• Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

  • Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi prepares to host World Travel Awards

April 22, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the latest addition to Yas Island’s series of world-class attractions, is stepping up to host the World Travel Awards (WTA) Middle East Gala Ceremony 2019 on Thursday 25 April.

The gala ceremony will be the premier gathering of the Arabian hospitality industry, with the key players and VIPs from across the region attending.

Opened last summer, Warner Bros. World is the world’s first-ever Warner Bros. branded indoor theme park, and represents another milestone in Abu Dhabi’s remarkable journey to establish itself as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.

Located on Yas Island, the 1.65 million sq. ft. indoor theme park features six immersive lands with 29 state-of-the-art rides, interactive family-friendly attractions and unique live entertainment shows, as well as a variety of themed dining and retail outlets.

The park is the latest addition to Yas Island’s award-winning theme parks, joining Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld.

The red-carpet evening will form the second leg of the WTA Grand Tour 2019 – a global search for the finest travel and tourism brands in the world.

Graham Cooke, Founder, WTA, said: “We are deeply honoured to host our Middle East Gala Ceremony at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, an enthralling new addition to Abu Dhabi’s incredible roster of tourist offerings.

He added: “WTA has maintained its position as the industry leader for the past 26 years, consistently proving its value as the global benchmark for acknowledging excellence in travel and tourism. I greatly look forward to welcoming the most senior decision-makers of the Arabian travel industry for what promises to be a most memorable evening at this phenomenal new attraction.”

Don Strickler, General Manager, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, said: “We are delighted and honored to welcome the prestigious World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony at Warner Bros. World for the first time this year. The choice of our Park as host for this coveted industry event is a testament to the growing appeal of theme parks within the leisure and entertainment sector in the region. We look forward to bringing together some of the world’s leading travel industry professionals and organizations for an evening full of many successes and celebrations.”

As part of the Grand Tour 2019, WTA is also hosting ceremonies in Montego Bay (Jamaica), Mauritius, Madeira, La Paz (Bolivia) and Phu Quoc (Vietnam), with the winners progressing to the Grand Final in Muscat (Oman).

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, appeal, April, Arabian, art, attraction, attractions, award, award-winning, Awards, Bay, Benchmark, Bolivia, brands, Breaking Travel News, bringing, carpet, celebrations, ceremonies, ceremony, choice, class, Corporate News, decision, Destinations, Dhabi, dining, East, entertainment, establish, event, excellence, Family, family-friendly, Features,, ferrari, Ferrari World, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, first, form, Forward, founder, free, friendly, ft, full, gala, gala ceremony, gathering, general, general manager, Global, Grand, grand final, Grand Tour, Growing, honored, honoured, hospitality, hospitality industry, Hospitality News, host, hosting, in, indoor, Industry, industry event, interactive, International Travel News, island, Jamaica, joining, journey, key, LA, La Paz, lands, last, LATEST, leader, leading, Leisure, live, located, Madeira, manager, Mauritius, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, Middle, Middle East, Middle East Gala Ceremony, milestone, million, Montego, Montego Bay, most, Muscat, New, new addition, new attraction, News articles, offerings, Oman, opened, organizations, Outlets, park, parks, past, People in Travel, Phu, Phu Quoc, players, position, premier, prestigious, professionals, promises, Red, region, represents, Resort News, retail, s, said, search, second, sector, senior, series, shows, State, summer, The Region, The World, theme, theme park, theme parks, themed, time, to, TO BE, tour, tourism, tourist, tourist destinations, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, Travel Award News, travel awards, Travel Destination News, Travel Industry, Travelwire News, UAE travel news, unique, up, value, variety, Vietnam, VIPs, Warner, Warner Bros, Waterworld, We, welcome, welcoming, winners, World, World News, world travel, World Travel Awards, World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony, world-class, WTA, Yas Island, Yas Waterworld, year, years

A new Tourism potential in Tanzania: The Southern Circuit

April 21, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

A new Tourism potential is about to be unlocked In Tanzania. All roads and international air routes will in the near future, be leading to the Southern circuit, as the tour operators have major plans to open new tourism revenue streams.

Complimenting the Government’s drive to transform the Southern tourism circuit, the key tourism players are currently scouting for apt partners to invest heavily in accommodations as part of a strategy to open up the area for travel.

It is understood, the Fifth Government under President Dr John Pombe Magufuli is working overtime to put up hardware infrastructures as it seeks to unleash the full economic potential of the area.

Impressed by the government move to designate Iringa as the Southern circuit hub, Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) last week deployed a delegation led by its Vice-Chairman, Mr Henry Kimambo to identify new potential members in its effort to establish a chapter in the area to cater for the entire Southern circuit.

