Okinawa will host the first Japanese Routes Asia air service development forum this weekend (19-21 March) to boost international transport connections. Now in its 15th year, Routes Asia brings together airlines, airports, tourism authorities and governments to plan new flights and increase existing services. Over 930 route development professionals from 110 airlines, 170 airports and 20 tourism authorities are expected to attend this year’s event at Okinawa Convention Centre. Japan has...
Luxury cruise brand, Cunard, has today unveiled its January to May 2019 program called the ‘Oceans of Discovery’ which will include a voyage to Alaska. This will be the first time that the current fleet will have travelled to Alaska, and the first time that the cruise line will have ventured there in over 20-years. From January to May 2019, Cunard’s iconic flagship Queen Mary 2 and her sisters Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria will call at 49 different countries and 109...
The 21st edition of the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) sprang into action for a four-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. A premier trading platform for the international entertainment industry, this year’s FILMART welcomes more than 800 exhibitors from 35 countries and regions. In addition to major film companies in Hong Kong, many overseas exhibitors have set up pavilions at FILMART to promote their local entertainment productions, including...
The Netherlands has issued a travel warning for Turkey amid a growing row between the two countries. Meanwhile, Ankara has summoned the Dutch envoy, claiming a Turkish minister and hundreds of demonstrators were subject to “bad treatment” by authorities. The Dutch Foreign Ministry released the updated advisory on Monday, warning citizens to be careful when visiting Turkey. “Since March 11, 2017 there have been diplomatic tensions between Turkey and The Netherlands. Stay alert across the...
Dubai-based Emirates Airlines today commenced daily passenger service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Dubai International Airport, via Athens International Airport. A VIP delegation and contingent of international media were aboard the inaugural flight, which carried passengers from Athens, Dubai and points beyond. At the same time competing airlines including United Airlines demonstrated against this new route. The tourism industry in Greece is happy. Newark becomes Emirates’...
Lust for travel and profound safety concerns – Personal encounters vs. the digital world – ITB Berlin underlines its standing as the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show ® – Record numbers at the ITB Berlin Convention and increase in international buyers – Preparations under way for ITB China in Shanghai As the world’s marketplace and the trendsetter of the global travel industry ITB Berlin once again impressively underlined its standing as the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show ®. International...
Only the most outstanding testimonies to the history of mankind and nature are granted the World Heritage title by UNESCO. And many of them are in Germany. Two thousand years of history have left behind a significant legacy in Germany: silent yet eloquent witnesses to magnificent cultural achievements and natural phenomena. Many of Germany’s most impressive architectural monuments, historical towns, significant industrial sites and distinctive natural landscapes – 41 in total – have been...
Marcio Favilla L. De Paula hopes to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Marcio is currently serving as Executive Director for Operational Programs and Institutional Relations at the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid where he has been serving in that capacity since 2014. Appointed by Brazil, Mr. Favilla de Paula was the Vice Minister at the Secretariat of Institutional Relations of the Presidency of Brazil from 2007 to 2009...
Gone are the days when kosher wine tasted like melted popsicles. Fortunately for oenophiles kosher wines options have expanded beyond sweet Concord grapes of Manischevitz fame. The 1980s heralded the revival of the Israeli wine industry and today kosher wine has moved into a premium category. Kosher wines are produced throughout the world (including Israel, Germany, South Africa, Chile, Australia, California, Italy and France) and score well in global wine competitions. Jay Buchsbaum, Vice...
Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett announced at the ITB global tourism tradeshow in Berlin, Germany, and at the International Hotel Investment Forum, that new flights to Jamaica are set for the summer from Germany as well as Spain and Portugal. Germany One of Europe’s leading airlines, Eurowings, a subsidiary of one of the world’s biggest airline companies, Lufthansa, will begin operating a twice-weekly scheduled service between Germany’s largest populated metropolitan region and...
