Last few tickets on sale ahead of World Ski Awards
Taking place over the weekend of November 15th-17th in the legendary winter sports destination of Kitzbühel, Austria, attendees will take part in a three day programme of unrivalled networking events, dinners, and exclusive ski experience activities.
The event is being heralded as the first ever global initiative to celebrate and reward excellence in the ski hospitality industry.
The highlight event will be the glittering red carpet World Ski Awards Gala Ceremony itself on the evening of November 16th where the World Ski Awards winners – the finest brands in ski tourism – will be unveiled to the world.
Full details of the World Ski Awards’ programme of events and the opportunity to secure tickets and special accommodation rates at the host hotel – the 5 star A-ROSA Kitzbühel - can be found here.
World Ski Awards is the sister organisation of World Travel Awards, which is heralded as “the Oscars of the travel industry”.
Turkish Republic Day celebrated at Rixos the Palm Dubai
Rixos the Palm Dubai has taken great pleasure in celebrating the 90th anniversary of Turkish Republic Day.The day marks a significant turning point in Turkey history, remembering the official recognition of the Turkish Republic which took October 29th, 1923, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
On that day, the new name of the nation and its status as a Republic was declared.
The event was sponsored by the Turkish Consulate in Dubai and Turkish Ambassador and Consul General attended the event along with UAE officials.
The event was a great success where everyone enjoyed variety of Turkish Cuisine presented at the famous Rixos the Palm Beach.
The event had a uniting effect on the Turkish community thanks to the splendid food and upbeat Turkish music played all night long.
Saudi Arabia capitalises on booming mobile market
According to the study – carried out by global travel market research company PhoCusWright – web sales in Saudi Arabia are forecasted to nearly double since 2011, when the online travel sector was valued at $1bn.
“The online travel industry across the whole of the Middle East is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the significant growth we are witnessing in Saudi Arabia is further testament to this,” said Rabih Saab, president, Middle East and Africa, Travelport.
“At Travelport we work closely with travel agents and airlines to help them meet these demands by offering broader content through faster distribution and sharing our expertise so they can firmly establish themselves in this rapidly evolving industry sector.”
The research also shows the rapid development of Saudi Arabia’s travel industry as a whole, estimating that by 2014 the country’s travel trade will be worth $11.4bn compared to $9.8bn in 2011.
To support the continuous development of Saudi Arabia’s online and traditional travel sectors, Travelport has unveiled its key business priorities for 2014 – all of which emphasise the company’s focus on Saudi Arabia as a strategic commercial region. Specifically, next year Travelport will:
- Introduce a range of new technology solutions. Shortly, Travelport will launch Travelport Smartpoint 3.0 – its next generation desktop solution for travel agents. In addition, the company will continue the roll-out of Travelport Merchandising Platform, pioneering technology for airline distribution, and its leading edge Travelport Universal API – the industry’s first truly universal API, giving travel agents access to a world of content and functionality through a single API connection.
- Focus on online technologies – 2014 will see the launch of the next generation Travelport View Trip Mobile – Travelport’s itinerary management tool. With the online space developing at such a rapid rate in Saudi Arabia, Travelport will continue to invest in online technologies to complement existing products already available to the local trade such as Travelport Mobile Agent, which enables agents to gain GDS access to via a smartphone or a tablet.
- Continue to invest in Saudi Arabia’s travel trade – Travelport is already using its product range, regional expertise and market knowledge to help further develop Saudi Arabia’s travel trade through cutting-edge technologies, educational industry events and sharing of its professional expertise.
- Further strengthen its team in Saudi Arabia – in 2014, Travelport will continue to grow its dedicated team in Saudi Arabia, with a specific focus on remote regions. Since the start of 2013, Travelport has already recruited five new Key Account Sales Executives, as well as added more senior level support to its leadership team. “Travelport has a long history in Saudi Arabia spanning over 20 years and this remains a key strategic region for us,” added Saab. “This year, we have continued to grow our footprint across Saudi Arabia and through our solid product and business stagey in 2014, we will continue to develop our regional presence and address the ever evolving needs of our customers.”