“We want to replicate the best practices from the northern tourism circuit to Southern shred,” Mr Kimambo told the tour operators in Iringa during the engagement meeting.

He revealed that TATO plans to bring its services close to its members in Southern circuit, comprising Morogoro, Iringa, Njombe and Mbeya anytime soon.

This implies that the 36-year-old advocacy agency for a multi-billion dollar industry, with its base in northern safari capital of Arusha, will soon have a liaison office in Iringa to take care its Southern circuit members.

Mr Kimambo said that his association was aware that the Southern circuit based tour operators not only have their own different issues but also need strong ties with their northern tourism circuit peers if the tourism potential is to be unleashed.

Presenting the benefits before the Southern Circuit tour operators, TATO Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sirili Akko said lobbying and advocacy is a core service offered by his association.

“Members enjoy the conducive business environment as TATO represent a collective voice for private tour operators in lobbying and advocate towards the common goal of improving the business climate in Tanzania” Mr Akko explained.

TATO also provides unparalleled networking opportunities for its members, allowing individuals tour operators or company to connect with their peers, mentors, and other industry leaders and policymakers.

As a member, one is in the unique position to attend conventions, seminars, award dinners and other related events with like-minded professionals in the field. These events are attended by the brightest minds and are a hotbed of ideas and collaborative efforts.

“An association’s annual General meeting represents an incredible opportunity for members to meet and network with the largest gathering of their peers during the year” Mr Sirili explained.

TATO also trains its members on key issues such as labour laws, tax compliance, corporate social responsibility, conservation issues, among others, he noted.

As if that was not enough, TATO members also enjoy the service of having a platform where they channel their operational or policy related challenges to the government for a solution.

Members are also bonded together as they advocate for their peers and share their challenges and triumphs with one another, TATO CEO explained.

“Indeed, TATO provides members with a competitive advantage because they become active, informed members of their industry” Mr Sirili said, stressing that his members also get updates on all issues on tourism and related sectors by providing resources, information, and opportunities they might not have had otherwise.

Thanks to USAID PROTECT Project for building the capacity of TATO, an umbrella organization with over 300 members, for it to become an efficient advocacy agency for the tourism sector.

Project coordinator, Mr Jumapili Chenga said the scaling up membership base for TATO is one of his scheme’s components.

Iringa Region Tourism Officer, Ms Hawa Mwichaga was grateful that at the long last a strategy to unlock the Southern tourism circuit has stepped up a gear.

Tour operators from Iringa, Mbeya and other regions namely Ernest Luwala, Nancy Mfugale, Modestus Mdemu, Serafina Lanzi supported the idea of joining TATO as a concrete step to spur tourism in southern circuit.

Natural Resources and Tourism Ministry’s officer-in-charge for Southern Circuit, Ms Tully Kulanya said her zone has a great potential for tourism business.

“The Southern Parks are the perfect destinations for travelers looking for plentiful and rare wildlife in a remote area of Africa” Ms Kulanya noted.

The national parks namely Mikumi, Udzungwa, Kitulo Ruaha, as well as Selous Game Reserve, have fewer visitors and give the feeling of being all-alone. Activities include game drives in open vehicles, boat safaris, and walking safaris. These safaris include flights between the parks.

Tanzania’s earnings from tourism jumped 7.13 percent in 2018, helped by an increase in arrivals from foreign visitors, the government has said.

Tourism is the main source of hard currency in Tanzania, best known for its beaches, wildlife safaris and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Revenues from tourism fetched $2.43 billion for the year, up from $2.19 billion in 2017, Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa said in a presentation to parliament.

Tourist arrivals totaled 1.49 million in 2018, compared with 1.33 million a year ago, Majaliwa said.

