The world’s second-largest and Asia’s largest event of its kind, the Hong Kong International Licensing Show (9-11 January) and Asian Licensing Conference (9-10 January) will kick off next week to showcase licensing opportunities in Asia. Both events are organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). Digital age and Belt and Road Initiative create new licensing opportunities The licensing industry has seen robust growth and diversification in recent years, uncovering...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and rock music legend, John Fogerty, marks his debut at Wynn Las Vegas as he brings his acclaimed show, John Fogerty: Fortunate Son In Concert, to the Encore Theater for ten intimate performances from March 3 – 11 and May 19 – 28. With a career spanning more than 50 years, Fogerty will take fans on an electrifying journey through his remarkable catalog that solidified his status as one of the most influential musicians in history. “Hail, hail rock and...
China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in China and a member of the SkyTeam Airline Alliance, is hosting a #ChinaSouthernFoodies social media contest to find the next inflight food sensation. Whether you are a professional or home cook, foodies and flyers across the world are encouraged to enter their own original recipe via social media. A number of entries will be chosen to compete in the final taste-testing event at BREAD® restaurant in the Nolitan Hotel on January 26, 2017. BREAD®...
Hamad International Airport (HIA) welcomed four of FC Bayern Munich’s top footballers for a special fan meet and greet event, as part of the unique partnership that pairs aviation’s newest, most advanced international hub with Germany’s most successful football club. Hamad International Airport arranged a unique opportunity for the fans of the team in Qatar to meet FC Bayern Munich players Xabi Alonso, Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba, and Juan Bernat at the state-of-the-art airport on Tuesday 3rd...
The Turkish parliament has approved the three-month extension of the country’s state of emergency, which was initially implemented after a failed July coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ahead of the voting on Tuesday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus stressed government’s determination “to fight against all terrorist organizations.” “With the attack in Ortakoy, they wanted to give different messages comparing to other terrorist attacks. One of...
The value of the troubled Turkish currency, lira, has crashed to a record low against the US dollar due to growing security concerns after the Istanbul terror attack as well as a higher-than-expected inflation rate. The lira traded at 3.59 to one dollar on Tuesday, a further rate loss of 1.38 for the day after it collapsed earlier through the 3.6 lira ceiling, marking the first time on record that its value weakened that low against the American currency. The Turkish currency was thrashed...
Dear friends, I write to you as I begin my final year as UNWTO Secretary-General, a position I have been privileged to hold for almost seven years at an Agency I have been proud to serve for the past decade. During this time I have seen tourism become one of the world’s most important and impactful socio-economic sectors of our times. I have seen its growing relevance to the lives of millions around the world, to the preservation of our common values and to greater understanding among people of...
The 43rd HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, the eighth HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and the 17th Hong Kong International Stationery Fair are set to open at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next week. Starting on 9 January and continuing through 12 January, the three fairs will feature more than 2,900 global exhibitors showcasing a dynamic range of innovative and high tech products. Hong Kong’s major export products, including toys, are still being affected...
Qatar Airways and Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the official airline and retail sponsors of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Men’s Tennis 2017, are welcoming fans to the first tournament of the 25th annual ATP World Tour 250 Series in Doha. Held at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Stadium from 2 to 7 January, the exciting tournament is the first in the prestigious ATP World Tour 250 Series that takes place across the globe. The Qatar ExxonMobil Open Men’s Tennis 2017 will showcase the world’s best...
A raging wildfire burned 100 homes in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso, forcing the evacuation of some 400 people. At least 19 residents were harmed, mostly by smoke inhalation, after the blaze broke out on the city’s outskirts, fanned by high winds. Valparaiso residents put on masks in an attempt to protect themselves from plumes of black smoke, AP reported. The authorities have issued a maximum red alert. “It was hopeless. The smoke was suffocating. It stung my eyes. So, we had to...
As of January 1st Lars Wagner (42) will become Head of Corporate Communication at Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) in Germany. He took on the position provisionally in May of the previous year. Lars Wagner will also continue to run the Press Office and to act as the company’s First Press Officer. He reports to Dr. Karsten Mühlenfeld, CEO of the airport company.
December 31 is his birthday. Happy birthday, 146th birthday. He could very well be a big tourism attraction for Indonesia, but is living a quiet live in rural Indonesia. Today he started the year of his 147th birthday, and yes he does have gray hair, he cannot see very well, but is healthy otherwise, enjoying his daily walk. . This Indonesian man who is believed to be the oldest living person in the world has celebrated his 146th birthday. A surprise party was organized by Mbah Gotho’ family to...
While Italians have spent over €3 billion on Christmas gifts this year, many are willing to sell what they got from Santa and buy what they really need, says eBay research. About three million people in Italy are ready to resell their gifts, which vary from tech gadgets to duplicates. The trend rose by 14 percent this year, while in 2015 about half of Italians said they hadn’t received the presents they want. This year, Italians who responded stated that they would sell their unwanted gifts to...
The Falls Festival in Australia will continue despite a horrific stampede that left some 80 people injured, of whom 20 were taken to hospital for treatment, local media report. The incident at the event in Lorne on the southwest coast of the state Victoria occurred at about 11:00pm on Friday night as festival-goers were trying to leave a performance by Australian rock band DMA to watch London Grammar at another part of the site. In the wake of the stampede, 13 women and six men were taken to...
Government authorities in major European capitals have stepped up security over the fears of terror attacks ahead of New Year celebration, erecting concrete blockades in city centers and boosting police numbers. Thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed to protect the civilians in Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid and Rome, among other European cities, particularly at landmarks across the continent. In the German capital Berlin, where Islamic terrorist rammed a truck into a...