Abu Dhabi tourism prepares for F1 Grand Prix
Having joined forces with a number of key stakeholders, the authority will mount a promotional tent in the Oasis to introduce visitors to key destination products and events.
“Over the years the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has proved to be a highly successful engagement platform for visitor interaction last year achieving over 30,000 guests over the three race days,” said HE Jasem Al Darmaki, deputy director general, TCA Abu Dhabi.
“We have gone all out this year to ensure visitors are made fully aware of the many facets of the destination and the enticing line-up of major events coming our way next year.”
Guests to the TCA Tent will be greeted by a falconer and his falcon with who they can pose for souvenir photos to commemorate their visit.
Once inside they can try their skill at an Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship putting green and sign up for the destination’s website – visitabudhabi.ae – for the chance to win a trip to the January golfing highlight and meet characters from Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld.
The visitors will also be able to try their skill in an F1 simulator and in a laser shooting game provided by the Al Forsan International Sports Resort before being serenaded by an oud player courtesy of Arabian Nights Village, who will also serve up local coffee and offer to decorate ladies hands with henna designs.
The village – a unique getaway in the Abu Dhabi desert – is also staging competitions for prizes including desert safaris and overnight stays.
The Big Bus will bring fun to the promotion with passengers being able to be photographed atop a ‘open top’ cut out while the Life & Style Show, which runs at ADNEC shortly after the F1 will run competitions for tickets to the event.
In Yas Marina Circuit’s West Oasis, visitors will be able to board the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing yacht with the Volvo Ocean Racing team’s skipper, double-Olympic-medal-winner Ian Walker and local sailing hero Adil Khalid conducting tours.
Bach praises Sochi preparations ahead of Winter Olympics
On his third day of a four-day visit to the Black Sea city, Bach attended the unveiling of the Sochi 2014 Games-time uniforms and met with students of the Russian International Olympic University.
He spent the previous two days on venue tours of the coastal and mountain clusters and in meetings with Sochi 2014 organisers and government officials, including Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“The progress the organisers have made since winning the right to host the Games seven years ago is tremendous, but more importantly, they have delivered on their commitment to place the athletes at the heart of these Games,” said Bach.
“I can confidently say that all the athletes will be warmly welcomed and they will be suitably impressed with the Athletes’ Villages and competition venues.
“We can expect to see some terrific performances in February as a result.”
On Monday, president Putin and Bach officially opened the Adler railway terminal, which will be the main artery linking the two clusters of sports venues during the Games.
During a private meeting, Bach received fresh assurances from Putin that there will be no discrimination against the LGBT community during the Games.
“All visitors travelling to Sochi for the Games regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation will be welcomed here equally – this has been made very clear by the Russian authorities,” said Bach.
“The Games themselves are open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media, and, of course, athletes.
“This is a principal pillar of the Olympic Movement that will be upheld in Sochi.”
WTM welcomes new exhibitors to 2013 event
Nearly one-quarter of the new businesses in attendance this year can be found within the inaugural Travel Tech Show at WTM, which has derived from the phenomenal success of the travel technology region at previous events.
Europe is the next most popular region for new exhibitors, followed by the Americas.
All eight WTM regions will host new exhibitors.
The Travel Tech Show at WTM welcomes 61 new exhibitors. Amadeus, Comtec, Pegasus and Dolphin Dynamics are some of the familiar reservations and booking technology firms exhibiting this year.
But other sectors such as email marketing, reviews management and consumer-facing bedbanks will be represented by newcomers such as Silverpop, reputation.com and Venere.
The 43 new European exhibitors reflect the improving economic climate across continental Europe.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot is the biggest name back within the WTM fold.
VisitBrussels is also new, strengthening the overall presence of Belgium at this year’s WTM.
Spain’s state-owned railway Renfe is also exhibiting.
Africa is an important market for WTM parent company Reed Travel Exhibitions, which is hosting the first-ever WTM Africa next May (2nd-3rd) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Seventeen new African exhibitors at WTM 2013 include Board of Tourism for Sao Tome and Principe, Ghana Tourist Authority and Cape Verde.
