strategic vision to equip future generations with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

The AI curriculum is built around seven key areas: basic AI concepts, data and algorithms, software applications, ethical awareness, real-world problem-solving, innovation and project design, and engagement with policy and community.

Each module is tailored to suit the developmental needs of different age groups, ensuring that learning is age-appropriate and progressive.

With this move, the UAE joins the ranks of pioneering countries integrating AI education at the foundational level, aiming to foster tech-savvy and ethically aware global citizens.

Academic year kicks off August 25, 2025

The new academic year officially begins on Monday, August 25, 2025, across public and private schools in the country. The upcoming year brings in a wave of changes reflecting the UAE’s broader commitment to progressive education reform.

Apart from the AI integration, public schools will also implement a new standardised national proficiency test for Grades 4 to 11. This assessment will focus on core subjects, Arabic, English, and Mathematics, with an initial rollout targeting around 26,000 students.

The goal is to assess students’ essential skills, identify learning gaps, and empower educators to tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. The Ministry will also gain a clearer understanding of nationwide academic performance across key disciplines.

Strengthening national identity from early years

Another major development taking shape this academic year is the mandatory teaching of Arabic, Islamic Education, and social concepts in private kindergarten schools across the UAE.

This initiative is designed to embed national identity and values from an early age, ensuring that children are fluent in Arabic, aware of their cultural roots, and knowledgeable about family, community, and geography.

The curriculum changes at both ends of the academic spectrum, from kindergarten to Grade 12, signal a comprehensive shift toward an education system that is both innovative and identity-driven.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia has launched a new digital platform, Nusuk Umrah, allowing pilgrims outside Saudi Arabia to apply for Umrah visas and book related services directly online, bypassing intermediaries.

Available at umrah.nusuk.sa, the service offers a seamless digital experience designed to improve the quality of pilgrimage services and the overall Umrah journey, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

Read-Planning Umrah 2025? Here’s what Saudi authorities want you to know

The platform complements existing channels such as qualified travel agents by giving users the freedom to customise their trips. Pilgrims can select from integrated packages or individually book visas, accommodation, transportation, and tours.

Nusuk Umrah features a user-friendly interface that supports seven languages, integrates with government systems, and offers diverse payment options. This launch aligns with Saudi Vision 2030’s goals to welcome more Muslims worldwide while providing convenient, high-quality services.

Record-breaking Umrah attendance in first quarter of 2025

In a separate announcement on August 21, 2025, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reported that over 15.2 million pilgrims performed Umrah in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting robust growth in religious tourism. Saudi nationals made up 24 per cent of this total, with males accounting for 60.5 per cent and females 39.5 per cent.

International pilgrims numbered 6,523,630, a 10.7 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024. Airports remained the primary entry point, accommodating 82.2 per cent of foreign arrivals. Meanwhile, 8,698,867 domestic pilgrims participated in Umrah, with non-Saudis comprising 58 per cent of this group.

Pilgrimage patterns reveal seasonal trends

GASTAT’s bulletin further revealed that January 2025 saw the highest share of international Umrah performers (36.5 per cent), with a dip in March. Conversely, domestic pilgrim numbers peaked in March at 80.9 per cent, with January recording the lowest attendance.

Additionally, Madinah welcomed 6,452,696 visitors during the quarter, including 4,412,689 from abroad, highlighting its continued importance as a spiritual destination.

These quarterly statistics, released since 2024, are compiled using field surveys and administrative data from the Pilgrim Experience Program and the Ministry of Tourism. The data informs service improvements to ensure pilgrims’ needs are met efficiently as Saudi Arabia positions itself as a premier global pilgrimage hub.

The search landscape is undergoing its most dramatic transformation in decades. For years, Google dominated as the primary gateway to information, but the rise of AI-powered assistants, TikTok, Instagram, and other discovery platforms is reshaping how people look for answers, products, and services. This fragmentation is especially evident among younger generations, who increasingly bypass traditional search engines in favor of social media and conversational AI.

For brands, the implications are profound. Search engine optimisation can no longer be confined to ranking high on Google — it now demands a multi-channel strategy that takes into account new behaviors and platforms. In this exclusive interview, James Reynolds, founder and CEO of SEO Sherpa, unpacks the evolution of search, what Gen Z’s habits reveal about the future, and how businesses can adapt to ensure they remain visible in an era where search is everywhere.

