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Mobility of the Future: Fraport and Volocopter

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Fraport AG and Volocopter GmbH are pioneering mobility ofthe future. Together, they are developing concepts for ground infrastructure and operations required for air taxi services at airports. This cooperation focuses on smooth passenger handling and efficient integration into the existing transport infrastructure. This will be examined using a so-called Volocopter Port. In the future, Volocopter Ports could link existing urban transportation junctions with one another and provide connections to and from Frankfurt Airport (FRA).

Fraport is a globally active airport manager with many years of expertise in airport operations – particularly in ground infrastructure, ground handling, and terminal and passenger services. Fraport can also leverage its extensive experience in unmanned flying. Via its FraDrones program, Fraport has already tested various scenarios for using drones for operational purposes. Volocopter has already proven that its electrically-powered vertical take-off multicopters meet the requirements of Urban Aerial Mobility in various test flights, most notably in Dubai. Based on drone technology, the Volocopter offers space for two people and is a suitable urban transport solution thanks to its quiet and zero-emissions flying. Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s most important aviation hub with more than 69.5 million passengers last year, offers the ideal conditions for this innovative partnership.


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Anke Giesen, Fraport AG’s executive board member for operations (COO), explained: “Autonomous flying will fundamentally change aviation in the years to come. We want to be the first airport in Europe to harness the potential of electric air taxis in partnership with pioneer Volocopter – for the benefit of our passengers and the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region. This partnership underscores Fraport AG’s role as a key driver of innovation in diverse fields.”

Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter GmbH, said: “Providing the ideal connection between the city center and the airport poses a huge challenge for the world’s major cities. Together with Fraport AG, we are excited to pioneer the implementation of an air taxi service at one of Europe’s most important airports. We will be tapping into Fraport’s wealth of experience to integrate the Volocopter Service safely and efficiently into the complex array of processes required at a major international airport.”

Seychelles Tourism departments conveys peers and other stakeholders to the first 2019 multi-sectoral meeting

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High officials representing various agencies, members of the tourism-trade and other stakeholders met again on February 1, 2019, three-months following their last assembly in October 2018.

The first multi-sectoral meeting of the year, which took place at the National House, was presided by Minister Didier Dogley, Ministers for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine.

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The meeting saw the presence of his counterparts Minister for Employment, Immigration & Civil Status, Myriam Telemaque; Minister for Environment, Energy & Climate Change, Wallace Cosgrow and Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Maurice Loustau-Lalanne.

The agenda included presentations from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), and the Seychelles Land Transport Authority (SLTA).

The presentations by the NBS kept the participants of the meeting abreast with the latest figures including tourism earnings and expenditures. The NBS team mentioned that the aim of the surveys conducted by its teams at the airport and the port aims at having accurate information on every market. They reported that for last year, $563,9 million was earned form the tourism industry, the country’s leading economic pillar. This represents a 16.7 percent increase from 2017’s earnings.

Seychelles ended December 2018 with 361,231 visitors that disembarked in the island nation, a figure which is four percent above that of 2017. The tourism industry is already seeing an increase in visitor arrivals for 2019 as figure have increased by 16 percent when compared to the same period last year. Since the start of 2019, over 33,700 tourists have set foot in the country.

On its part, the CBS reported on the balance of payment. They stated that Seychelles is primarily a service-based economy, where tourism accounts for more than 25 percent of the country’s GDP.

While the Department for Finance presented a brief on the operating cost in Seychelles, during his short intervention the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Maurice Loustau-Lalanne mentioned that the department is actively working towards reducing business costs related tax considerably.

The two authorities explained the methodology of how data was collected and requested all stakeholders to collaborate in order to be as correct as possible.

The SLTA provided an update on the Road maintenance plan including all the development work on roads and their timeframe.

The Risk Management Section from the Tourism Department circulated their latest figures regarding the crime issues affecting the tourism industry in 2018, showing a 61% decrease in crimes as compared to the same period in 2017.

In his address to the press Minister Dogley expressed his convictions that the Multisectoral meeting adds to the benefit of all stakeholders, he confirms that various issues have been addressed through the meeting and other issues are being taken care of through the continuous meetings.

“What the country wants to see is meaningful and real growth in the industry in general. It is important that the meeting continues on this positive note and that all stakeholders engage in discussions in an effort to jointly identify and implement tangible solutions.” said Minister Dogley.

The aim of the multisectoral meeting is for the public and private sector, involved in the tourism industry, to continue to work together as partners. As a result, the tourism sector can be strengthened for the country to be able to draw more out of the industry and prosper.

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Building Resilience of Caribbean SMTEs: OAS launches $500,000 project

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The Organization of American States (OAS) has launched a US$500,000 project to assist the region’s small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) to build resilience to natural disasters.

The project was launched during the 2nd Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs), hosted at the Montego Bay Convention Centre by the government and the United Nations World Tourism Organization on January 29.

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Speaking ahead of the launch, Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett said, “We are so happy to have the vast expertise of the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Nestor Mendez, at the launch who I am pleased to say comes bearing gifts. This very important resilience project for our SMTEs will help build the capacity of our sector to better help us become more resilient when disruptions occur.”

The project is funded by the United States Department of State and managed by the OAS Secretariat for Integral Development. It will assist small tourism enterprises in the Caribbean to overcome the various challenges that affect the ability of Governments and businesses alike to continue their business operations during and after catastrophic events in the Caribbean.