President John Magufuli’s government said it wants to bring in 2 million visitors a year by 2020.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, Annual General Meeting, area, arrivals, Arusha, association, attend, award, Aware, base, based, beaches, benefits, best, best practices, billion, boat, Breaking Travel News, building, Business, capacity, capital, cater, CEO, Chairman, challenges, Channel, Chapter, charge, chief, chief executive, chief executive officer, circuit, climate, close, collaborative, collective, company, compared, competitive, Compliance, connect, conservation, conventions, corporate, corporate social responsibility, Cultural Travel News, currency, currently, delegation, Destinations, different, dollar, Dr, drive, earnings, economic, effort, efforts, engagement, environment, establish, Events, executive, explained, fewer, fewer visitors, flights, foreign, foreign visitors, full, future, game, game reserve, gathering, general, general meeting, goal, government, great potential, Hard, Henry, hub, ideas, in, increase, increase in arrivals, Industry, industry leaders, information, informed, International, invest, issues, IT, John, joining, key, Kilimanjaro, known, largest, last, laws, leaders, leading, LED, liaison, liaison office, like, lobbying, looking, Main, major, meet, meeting, member, members, membership, million, million visitors, minister, ministry, Mount Kilimanjaro, move, Mr, Ms, national, national parks, natural, natural resources, need, network, networking, New, new tourism, Northern, office, officer, only, open, operational, operators, opportunities, opportunity, organization, over, parks, parliament, partners, percent, plans, platform, players, policy, policymakers, position, potential, practices, presentation, presenting, president, Prime, Prime Minister, private, professionals, project, protect, provides, region, regions, related, remote, represent, represents, reserve, resources, responsibility, revealed, Revenue, revenues, Roads, routes, s, safari, safaris, said, scheme, sector, sectors, selous, Selous Game Reserve, seminars, service, services, Share, social, social responsibility, Solution, soon, Source, Southern, strategy, strong, supported, Tanzania, Tanzania Association of Tour Operators, Tanzania travel news, TATO, tax, The National, ties, to, TO BE, told, tour, Tour Operators, tourism, tourism business, Tourism Investment News, Tourism Ministry, tourism potential, tourism revenue, tourism sector, tourist, tourist arrivals, trains, transform, Travel, travelers, Travelwire News, unique, up, updates, USAID, vice, visitors, voice, walking, We, week, wildlife, working, year

Twinsburg hosts largest annual gathering of twins in the world

April 16, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The 2019 Twins Days Festival will be held in Twinsburg, Ohio on August 3rd and 4th. This annual international event is recorded as the “Largest Annual Gathering of Twins in the World” by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Located 25 miles southeast of Cleveland, Twinsburg plays host to thousands of twins from all over the world. Non-twins are also welcome.

The theme of this year’s festival is “Home for the Holidays.” For many twins and multiples, Twins Days has become, in a sense, its own holiday. It’s a special time each year when twins gather together with friends and family to celebrate the special bond twins share. This year’s theme encourages everyone to celebrate and dress up for their favorite holidays!

Saturday morning kicks off with the “Double Take” parade. Activities during the day will include twins contests, twins talent show; twins research area, twins group photo, entertainment, arts & crafts and twin related/sponsored booths, small amusement rides and games, and a spectacular fireworks show. Also available are food concessions and official souvenirs Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday morning’s activities include the Twins Days 5K Run and Fun Walk benefitting the Melanoma Education Initiative. During the day the activities will be the same as Saturday’s with the exception of the parade and fireworks.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, annual, annual gather, area, Arts, August, bond, book, Breaking Travel News, celebrate, Cleveland, concessions, crafts, Cultural Travel News, day, Days, Days Festival, double, dress, Education, encourages, entertainment, event, Family, favorite, Festival, fireworks, food, free, friends, fun, games, gather, gathering, Group, guinness, held, holiday, holidays, home, host, hosts, in, initiative, International, international event, IT, largest, MICE Industry News, miles, News articles, Non, official, Ohio, over, parade, photo, recorded, records, related, research, s, Share, show, small, Southeast, souvenirs, Special, spectacular, talent, The World, theme, thousands, time, to, tourism, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, Twin, twins, Twins Days, twins gather, Twinsburg, up, welcome, World, world records, year

Airbus launches “Skywise Health Monitoring” with Allegiant Air

April 10, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Airbus has launched first operations of a new Skywise service – Skywise Health Monitoring (SHM) – with Allegiant Air on its A320s. Dynamically coupled with Skywise Reliability Services (SRS) and Skywise Predictive Maintenance (SPM), SHM is hosted on Skywise, gathering live diagnostic feeds from the aircraft through its *ACARS link to the airline’s information system.

Using the power of the Skywise aviation data platform, SHM collates and centralises the alerts, flight-deck effects, maintenance messages etc., prioritizes them, correlates any faults with the relevant troubleshooting procedures, highlights operational impacts, provides the maintenance history of the system (from the logbook and **MIS information collected through Skywise Core and stored in the data lake), allowing effective tracking of the alerts.

When fully deployed, and following the in-service feedback from Allegiant Air and other ‘early adopters’, SHM will support airlines’ Maintenance Control Centers, Line Maintenance and Engineering departments in identifying, prioritizing, analyzing and handling in-service events, enabling quicker decision-making and preparation of the optimal solution to ensure aircraft on-time dispatch and minimizing AOG risks.