AI tools like ChatGPT are increasingly being used as search engines. How do you see this shift reshaping how people discover information online?

What’s reshaping discovery isn’t replacement—it’s layered research behavior. We’re seeing people use AI tools differently from conventional search.

People particularly use AI as a starting point for complex topics, then move to conventional search for specific solutions, and often end up on social or community platforms for peer validation. For example, someone might ask ChatGPT to explain cryptocurrency before they Google “best crypto exchange” or read a Reddit community thread about real-life user experiences.

Brands need to completely rethink content strategies because they need to be discoverable at every layer of this journey.

The brands we’re working with that are winning understand this—they’re creating comprehensive resources that work whether someone finds them through Google, gets them summarised by AI, or discovers them through social platforms.

Google’s search market share is showing signs of decline. What’s driving this trend, and how should businesses prepare?

Search itself isn’t declining; it’s exploding across every platform imaginable. Google alone saw a remarkable 21.6 per cent growth in search volume in 2024, processing over 5 trillion queries annually – 14 billion searches per day and 189,000 searches per second. Recent research from SparkToro confirms that despite predictions of AI cannibalisation, Google still handles 373 times more searches than ChatGPT.

But here’s the critical shift: while total search volume is surging, it’s fragmenting across platforms faster than ever before. The primary driver is generational behavioral change. Gen Z is fundamentally different in how they approach information discovery – 51 per cent prefer using TikTok for search over Google entirely.

They’re not going to Google to find restaurants – they’re checking TikTok. They’re not Googling product reviews – they’re watching YouTube or scrolling Instagram. Amazon owns product search for most categories. LinkedIn is becoming the go-to for B2B research.

Even ChatGPT’s relatively small 0.25 per cent market share represents 37.5 million daily search-like interactions – a new behavior layer that didn’t exist three years ago.

This isn’t Google’s decline – it’s search’s massive expansion. For businesses, this means the opportunity is actually bigger than before, but diversification isn’t optional anymore. If 90% of your discoverability comes from Google, you’re missing the explosive growth happening everywhere else.

The brands that are thriving have embraced what we’re calling ‘search everywhere optimisation.’ They’re not just ranking on Google; they’re discoverable on LinkedIn, optimised for TikTok’s algorithm, and building authority across the entire search ecosystem.

Search volume is at an all-time high – you just need to be visible where your audience is actually searching.

Gen-Z is turning to TikTok and Instagram for search. How should brands adapt their strategies to meet this behavioural change?

The fundamental difference is that Gen Z searches for experiences and authenticity, not information dumps. They want to see someone their age using a product, visiting a destination, or solving a problem in real-time.

Instead of reading a blog post about “best budget travel destinations,” Gen Z watches TikTok vlogs from real people documenting their experiences. They want to see the vibe, not just read the facts. This represents a move from information consumption to experience sampling.

The data reinforces this dramatic shift: According to Adobe, 64 per cent of Gen Z use TikTok for search, compared to 49 per cent of millennials. A Forbes study shows that Google usage among Gen Z has now dropped by 25 per cent compared to Gen X.

TikTok has a huge impact on purchasing decisions, too, with a study conducted by Morning Consult finding that 72 per cent of Gen Z purchased a product after seeing it on TikTok.

Brands need to embrace “social search optimisation”—both TikTok SEO and Instagram SEO, as we describe them. This means treating these social platforms as search engines and optimising accordingly. Use descriptive captions with natural language that matches how people ask questions. Create searchable content around “how to,” “best,” and “vs.” queries.

How you markup your content matters, too—these platforms are search engines now, so treat them that way. Create content around people’s questions. “How to get glass skin in winter” performs better than “winter skincare tips” because that’s how people search. Use descriptive captions, location tags, trending audio, and include your target keywords in the words you speak, the video title, and description.

Platforms are facing criticism for “stealing” publishers’ content, impacting website traffic. What’s your perspective on this, and how can publishers protect their value?

The data is sobering – AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity send 95.7 per cent less traffic to publisher sites than traditional Google search, with referral rates as low as 0.37 per cent. For context, that means for every 1,000 times your content is used to answer a query, fewer than four people visit your site.