Asia Pacific is another region growing in importance as an inbound destination and source market.
More than 20 new exhibitors specialise in this region, including airlines Garuda and Royal Brunei, Pandaw River Expeditions from Cambodia and Silk Road specialist Sitara International, based in Uzbekistan.
Elsewhere, there are more than twenty new exhibitors in the Americas region, which covers North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Brand USA has also increased its stand space by 30 per cent.
The new exhibitors include two more airlines, Avianca and Air Europa, while the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board is also making its debut.
The Middle East is responsible for a further eight new exhibitors, including organisations promoting tourism to Yemen, Palestine and Iraq.
India’s seven new exhibitors include destinations such as West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The five new exhibitors in the Global Village include UK-based city card specialist Groundline Enterprises and Canadian poolside security device manufacturer Pool Safe Inc.
Finally, ten new exhibitors from the UK and Ireland include Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and London Theatre Group.
Reed Travel Exhibitions, senior director, World Travel Market, Simon Press said: “I am delighted to see 225 new exhibitors for WTM13, and I’m also pleased by the geographical spread of these businesses, and the sectors in which they operate.
“It proves that WTM is a truly global event covering all aspects of the travel and tourism industry.”
Thomson opens first new next generation store
Set over 2,187 square feet, the store integrates the latest technology combined with great service to enhance the experience of choosing and booking a holiday.
Marketed to consumers as the Holiday Design Store, it features some of the latest retail innovations with an immersive video wall ‘shop window’ showcasing evocative content.
Customers can explore the world on an 84”touch screen interactive map and interactive table designed to inspire and entertain customers as they research their holiday.
The modern look and feel is continued with high definition screens and projections around the store featuring changing images and videos.
Here customers can view top ten lists and live weather information, read reviews and view videos of destinations.
Social media feeds will be streamed onto the screens to educate and inform customers and give them a feel of what to expect from their holiday before they book.
The store is zoned so customers can choose from browsing on their own devices using free Wi-fi in the pool area, self-serving on customer computers at the Advice Bar where staff will be on hand to answer questions or have a more personalised experience in the large booths where relevant holiday images and video content will be projected on the wall.
Kathryn Ward, director of retail for TUI UK & Ireland said: “The opening of our first next generation store today is very exciting for the business as it showcases the future for our retail network. Central to the concept is the designing of unique holiday experiences customers cannot find elsewhere.
“We’re combining the knowledge and expertise of our people with a range of technology that will really bring choosing and booking a holiday to life and we’re looking forward to welcoming our first customers to the store.”
The Thomson store is located on Thames Walk on the Upper Mall.
United celebrates Dubai anniversary
United senior vice president sales, Dave Hilfman, and Jim Mueller, vice president Atlantic and Pacific sales, will host a number of events in Dubai for UAE customers and business partners including an anniversary reception, a golf tournament and a culinary demonstration by United Congress of Chefs member James Canora.
Since its inauguration on in October, 2008, United’s Dubai-Washington/Dulles service has been in great demand, benefiting business travel, inward investment and trans-Atlantic trade between the Middle East and the United States.
“United is committed to serving the Middle East, and we are proud to have completed five years of successful operations between Dubai and Washington/Dulles,” said Hilfman.
“We continue to see strong customer support for the route in the US market, while UAE customers benefit from both direct access to Washington, DC, one of the most popular US tourism and business destinations, as well as unparalleled connectivity via our Dulles hub to cities throughout the Americas.”
The Dubai-Washington/Dulles flight, UA977, departs Dubai daily at 00:10, arriving in Washington/Dulles at 06:30 the same day.
The return flight, UA976, departs Washington/Dulles daily at 18:35, arriving in Dubai at 15:35 the next day.
United’s Dubai-Washington/Dulles service is operated by Boeing 777 aircraft configured with eight seats in United Global First, 40 in United BusinessFirst, 110 in United Economy Plus and 108 in United Economy Class.
Jumeirah secures funding for mid-term expansion
The facility was lead arranged by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Mashreq and Standard Chartered. Jumeirah Group was advised by Rothschild on the transaction.