Tourism Minister Najib Balala of Kenya and Tourism Minister Maurice Loustau-Lalanne of Seychelles met at ITB in Berlin. Kenya and Seychelles are both in what is considered the East Africa region, and both are known tourism destinations. The two destinations are well connected by Kenya Airways. The friendly ties between Seychelles and Kenya date way back. Historically, many Seychellois traveled to Mombasa and Nairobi for work when the islands were still a British colony, and to date many Kenyans...
This week, Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) members have been on Capitol Hill to discuss with Congressional members the organization’s 2017 legislative priorities. This advocacy effort included educating lawmakers on the damage that people with disabilities and their wheelchairs encounter on a regular basis during air travel. Paralyzed Veterans’ broader efforts on this initiative were challenged, as the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it will delay by...
Qatar Airways has completed a spectacular showcase at this year’s ITB Berlin, at which the airline’s new Business Class QSuite was revealed in a world exclusive ceremony to hundreds of spectators, including the Mayor of Berlin, Mr. Michael Müller and the Qatari Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, while reaching more than five million spectators online via the airline’s Facebook live stream. In a world-first for Business Class travel, Qatar Airways...
The Honorable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, met with the Honorable John Kelly, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, during his first trip to Canada as Secretary and they made the following statement. “Some 400,000 people and $2.4 billion in trade cross our shared border every day. There’s no question that a strong relationship is essential to ensuring the facilitation of legitimate trade and travel, while securing our countries from shared...
According to confidential and reliable eTN sources, the current ambassador for Colombia to Austria, Jaime Alberto Cabal Sancelemnte entered the race to become the next UNWTO Secretary General. Another candidate from Armenia also submitted papers. Details are not yet known, and the names had not been confirmed by UNWTO. The Colombian candidate Ambassador Jaime Alberto Cabal Sancelemnte is holding an industrial Engineer of the Javeriana University of Bogotá. With a degree in English and...
The dark side of Tourism was well organized by Swiss, German and French precision. A Swiss man has been accused of abusing more than 80 boys in Thailand, some of whom were as young as nine, authorities said, adding that he had recruited the children to make pornographic photos, while molesting and pushing some into prostitution. The man from Bulle municipality in the canton of Fribourg is “suspected of having sexually abused more than eighty boys in Thailand, some of them for several years, by...
MCE Central & Eastern Europe is free from event visitors and putting all the attention on the building of relations between the two selected participant sides. With all these participants spending a full 2.5 days together, during which they network, benchmark, do business and enjoy time together with receptions, dinners and parties, one can realize these 2.5 days are very well spent. The M.I.C.E B2B event of the year is now over, and it was a raging success! The by Europe Congress...
The Seychelles stand at ITB in Berlin was buzzing on Thursday late afternoon as Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General (SG) of the UNWTO, arrived at the Seychelles stand with his entourage for the island’s cocktail event. Also present was Anil Gayan, Tourism Minister of Mauritius; Najib Balala, the Tourism Minister of Kenya; Joachim Duster, from the Federal of Germany Federal Office; Lela Krstevska, from the Government of Macedonia Tourism; a number of officials from tourism departments from...
The Seychelles islands was the main theme of a presentation given to a group of students at the Al Yasat private school in Al Shamkha, Abu Dhabi. Tourism attaché based in Abu Dhabi, Aliette Esther, was contacted by the school to help with a presentation and Open Day. After her first trip to these stunning islands, one of the teachers, Sara Al-Zu’bi, fell in love with Seychelles and wanted to share her experience with the students, hence she came up with this initiative. “On the first day...
Jamaica Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has signaled his intention to appoint several of Jamaica’s Honorary Consuls in Europe as unpaid Tourism Advisors to his office, as he works on significantly boosting market share for tourists to Jamaica from several key European countries. Bartlett made the announcement following engagements with Honorary Consuls from around Europe at Jamaica’s Embassy in Berlin, Germany on Monday March 7 and will complete the move following consultations with...