But here’s what the traffic volume data doesn’t tell you: the visitors who click through from AI search are significantly more qualified and convert at much higher rates.

While traditional Google search often brings casual browsers who bounce quickly, AI search users arrive with clear intent – they’ve already received a summary but want deeper information. This creates a fascinating paradox: you’re getting fewer visitors, but each one is more valuable.

A study from Semrush found that the average AI search visitor (tracked to a non-Google search source like ChatGPT) is 4.4 times as valuable as the average visit from traditional organic search, based on conversion rate. Similarly, Ahrefs recently revealed that their AI search visitors converted at a 23x higher rate than traditional organic search visitors.

I believe publishers have more power than they realise. The key is shifting from a purely defensive to a strategic offensive approach. First, publishers need to embrace bot management technology and consider monetisation layers where AI companies pay for content access.

Second, the publishers who are thriving have accepted this reality and adapted. Instead of relying purely on discovery traffic, they’re building direct relationships with audiences.

They’re creating experiences that can’t be summarised – live events, member communities, interactive tools, and exclusive data. They’re also leveraging the authority boost that comes from being frequently cited by AI tools to strengthen their brand positioning and attract high-value partnerships.

The real protection is building an audience that comes to you directly, not just stumbles across your content through search.

AI-generated content offers speed and efficiency but raises ethical concerns. How can brands use AI responsibly without eroding trust?

The ethical use of AI in content creation is perhaps the defining challenge of the media and marketing industry right now. The temptation is enormous – AI can produce content at unprecedented speed and scale.

The pressure to scale content production is immense, especially for startups operating with limited budgets. But publishing generic AI content is a massive risk for brand trust and credibility.

While artificial intelligence tools are helpful starting points for content research and initial drafts, the magic happens when human expertise intervenes. AI can identify trends or compile statistics, but cannot provide real-world experience and never will. What readers really want to know is how this will impact them specifically – you need a real human expert to explain what these patterns mean and offer real-world practical guidance.

What works best is using AI to enhance human capabilities rather than replacing human judgment.

How do you see the balance between traditional SEO, social search, and AI-driven discovery evolving over the next five years?

The future isn’t about choosing between conventional SEO, social search, or AI discovery – it’s about balancing all three.

Traditional SEO isn’t disappearing, but it’s evolving. Google remains the dominant force, with almost 90 per cent search market share and 14 billion daily searches, up 21 per cent from last year and 373 times as many searches as ChatGPT. But the nature of search is changing. We’re moving toward zero-click searches, where users get answers directly on the results page, and AI Overviews are becoming more prominent.

SEO success will increasingly depend on creating content that serves as source material for these AI-generated summaries while providing enough value to drive click-through.

Social search will continue growing, especially among younger demographics. By 2030, I predict social platforms will handle 20-25 per cent of all search-like behavior, particularly for local discovery, product research, and lifestyle content.

This will require brands to develop “social SEO” capabilities, which means understanding how content is discovered and consumed on each platform.

If you were advising a business starting from scratch today, what would your top three priorities be for building a future-proof content marketing strategy?

First: Create pillar content pieces that are 10X better than anything else out there. Mr Beast once said, “I’d rather spend 100 hours on a single video and make it the best it can be than spend 10 hours on a video that is just okay.” Truly remarkable content doesn’t just perform a bit better; it performs many orders of magnitude better than “okay” content.

It can also be splintered down into assets that work everywhere. This isn’t about repurposing an 800-word blog post into a social media caption. It’s about creating something epic that can also work as a short-form video, email, or social post and be structured so AI can understand and cite it properly.

Second: Build real authority, not fake authority. Too many brands are still playing the old keyword stuffing and the backlink buying game. Showcase actual humans with real knowledge. Always provide unique insights that your audience can’t find anywhere else. And, if you can offer those up with a unique angle or approach, you’ll dominate.

Third: Use real-time information. The quarterly content calendar is dead. Brands that win are those that monitor social trends, track what’s happening in search results, watch creator performance, and adapt their strategy weekly, sometimes daily.

This isn’t about chasing every viral trend—it’s about having systems that help you spot opportunities early enough to take action.

The businesses that will thrive understand that content marketing in 2025 isn’t about creating more content – it’s about making smarter content that builds genuine relationships across increasingly complex discovery paths.