The loan will be used for expansion plans as Jumeirah continues to grow in the years ahead as well as for general corporate purposes, at the parent level, for Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group.
Gerald Lawless, president, Jumeirah Group said: “The pricing we have been able to achieve for this syndicated loan is a testament to the Company’s financial strength and future prospects.
“This financing will support our focus on driving profitable revenues from the existing portfolio while giving us the headroom to continue our local and international expansion. This is the first time we have raised funds through a syndicated loan and we are pleased to be supported by the highest calibre of international and local banks.”
Year to date September 2013, average occupancy in Jumeirah’s portfolio of hotels has increased by eight per cent globally, compared to the same period in 2012.
In the same period the revenue per available room, an industry standard for measuring performance, rose by 15 per cent.
The performance data is based on hotels that had more than 18 months of operations under the Jumeirah brand.
Etihad boosts capacity out of Manchester for Christmas flights
The airline will upgrade one of its twice daily flights, switching from a 262 seat Airbus A330-200 to a 412 seat Boeing 777-300ER – a capacity increase of 57 per cent.
The bigger plane will operate between the two cities for the whole of December.
Etihad Airways will also introduce a range of special holiday packages to the sun soaked Abu Dhabi.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “We are delighted to welcome the increased winter capacity at Manchester Airport to Abu Dhabi and beyond.
“Since launching, the route has proved to be incredibly popular with passengers and we are sure the larger aircraft will perform very well.
“We are attributing the extra demand to the success of our Fly Manchester campaign, which has seen dedicated activity across our catchment area, to win back the 4four million plus people who choose to travel to congested London airports, when the routes operate here in Manchester.
“The extra capacity is also a sign of increased confidence in the north of England.”
Amadeus: Low cost airlines making Asian inroads
The analysis paints a picture of strong capacity growth across Asia and the Middle East with only modest increases across Europe and North America.
For example, Asia has see LCC capacity increase by 28.7 per cent over the period, with carriers offering a total of 129 million seats in 2013.
In contrast, North America saw capacity increase by just 1.5 per cent during the first six months of the year.
However, the market remains larger, with the region seeing 154 million seats offered this year, from a global total of 559 million.
Low-cost carriers in Indonesia (capacity up by 12.3 million seats), India (capacity up by three million seats), Thailand (capacity up by two million seats) and Malaysia (capacity up by 1.8 million) were responsible for half of total, global, LCC capacity growth.
When capital cities are examined, it is evident that capacity increases are being driven by emerging Asian nations.
Jakarta saw the strongest absolute LCC capacity growth of any capital, increasing by 2.8 million seats or 44 per cent, closely followed by Bangkok, up 1.2 million seats or 30 per cent.
In addition, the heavily developed Tokyo market also saw a significant increase in LCC seat capacity, which suggests the traditional focus on full service, could be changing.
Europe’s 0.8 per cent overall LCC capacity growth masks a far more complex picture: across much of southern Europe LCCs have reduced capacity, with Madrid seeing a fall in LCC departing seat capacity of 27 per cent, the highest of any capital city in the region. Athens and Rome also saw significant percentage decreases.
This picture contrasts sharply with the situation in much of Eastern and Northern Europe where Warsaw witnessed an enormous jump in LCC capacity, up 63 per cent year-on-year and now representing 27 per cent of total departing capacity from the city.
Istanbul and Copenhagen also saw LCC capacity increase sharply.
On a global basis, London’s LCC seat capacity is by far the largest of any city with nearly 15 million available LCC seats.
That is roughly 1.5 times the number of available seats at the next largest LCC city, Sao Paulo.
However, the rates of growth occurring at Jakarta (44 per cent) and Kuala Lumpur (15 per cent) suggest the third and fourth placed cities may move up the top ten ranking over coming years.
Alexandre Jorre, LCC specialist, Amadeus, commented: “We see a natural boom in LCC capacity across Asia, where point-to-point air travel is largely underserved.
“However, across the mature markets of Europe and North America capacity is constrained, which may explain why some LCCs are considering new approaches to secure future growth.”