Overall, SHM saves airlines time and decreases the cost of unscheduled maintenance. Natively interfaced with SPM and SRS to provide an integrated user-experience, and also ready to harness the new on-board Flight Operations and Maintenance Exchanger (“FOMAX”) data router which can capture over 20,000 real-time aircraft parameters, SHM enables end-to-end unscheduled event management/fixes for example by anticipating tools and parts’ availability closest to the aircraft. More early adopters will join in the months to come to pilot SHM for other Airbus aircraft, including A330, A350 and A380.

*ACARS = Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System
**MIS = Maintenance Information System

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, AOG, aviation, Aviation News, aviation-website, board, Breaking Travel News, Centers, come, Communication, control, Corporate News, cost, Data, data platform, decision, early, effects, end, Engineering, etc, event, Events, experience, first, flight, flight operations, following, free, gathering, handling, HEALTH, Health Monitoring, highlights, history, impacts, in, including, information, integrated, join, launched, launches, line, line maintenance, link, live, maintenance, management, messages, monitoring, months, New, News articles, on-time, operational, operations, over, platform, power, procedures, provides, ready, real, reporting, risks, s, service, services, SHM, Skywise, Skywise Health Monitoring, Solution, SPM, support, system, through, time, to, tools, tourism, Tourism Investment News, tracking, Transportation News, Travel Technology News, Travelwire News, using, World News

Tartan pride celebrated nationwide and in Hawaii, too

April 10, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Tartan Day is a North American celebration of Scottish heritage, observed April 6, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath (Scottish Declaration of Independence) was submitted to Pope John XXII, in 1320. It was written in Latin, and essentially decreed Scots will choose their own king, and furthermore, Scotsmen rejected the propaganda that God desired the English kings to victimize and abuse them.  Among the signatories of this papal protest was Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, the progenitor of my ancestors, the Stewart Kings of Scotland.  Throughout the North American Continent, Tartan Day was celebrated this past weekend.

There are well over 4,000 tartan designs that are registered. However, there are only about 500 tartans that have ever been woven.  The most exclusive is the Balmoral, worn only by the Royal Family of The United Kingdom.  Queen Victoria made wearing tartans popular; bringing back a tradition that was once banned, following the Battle of Culloden in 1746.  She dressed all her sons in kilts regularly. Prince  Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, was the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  On August 2, 1869, this Duke of Edinburgh (called Affie by his parents) arrived in Honolulu.  The kilted Duke was feted by King Kamehameha V, the future Queen Liliuokalani, and the Queen Dowager Emma, with whom Prince Affie danced at a magnificent ball held in the original Iolani Palace.  The tartan-clad prince was so popular, the city’s leaders named one of Honolulu’s streets for him – Edinburg Street, which was the block of Bishop Street between Queen Street and Ala Moana Boulevard. Of course, Beretania (the Hawaiian word for Britannia) was already taken, for it was the road leading to the British Consul, and the community where Brits lived.  The area where the British consulate stood in 1843 is now Washington Place, the historic home of Queen Liliuokalani.  Before coming to the throne, Princess Lililuokalani along with Queen Kapiolani, attended Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in London in 1887. The Hawaiian Royal family was one of Queen Victoria’s greatest admirers.   Affie started a wave of Brito-mania that endured for decades.

With the rise of kilts, so to speak, Victorian clan chiefs adopted tartans for their respective clans.  Later, individuals, organizations, and governments followed suit. There is even an official tartan for the State of Hawaii. British motifs have been popular in Hawaii for over two centuries – recall that the Union Jack of the British Empire is represented on the Hawaiian flag.

Members of The Saint Andrew’s Society of Hawaii, The Caledonian Society of Hawaii, Hawaiian Scottish Association, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, and tartan-proud members of the Celtic community gathered at the Hawaii State Capitol to celebrate Tartan Day on April 6. The capitol is across the street from Washington Place, home to the original British community in Honolulu, and location for the formal dinner given to HM The Queen Elizabeth II on her Hawaiian visit.  Although most people associate tartans with Scotland, they are popular in multiple Celtic nations.  Dr. Nancy Smiley, MD, brought a variety of Celtic flags to the Capitol, which were gallantly flown, all day long, to celebrate Tartan Day.