Corinthia Hotel Budapest has received Forbes Four Star Hotel Award from Forbes Travel Guide, making it one of only three hotels in the city with the same accolade. Forbes’ fully independent star rating system recognizes only exceptional and outstanding properties offering top quality services, and places special emphasis on the guest experiences. The rating is based on satisfying some 800 criteria evaluated by an anonymous inspector from Forbes. “It is an exceptional, but well deserved honor to...
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation Dr. Gerd Müller appealed to the tourism industry to actively address the lack of sustainable tourism. “This luxury sector must be capable of getting to grips with the issue,“ the CSU member said in a stirring keynote speech at the ITB Berlin Convention. Müller confronted his audience with three demands: Tourism had to conserve and protect while offering benefits, it had to ensure fair employment and it had to do more to protect the environment. To...
HotelsPro announced its “Global Travel Statistics for 2016” today. According to the data collected from HotelsPro’s offices in London, Shanghai, Orlando, Dubai and Istanbul, USA is the most preferred destination country in 2016. While Italy (8%) is the second most preferred destination country, it is followed by Germany (6,1%), UK (5,9%) and Spain (4,9%) in the ranking. Europe ranked #1, Asia ranked #2 Analyzing the data by continent, the most visited continent is Europe (58%). Europe is...
China has become a major power in tourism. Over the last ten years travel abroad has increased steadily. Yan Han, Deputy Secretary General of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), said: “Earnings have risen and television and the internet have made Chinese people more curious to explore other cultures and countries. The government has made it easier to travel abroad.” The Chinese want to find out about culture and history, visit historical buildings, museums and art. However, they also...
Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the UNWTO, was unequivocal about the situation in the travel sector: “We have a problem with innovation and with thinking outside the box“, he said at ITB Berlin, and briefly outlined how the tourism industry should react to the new P2Ps and platforms on offer: “We should not fight them, because they contain many positive elements, but we should know how to deal with them“, explained Rifai, who pointed out that these are commercial services offered via...
The green heart of Europe is inhabited by many people with green hearts. This was evident during a debate at the ITB Berlin Convention, where environmental activists and tourism decision-makers discussed ways in which the world’s first green destination could continue to develop in the future. The debate began with a review of the current situation: with sixty per cent of the countryside protected and with a basic right to clean drinking water that is even stipulated by the country’s...
The 32nd meeting of the UNWTO World Tourism Network on Child Protection focused on the role of governments in advancing the fight against the exploitation of children in tourism (9 March 2017). “Child protection is the responsibility of all – communities, private sector, academia, but governments have a leading role to play” said Carol Bellamy, Chair of the Network, opening the meeting. “There is a bright and black side to tourism; we need to recognize the black side exists and address it...
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has revealed that Jamaica has accepted a special invitation from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to become a member of the High Level Task Force on Tourism and Security (HLTF), which seeks to advance discussions on the current safety and security situation facing the tourism sector globally. “I am extremely honored that Jamaica has been invited to join this important task force on tourism and security. It is with pleasure that I...
Alaska Airlines officially announced today the 3 new nonstop destinations for the Silicon Valley airport. The airline is growing its footprint at Mineta San Jose International Airport and the Bay Area with its announcement today of nonstop service between San Jose and 3 new destinations for the airline. Alaska will introduce daily service to Tucson, a new destination for Silicon Valley’s airport, beginning August 28, 2017, and will launch service to Austin with daily flights beginning August...
The Korea M.I.C.E. Bureau (KMB) has stepped up its efforts to make hosting international meetings in Korea more competitive than ever through the launch of its expanded “Korea Convention Support Program.” Those who apply for the program using the KMB’s online Request for Proposal system during March will also be eligible for additional benefits, designed to enhance the experience of event delegates during their visit to Korea. The range of support programs on offer in 2017 falls into a range of...