Participating countries set to benefit include: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

It will be carried out in a two-year period, with the primary aim being to reduce the severity, impact and duration of disruptions caused by a disaster on the operations of the small enterprises in the Caribbean.

“The Caribbean is among the most tourism-dependent regions in the world and there is no other region whose travel and tourism industry is as vulnerable to disasters as the Caribbean. It is undeniable that climate change presents an existential threat to small island developing states and low lying coastal areas, which include the countries of the Caribbean,” said Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Nestor Mendez.

He also noted that “The OAS identified, among the main long-term needs of the region, the need for tourism-related disaster preparedness and crisis management, communications plans as well as methodologies to follow before and after a disaster.”

This 2nd Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs), is a direct response to the global conference on jobs and inclusive growth hosted in Jamaica in 2017, which brought to the fore many of the perennial challenges faced by SMTEs, including issues of access to credit, marketing, technology and business development.

The conference organisers therefore saw it prudent to have another event focused solely on SMTEs and best practices that have direct relevance to their development.

PM, Bartlett welcome return of EP hotel model to Jamaica

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Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett have welcomed the return of the EP (European Plan) model of hotels as part of the expanding tourism industry.

Sunday’s official opening of S Hotel along Montego Bay’s Hip Strip was the first significant hotel of its kind to open its doors using this model, in more than three decades. Large all-inclusive hotels make up about 80 percent of resort destination’s room stock.

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Minister Bartlett described S Hotel as special “because the S is bringing back the model of tourism that has escaped us for a while, the EP model which offers an opportunity for more involvement and more participation

This sentiment was endorsed by Prime Minister Holness who said, “We must find ways to make tourism inclusive and beneficial to all the people of Jamaica.”

According to Prime Minister Holness, the strategy for tourism must be to ensure connectivity with the rest of the economy. He said, “The benefit of tourism must be shared with the people, because all tourism is, if you take away the block and steel, it is the people, it is the culture, it is our music, it is our language, it is our dance. It is all of that put together to form a package that distinguishes us from the rest of the world that makes people want to come here and enjoy.”

The Prime Minister expressed the view that the industry must create an instrumental approach to ensuring that the benefits are shared. “Buy more Jamaican, employ more Jamaicans as entertainers; put them in your package, make people see them because that is what is going to create the value for your product,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Bartlett was elated “that tourism in Jamaica is outstanding,” stating that the new hotel signalled the start of a momentous week for tourism in Jamaica “because the opening of this very critical addition to the room stock and more so the variety of offering that we are providing in the accommodation subsector, begins a week of tourism celebration and marketing.

Outlining several activities planned, he said Jamaica would take centre stage Monday night at the World Travel Awards and Tuesday morning “we welcome the world with the second Global Conference on Job Creation and Inclusive Growth with emphasis on small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs).”

Sunday’s opening of S Hotel was also attended by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen; former prime ministers P.J. Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller; Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips and Opposition Spokesman on Tourism, Dr Wykeham McNeil.

OTDYKH International Russian Travel Market to celebrate 25th Anniversary in 2019

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September 10-12 2019 will see the return of the successful OTDYKH Leisure International Russian Travel market

September 10-12 2019 will see the return of the successful OTDYKH Leisure International Russian Travel market. Held in Moscow each year, OTDYKH leisure is a spectacle for the eyes with approx. 900 exhibitors from 80 countries and Russian regions, these figures are growing yearly and the 2019 event is set to be the best yet with a number of new countries and regions joining.

According to the official statistic of Border Service tourism between Europe and Russia increased during 2018 and figures are set to grow throughout the upcoming year based upon expert predictions. Figures were in excess of 1 million outbound and inbound tourists from both regions recorded in 2018. This is your opportunity to join one of the world’s largest tourism markets and reach a potential 20 million outbound Russian travelers each year.

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Spanning across 15,000 m2 OTDYKH Leisure 2019 is set to open opportunities to all within the tourism industry as to gain access to invaluable networking events, 180 speakers of 30 business events, unique seminars, hands on industry specific workshops, presentations from countries across the globe and many conferences. There is great opportunity for media coverage for exhibitors with almost 300 media professionals in attendance at the event and over 80 media partners working closely with the event this coming year.

Exhibitors are invited to submit their interest before 1st of March 2019 as to avail of early bird offers for the exhibit and related events.

Anna Huber, OTDYKH International project director has stated:

‘’I am delighted to say that we are expecting more exhibitors from the long haul and exotic destinations such as Cuba, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, Egypt, Tunisia, India etc. in 2019. This year we plan stronger cooperation with ATOR (Association of Tour Operators of Russia), with its cooperation we will organise a serious of roundtable meetings between Russian large tour operators and international authorities.’’

OTDYKH Business Program 2018 enabled major tourism development in Russia. The conferences ware a fantastic success and the outcome resulted in a draft resolution for the Russian tourism industry including the signing of 15 governmental agreements. OTDYKH Leisure is a forum for signing intergovernmental and partnership agreements annually as to promote and benefit the Russian tourism industry.

Exhibitors are welcomed to join us at OTDYKH Leisure 2019 to help us celebrate the 25th Anniversary of this prestigious event. Participants are advised to book at their earliest convenience as to avoid disappointment and avail of early bird booking offers.

OTDYKH Leisure will be held on the 10th-12th of September 2019
Location: Expocenter Fairgrounds in Moscow, Russia.