Some of the tartan enthusiasts posed in front of the Father Damien statue, honoring the Catholic priest who gave his life helping Hawaiians afflicted by Hansen’s Disease (leprosy).  The victims suffered the humiliation and injustice of being banished to Kalaupapa, on the island of Molokai, beginning in 1866.  Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson was a friend and guest to King David Kalakaua and Princess Victoria Kaiulani (heiress to the Hawaiian throne). The princess’ father was Archibald Cleghorn, a wealthy Scottish financier who married the king’s sister, Princess Likelike.  Robert Louis Stevenson was the Stephen King or J. K. Rowling of his era, and he took a keen interest in Hawaii and her people. He traveled to Molokai for eight days and seven nights in 1889 to research the work of Father Damien, after which he published a scathing 6,000 word polemic attacking the way these patients were discarded like human garbage. Stevenson targeted Rev. Dr. Charles McEwan Hyde, a Congregationalist “Christian” who placed great importance on fashion and how he looked in public, but was rather hateful toward the Catholic Priest Damien, and, by consequence, Damien’s passionate devotion to the leprosy victims.  At one point, Stevenson said he wanted to stab the good Reverend Hyde to death.  A blood-soaked white shirt wouldn’t look so fabulous on the dapper Reverend Hyde, you know. The Scottish rebuke from Stevenson became the most famous account of Father Damien, featuring the future saint in the role of a European aiding a benighted and maltreated native people.

The famed Father Damien statue was unveiled at the Capitol Rotunda, almost exactly 50 years ago, on April 15, 1969. Damien’s story, as told by Stevenson, is an attestation to fiery Scottish tempers – a people who are resolute in standing against injustice, just like they did at Arbroath in 1320.  And the statue is as hard as a hard-headed Scot  – constructed from bronze. Bronze is generally harder than wrought iron.   Not many craftsmen are able to produce works like this anymore. This piece was cast at a foundry in Viareggio, Italy, an area famous for creating sculptures, dating way back to 1541.

Marco Airaghi, who recently flew to Hawaii from Northern Italy, participated in the Tartan Day gathering. “The general area of Switzerland/Italian Alps/Austria is now accepted by anthropologists as being the aboriginal home of the Celtic peoples,” Airaghi said. “I’m a citizen of Italy, but Celtic passion runs deep in my soul, and these Hawaiian Celts are so much fun!  They exhibit a lot of integrity, they work very hard, and they are highly compassionate. I like that.”

Follow the author at facebook.com/ILoveAnton.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, April, area, association, August, Austria, author, banned, battle, bishop, block, Breaking Travel News, bringing, British, Brits, Capitol, Catholic, celebrate, celebrated, celebration, Celtic, Charles, Christian, citizen, city, coming, community, consulate, continent, course, Cultural Travel News, date, day, Days, death, decades, declaration, designs, Dinner, disease, Dr, Duke, Edinburgh, eight, Elizabeth II, English, enthusiasts, European, even, exclusive, exhibit, Facebook, Family, famous, Fashion, father, featuring, flag, flags, flown, follow, followed, following, Friend, friendly, fun, future, garbage, gathering, general, golden, good, governments, greatest, Hawaii, Hawaii Travel News, Hawaii visitors tips, Hawaiian, Hawaiians, held, Helping, heritage, high, historic, home, Honolulu, Human, II, importance, in, independence, interest, island, IT, Italian, Italy, John, Jubilee, just, king, Kingdom, Kings, later, Latin, leaders, leading, life, like, location, London, LOT, M, mania, MD, members, Molokai, most, most exclusive, most famous, named, nations, Nationwide, News articles, nights, North, North American, Northern, official, only, organizations, original, over, Palace, papal, parents, passion, past, patients, People, Place, Pope, popular, Pride, Prince, Prince Albert, Princess, protest, proud, public, published, Queen, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, recall, rejected, represented, research, Rev, rise, road, Robert, role, royal, royal family, s, said, Saint, Scotland, Scottish, second, seven, soaked, society, Soul, speak, St, standing, started, State, statue, story, Street, suit, Switzerland, Tartan Day, tartans, The Balmoral, The Island, to, told, tourism, tradition, Travel Destination News, traveled, Travelwire News, union, Union Jack, United, United Kingdom, unveiled, v, variety, victims, Victoria, Victorian, visit, Walter, Washington, wave, way, wealthy, weekend, were, white, WHO, word, work, works, years

Tourism Clubs launched for primary and secondary students 

March 29, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Students of primary and secondary schools around Mahé, Praslin and La Digue can now be part and parcel of the booming tourism industry as the Ministry for Tourism and its partner the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association launch the Tourism Clubs for Seychellois students.

The initiative launched on Friday March 22, 2019 at the AVANI Seychelles Barbarons Resort and Spa on Mahé is the result of a long preparation germinating from discussions held during the Tourism Festival organized by the Tourism Department last year.

The aim of the project is to educate students about the tourism industry and trigger their interest for a career in hospitality and tourism.