Indians have lined up outside banks across the country today to cash their savings, after large bills were pulled out of circulation by the government in a bid to boost the economy and fight corruption. Friday is the last day 500 and 1,000-rupee bank notes are regarded as legal tender in the country. On January 1, the notes will be worthless. All the 500 and 1,000-rupee bank notes in the country have a combined worth of $256 billion and comprise 86 percent of Indian cash in circulation. Indian...
“It is not possible to hold a referendum that will do away with national sovereignty and the equality of Spaniards,” said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at a year-end press conference in Madrid on Friday, ruling out the possibility of any referendum on the secession of the northeastern region of Catalonia from Spain. Members of Catalonia’s National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination, which brings together pro-secession political groups in Spain’s semi-autonomous...
According to the latest reports, Saudi Arabia has invited Iran to discuss the resumption of Hajj pilgrimages by Iranians, a process that has been halted over a litany of Hajj-time disasters. London-based daily al-Hayat reported that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, to work out the details of the 2017 Hajj. “Iran’s Hajj delegation was invited to come to the kingdom” for talks, the daily reported. Iranian officials have...
Heathrow, the UK’s only hub airport, has revealed that today’s kids are a generation of tiny travelers, visiting more countries, clocking up more air miles and having more overseas experiences than ever before. New research reveals that in 2016, one in five (19%) kids went away seven or more times and one in 20 went on more than 10 breaks taking into account family holidays, school trips and vacations with friends. The current generation of kids are dreaming of Bondi Beach, kangaroos and the...
The following tip sheet was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau: As our nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the U.S. population will be 324,310,011 on Jan. 1, 2017. This represents an increase of 2,245,347, or 0.70 percent, from New Year’s Day 2016. Since Census Day (April 1) 2010, the population has grown by 15,564,473, or 5.04 percent. In January 2017, the United States is expected to experience one birth every 8 seconds and one death...
The country that uses online payments for even the smallest transactions, Denmark, has officially scrapped the old-fashioned check, calling it outdated. Starting from January 1, Danes will only be able to cash checks at issuer banks. Checks were commonly used in the country up until the 1980s, but are now much less popular. Danes now use the national Dankort debit card or smartphone payment systems like MobilePay. “They had their time, but it’s over now,” Ann Lehmann Erichsen, a consumer...
The UK’s vote to leave the EU poses a threat to the European business community, according to new research conducted for RSM by the European Business Awards. The research asked almost 700 of Europe’s successful business leaders their views on Brexit. 41% think that the UK is now a less attractive investment destination and 54% believe Brexit poses a threat, compared to 39% who see it as an opportunity. Which aspect of the Brexit negotiation is most important to European businesses...
Salt Lake City is the most affordable U.S. destination for New Year’s Eve 2016. That’s the takeaway of the latest survey from CheapHotels.org, which compared 30 major destinations in the United States based on their lodging cost. For each of the destinations considered, the survey established the minimum amount an overnight guest will have to spend on December 31, 2016 to stay in the most affordable double room. Only those hotels with at least a 3-star rating and those situated near...
12 months to celebrate and promote the contribution of the tourism sector to building a better world. This is the major goal of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 that will start in few days. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development recalling the potential of tourism to advance the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The...
The outspoken and most active and out of the box thinking minister of tourism resigned. The Seychelles Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine presented his letter of resignation to the Seychelles President Danny Faure. St. Ange joined the Government of Seychelles in early 2009 as Director of Marketing at the Seychelles Tourism Board and a year later, in June 2010, he was promoted to the position of CEO of the Tourism Board falling under the Office of the President. On the 14th...
The year 2016 is just about to come to an end. It has been a year full of important events – the outcome of the US elections; the results of the British, Italian and Dutch referendums; the continuing bloodshed in Syria; the despicable terror attacks all over the world including the recent one in Berlin; the gradual and dramatic transformation of the way we receive information; the rise of populism and xenophobia and many other significant and worrying developments. For us here in Seychelles...
Russian investigators say that a fault with the wing flaps of the military plane that recently went down over the Black Sea was the reason it crashed and killed all of its 92 passengers. The Tu-154 jet was heading to Syria when it went down off Russia’s coastal resort of Sochi on Sunday. Its passengers included 68 musicians, eight crew members and several journalists. According to Russian media, all three of the plane’s black boxes flight recorders were recovered on Tuesday. Unconfirmed...
The lobby of Trump Tower has reportedly been evacuated due to a suspicious package, the New York Police Department has said. President-elect Donald Trump is not on the premises. The New York City police and fire departments are on the scene. While the evacuation and investigation were underway in New York, Trump sent an unrelated tweet out about the election. The all-clear was given about 40 minutes after the evacuation began, the NYPD tweeted.
FlyersRights.org, the nation’s largest airline passenger organization, and Travelers United, have joined forces with an aggrieved airline passenger whose personal injury claim was denied by a Federal Appeals court. In a short 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals struck a blow against airline passenger rights with claims against airlines by refusing to recognize claims filed within 2 years in another country, unless also filed in a U.S. court with 2 years. There was, however...
Zimbabwe and Zambia relaunched their Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) Univisa on 21 st of December 2016 at a dazzling ceremony hosted by the Ministers of Home Affairs from both countries in Livingstone, Zambia. The countries’ Ministers of Tourism Hon Dr Walter Mzembi, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry of Zimbabwe, the current UNWTO Regional Commission for African Chairperson and the African Union (AU) candidate for the UNWTO Secretary General post for the...