For further information, please head over to the official Amadeus website.
ITB Berlin to focus on technology
Next year, the show will provide space in Hall 5.1 for companies from this market for the first time.
Thus, the world’s leading travel trade show will create an additional 700 metres of display area for the topic of travel technology in tourism.
In 2014 Training and Employment in Tourism (TET), along with universities and technical colleges, will move from Hall 5.1 to Hall 11.1.
As part of this reorganisation, the majority of exhibitors previously in Hall 6.1 will move to Hall 5.1.
The hall layout will remain largely the same.
The Technology Hall will feature companies exhibiting traditional Travel Technology products, who also address similar themes to the numerous tourism enterprises in Hall 25.
Most of the companies representing the hotel industry can be found in Hall 6.1, in close proximity to Halls 8.1, 9 and 10.1.
In future the eTravel World, which up to now has been in Hall 7.1c, will be in Hall 6.1 together with technology companies.
For space reasons they previously occupied other halls.
This reshuffle means that in 2014 the eTravel World, which once again has information on mobile travel service, social media and blogging innovations and trends, will now expand.
The exhibitors in Hall 6.1, many of whom will be represented here for the first time, will be able to benefit even more from the attraction this popular segment exerts on visitors who are interested in the internet.
Next year some of the events at the ITB Berlin Convention can be found in Hall 7.1c, including the PhoCusWright@ITB technology conference.
“In the tourism industry innovation is a process rather than part of a product.
“For this reason the Technology segment is becoming more and more important at ITB“, said David Ruetz, head of ITB Berlin.
“We are confident that the industry will react positively to these changes.
“We have received bookings from many new exhibitors who are taking the opportunity to exhibit here for the first time.”
New frequent flier perks from British Airways
Customers can get up to £30 off a short-haul flight by using up to 4,500 Avios.
For just 1,500 Avios, they can receive £10 off the fare and for 3,000 Avios get £20 off.
The airline already offers customers the opportunity to use part Avios, part cash to pay for an Avios redemption seat.
This new option means that Avios can be used on any European booking, not just redemption seats, in either the Euro Traveller (economy) or Club Europe (business class) cabin.
What’s more, customers will still collect Avios and Tier Points on these flights.
Robin Glover-Faure, head of short-haul at British Airways, said: “Our most loyal customers in the Executive Club have told us they want more ways to use their Avios and this new option is in response to that feedback.
“It enables them to realise real cost savings – as much as 38 per cent off in some cases – on European flights, so flights to somewhere like Barcelona could cost as little as £48 return and 4,500 Avios for someone on a hand-baggage only fare.
This new way to pay can be used on short-haul flights and includes all fare types including the new hand-baggage only and semi-flex fares.
Executive Club members will receive further details in the coming week.
Qatar Airways touches down in Manila
Flight QR930 touched down at Clark International Airport at 09:20 local time to a traditional water salute welcome.
Qatar Airways senior vice president commercial operations – network, Woo Yew Seong was joined by the ambassador of the Philippines to of Qatar, His Excellency Crescente Relacion on the inaugural non-stop flight to Clark from the airline’s operational hub of Doha.
“Qatar Airways has reached yet another key milestone in the Philippines, with the launch of additional daily flights to this fast-growing country,” said Yew Seong on arrival at Clark International Airport.
“With our new offering, business and leisure travellers to the Luzon area have great connections via Doha from many popular destinations, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Dammam, Riyadh, Montreal, New York, London and Paris.”
The Clark Airport route is operated with an Airbus A330 in a two-class configuration of up to 248 seats in Economy and up to 36 in Business Class.
The aircraft features seatback TV screens providing all passengers in both cabins with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system- a choice of more than 900 audio and video on demand options.
Clark International Airport is located about 96km from Manila City Centre and a complimentary bus service will be available to take passengers to and from Trinoma Mall and Resorts World Manila (conveniently located opposite of MNL International Airport T3).
As an inaugural offer, passengers are also entitled to exceptional baggage allowance of up to 40 kgs valid for travel until January 31st 2014.
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