The launch was conducted by the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Mr.  Didier Dogley and Mrs. Jeanne Simeon, Minister for Education and Human Resource Development.

The ceremony also saw the presence of Mrs. Anne Lafortune, Principal Secretary for Tourism, Principal Secretary for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Odile de Commarmond, and Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association Chairperson, Mrs. Sybille Cardon alongside Martin Kennedy.

In his opening statements, Martin Kennedy who presided the event’s proceedings mentioned that all the respective ministries, stakeholders and educators equally have a role in helping the young Seychellois to imagine themselves as a major successful partner in the tourism industry.

Speaking at the launch the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Mrs. Jeanne Simeon commended the stakeholders of the Tourism sector for their active commitment in providing an extra-curricular activity that would not only benefit the development of students but also impact on their life choices.

“As a country we should not underestimate the importance of the Tourism Industry as the major pillar of our economy and it is of utmost importance that this is transmitted to our children from primary. Tourism should be seen as a sector that helps builds our country’s brand and value,” said Minister Simeon.

Minister Dogley supported the statement as he addressed the gathering emphasizing that it is his pride that Seychellois manage more than 60 percent of the small hotel establishments.

“I thank all the partners, especially ministry for Education and Human Resource Development, the private sector and club coordinators as we all work towards building the next generation of hoteliers and educating them about the importance of keeping our local tourism industry’s standard high in order to maintain our reputation as a destination,” said Minister Dogley.

Mrs. Sybille Cardon, also present, expressed her satisfaction to see the project concretize. She mentioned that with the implementation of the tourism clubs, the industry is hoping to see a very positive response.

With the tag line “We are Tourism,” the call for our responsibility as Seychellois is once again called upon to raise the profile of our Destination and the standard of our Tourism industry.

The event concluded with presentations made from students from Mont-Fleuri Primary School and Beau-Vallon Secondary School.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Anne, association, AVANI, AVANI Seychelles Barbarons Resort, aviation, benefit, booming, brand, Breaking Travel News, building, Career, ceremony, chairperson, childhood, children, choices, civil aviation, club, clubs, commitment, concluded, coordinators, country, department, Destination, development, Dr, early, Economy, Education, Educational Travel News, event, extra, Festival, gathering, held, Helping, helps, high, hospitality, hotel, hoteliers, Human, Imagine, impact, implementation, importance, in, Industry, initiative, interest, IT, LA, La Digue, last, launch, launched, life, line, local, maintain, Manage, march, marine, Martin, minister, minister for tourism, ministries, ministry, Mr, Mrs, News articles, next generation, only, opening, order, partner, partners, percent, ports, positive, Praslin, presence, present, presentations, presided, Pride, Primary, private, private sector, Profile, project, raise, reputation, resort, resort and spa, resource, response, responsibility, role, s, said, satisfaction, school, schools, Secretary, sector, see, Seychelles, Seychelles Barbarons Resort, Seychelles hospitality, Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, Seychelles travel news, Seychellois, small, spa, stakeholders, standard, statement, statements, students, successful, tag, The Minister, The Ministry, The Seychelles, to, tourism, tourism association, Tourism Department, tourism festival, Tourism Industry, tourism sector, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, Vallon, value, We, WHO, work, year, young

Five challenges confronting Meetings Industry in 2019

March 25, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Tight meeting budgets, time pressures, organizational issues, a lack of creativity from hotels, increasingly complex and costly mandates in catering, a need for more dynamic and enriching experiences and resistance to change – these are among the major challenges confronting the meetings industry in 2019.Teneo Hospitality Group surveyed 150 meeting planners and hoteliers on the challenges they faced in effectively competing in today’s changing and complicated marketplace. Interestingly, some of the challenges planners faced are internal, within their own organizations. All identified limited meetings budgets, lack of time and somewhat inflexible corporate cultures that gave rise to additional problems such as a lack of innovation and poor cost control.

“‘Many of these challenges – and their solutions – are interdependent,” says Teneo President Mike Schugt. He notes that meeting professionals are saying that they have concerns within their organization and corporate cultures which contribute to resistance to change, resulting in budgets that are impacted negatively. Planners are also saying that these challenges, coupled with the many demands on time, inhibit creative strategies that could otherwise help solve the obstacles pointed out in Teneo’s most recent survey.

“Teneo and its hotel and DMC members have a unique opportunity to step up and help solve the challenges of our planner partners,” says Mike Schugt. “We can introduce creative, time-saving offerings that can also meet their bottom line. By understanding the needs that go beyond rates, dates and space, hotels can provide innovative, solutions to the challenges planners face behind the scenes.”