The question I hear most often in boardrooms from New York to Hong Kong is no longer if they should come to the Gulf, but how. With nearly half a trillion dollars in assets being managed onshore and sovereign funds deploying capital at a breathtaking pace, the region is an irresistible center of gravity.

This leads every global CEO to the same strategic crossroads: Do we buy a local player, licence our own operation, or build something new from the ground up?

It sounds like a simple choice. It’s not. In my experience, this is the first and most critical place where smart, successful firms get it wrong. At our firm, we guide leadership teams through this exact maze, because they often treat it like a checklist, when they should be treating it like a puzzle with moving parts. Getting it right can unlock a decade of growth. Getting it wrong means getting stuck in regulatory limbo, bleeding cash and momentum while your competitors race ahead.

The three doors: And what’s really behind them

Let’s be direct about the options.

• Buying is the fast track. It gives you instant headcount, licenses, and a client list. But it’s like buying a used race car, it might win you the next race, but you’re also buying its hidden mechanical problems, its old culture, and a team that isn’t yours. Integration is almost always harder and more expensive than the prospectus suggests.
• Licensing gives you control. It’s your brand, your people, your vision. This is like being handed the blueprints to build a world-class car. The problem is that the blueprints are written in four different dialects of engineering-speak, and you have to navigate the factory politics just to get the parts. It requires patience and a deep understanding of the local landscape.
• Building from scratch offers a clean slate. You can design the perfect vehicle for this specific market. But it’s a slow burn. It takes years of commitment, conviction, and capital before you even get to the starting line. It’s a powerful move, but only for those with genuine, long-term vision.

The shrewdest players I see aren’t just picking one door. They’re finding ways to walk through two at once, maybe taking a minority stake in a local firm to learn the ropes while they patiently pursue their own licence in the background. They understand that strategy isn’t a single decision, but a sequence of smart ones.

Read: UAE investors bullish on real estate, tech, and energy, survey reveals

The real game changer: Choosing your “home” in the UAE

But the most important conversation isn’t about which door to choose. It’s about where the doors are located. The UAE isn’t just opening its doors to global finance; it’s redesigning the entire building, with multiple entry points designed for very different kinds of players.

This is where foreign firms make their biggest mistake. They see a list of regulators: DIFC, ADGM, VARA, etc. and assume they’re just different brands of the same thing. They are not. Each has a distinct personality, a purpose, and a culture. Choosing the right one is like choosing a neighborhood: you need to find the one where you fit.

Think of it as a regulatory compass:

• The DIFC is the superhighway. It’s the established, world-class route for the big players: the institutional asset managers, the global banks, the household names. It’s built on English common law, it’s efficient, and it connects seamlessly to the rest of the world’s financial capitals.
• The ADGM is the exclusive private road. This is the domain of private capital, sophisticated wealth, and sovereign funds. If your business is in private equity, hedge funds, or managing the fortunes of HNWIs, ADGM is architected for you. It’s agile, discreet, and sits at the nexus of serious money.
• VARA is the test track. It’s new, purpose-built, and designed for speed and innovation. This is where the crypto funds, the tokenization platforms, and the Web3 pioneers come to push the limits. It’s for those building the future of finance.

Picking the wrong lane is a classic error. I’ve seen crypto funds get bogged down trying to fit into a traditional banking framework and traditional asset managers get confused by a digital-first regulator. Align your business model with the regulator’s DNA, or prepare for friction.

Where good intentions go to die

Failure here rarely comes from a lack of ambition. It comes from a lack of humility. The biggest mistake is assuming the playbook that worked in London or New York can be copied and pasted into the Gulf. It can’t.

Another classic faux pas is sending a junior team to run the show while the real decisions are made back at global HQ. The region respects, and responds to, empowered leadership on the ground.

Ultimately, the firms that thrive here are the ones that show up ready to learn. They listen. They adapt. They understand that the Gulf isn’t just another market to be captured. It’s a place to build, to innovate, and to co-create. The ones who get that will be the ones who lead the next era of global finance. The rest will be left wondering what went wrong.

Hasnae Taleb, the first Arab-African woman nominated as “The Shewolf of Nasdaq” by Nasdaq Stock Market, is an multi-award-winning trader and managing partner of Mintiply Capital.