Challenge #1 Budgets. Inadequate budgets headed the challenge lists for all survey participants. Planners cited rising costs, especially concerning food and beverage, with no comparable increase in budgets. The complexities of gaining budget increases from various corporate departments impact every aspect of the meeting process from training staff to negotiating contracts. Despite a strong economy, some planners reported budget cuts. Respondents noted that the inability to obtain adequate funding reflected a lack of understanding of the profound changes in the meetings industry that demanded more, not less, investment. Needs of attendees are very different today, especially among Millennials and Generation Z who require a high degree of technical services, greater engagement and entertaining activities – needs that are difficult to meet on a tight budget. Yet management and attendees had extremely high expectations.

Suggested Solution: The fundamental way planners can achieve their budget is to be transparent and in open communication with a property. Though the tendency may be to play one’s cards close to the vest, transparency from the beginning of negotiations is key to effective planning and keeping costs in check. While many planners feel they must keep back some of their budgetary concerns until further on in the planning process, an honest and comprehensive view of the meetings objectives and resources will enable hoteliers to present a realistic budget.

Challenge #2 Lack of Time. Time pressures impact every business and organization, but some concerns have particular ramifications for the meetings industry. Virtually all respondents cited a lack of time and identified challenges that could have far-reaching consequences. With sweeping advances in technology impacting the industry, hoteliers and planners noted that they often lacked the time to keep up with technical developments. This problem was amplified when attendees were ahead of the planners and hotels in their own use of technology. Training a new generation of meeting planners and hotel staff is key to the industry’s progress. But few had time to develop effective programs, tailored to meet the different viewpoints and technical skills of a new generation. Most significantly, respondents worried that the overwhelming details of day-to-day work left little time for long-term, strategic planning. And the top time waster? Too many unnecessary e-mails.

Suggested Solution: Hotels are often inundated with leads and may not always be able to reply in 24 hours. Planners are encouraged to indicate their timeline for response up front so hotels and resorts can offer a higher quality of response. For planners, they can then gather their lead responses all at one time and be assured that the quality of response is going to be higher if a little more time is allocated to the properties of interest. Planners that source more than 6 or 7 hotels per lead and in multiple cities will tend to be taken less seriously by a hotel. So planners can save time and drive up quality of response by reducing the number of hotel sources they contact.

If planners can share flexibility with dates early in the process, they will save time and the hotels can provide multiple options, which will likely have differences in pricing leading to greater value with the budget. Giving the hotel as much information as possible saves everyone time and can save on the budget.

Challenge #3 Keeping Up with Technology. In a technological environment that is moving at lightning speed, staying current and knowledgeable of technology’s impact on meeting productivity can be daunting. Realizing that millennial attendees may be way ahead in their technical knowledge, technology applications and expectations can be intimidating. Even leadership within select organizations don’t always seem to grasp how technology is revolutionizing the meetings experience today.

Suggested Solution: Staying current and out front with technological progress is critical to the successful outcome of every meeting, conference or social gathering. Yes, some long-term practices are still prized such as white boards and LCD players. But engaging with attendee devices puts the meeting’s learning literally in the hands of conferees in a way that resonates within a generation who grew up on texting, social media posts, interactive apps and more. These are the tools they use for their everyday living, and should be the tools they can expect to use within meetings important to their and their employer’s success.

Challenge #4 Lack of Creativity. Big brand hotels’ corporate bureaucracy partially accounts for planners’ demand for greater creativity in the meeting process, and a far more flexible business environment. Larger hotel brands often have corporate policies that may place limits on pushing the boundaries of creating the ultimate meeting experiences for planners. But the need for innovation and original events, imaginative use of technology, effective teambuilding exercises, new experiences in even the most tried and true destinations, and diverse, sustainable and healthy food cannot be ignored.

Suggested Solution: Partner with a hotel or resort that creatively works with planners and groups to construct a meeting itinerary customized to a specific group and set of meeting objectives. Independent and small brand properties, by the very nature of their independence, have proven to be expert in creatively discovering and helping plan for achieving meeting goals of professional planners and groups, doing so with out-of-the-box thinking, highly unique group initiatives, and far from run-of-the-mill teambuilding programming. Private destination management companies can also be an important resource, and Teneo suggests partnering with them to help make a city or destination come alive for meeting guests by maximizing local resources and attractions in a way that is meaningful to the group.

Challenge #5 Increasing Complexity and Rising Costs of Food & Beverage. As the population becomes more diverse, food preferences and dietary requirements have become more complicated. Growing awareness of wellness and sustainability issues add to a mix that could become more problematic and costlier. Paleo, keto, pescatarian, vegan and religious dietary requests are among the newest trends in conference dining in 2019. Respondents also called for better management of food ordering to keep costs down and eliminate waste.

Suggested Solution: This is an area where independent and small-brand hotels can get ultra-creative for the planner as they are in a more entrepreneurial and creative mode, less restricted by big-brand requirements and constraints. They can typically offer a more creative product with reduced costs. By working with chefs and banquet managers from these properties at the beginning of the planning process and being candid about budget constraints, it’s possible to obtain serious savings on food and beverage while achieving maximum creativity.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, applications, apps, area, Assured, attendees, attractions, Awareness, better, beverage, big, boards, bottom line, Box, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, budget, budget cuts, budgets, Business, cards, catering, challenge, challenges, change, changes, check, chefs, cited, cities, city, close, come, Communication, companies, complex, concerns, conference, contact, contracts, control, corporate, Corporate News, cost, costs, creative, creativity, critical, cultures, current, cuts, day, demand, demands, Destination, Destination Management, Destinations, developments, devices, differences, different, dining, dmc, DMC members, doing, down, drive, e-mails, early, Economy, employer, encouraged, engagement, environment, even, Events, everyday, expectations, experience, experiences, expert, face, far, food, free, funding, gathering, giving, GO!, greater, Group, groups, guests, healthy, help, Helping, high, hospitality, hospitality group, hotel, Hotel brands, hoteliers, Hotels, hotels and resorts, hours, ignored, impact, important, in, increase, increases, increasing, independence, independent, Industry, information, initiatives, innovation, innovative, interactive, interest, International Travel News, introduce, Investment, issues, IT, itinerary, keep, knowledge, lack, LCD, LCD players, lead, leadership, leading, leads, learning, less, lightning, Limited, limits, line, Living, local, Make, management, managers, marketplace, May, media, meet, meeting, meeting planners, meeting professionals, meetings, meetings budgets, meetings industry, meetings.travel, members, MICE Industry News, Mike, millennials, more time, most, moving, nature, need, needs, negotiations, New, new generation, News articles, notes, number, offer, offerings, open, opportunity, options, ordering, organization, organizations, original, out, participants, partner, partners, Place, plan, Planners, planning, play, players, policies, poor, population, posts, practices, preferences, present, president, pricing, private, problem, problems, product, productivity, professional, professionals, programs, progress, properties, property, quality, rates, recent, recent survey, religious, reported, requests, require, requirements, resort, resorts, resource, resources, respondents, response, rise, rising, rising costs, s, save, savings, saying, says, serious, services, Share, significantly, skills, small, social, social media, Solution, solutions, Source, sources, space, staff, strategic, strategies, strong, success, successful, suggested, survey, Sustainability, sustainable, Technical, Technology, Teneo, Teneo Hospitality Group, Teneo President Mike Schugt, term, texting, time, timeline, to, TO BE, today, tools, top, tourism, training, transparency, transparent, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travelwire News, Trends, tried, ultra, unique, up, use, value, vegan, view, waste, way, We, wellness, were, white, WHO, work, working, works, World News, worried

Canada’s Tourism Minister to speak about importance of sport tourism at Ottawa event

March 20, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Honorable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, will talk about the importance of sport tourism to Canada’s economy at the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s Sport Events Congress, the largest annual gathering of the sport tourism industry in the country.

the Minister will also discuss Canada’s upcoming federal tourism strategy.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, Breaking Travel News, Canada, Canada Travel News, Canadian, Congress, country, Discuss, Economy, event, Events, federal, free, gathering, Honorable Mélanie Joly, importance, in, Industry, International Travel News, LA, La Francophonie, languages, largest, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, minister, Minister of Tourism, News articles, official, Ottawa, People in Travel, s, speak, sport, sport tourism, Sports news, strategy, talk, The Minister, to, tourism, Tourism Industry, tourism minister, tourism strategy, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, World News

Melbourne to welcome news hotels from Ormond Group in 2022

March 20, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

In 2022, Southeast Asian hospitality brand Ormond Group will introduce two new hotel concepts to Melbourne’s Central Business District in Victoria, Australia. Each taking residence in their own distinct tower within the buzzing CBD development, the Ormond Melbourne and MoMo’s Melbourne on Flinders Lane, will rise from a 40,000 sqft events and F&B podium. The brand-new development and social gathering space, designed for visitors and locals alike, will boast a purpose-built pedestrian laneway, multi-use spaces, sky bar & restaurant and provide the cultural capital with 537 new guest rooms between the two properties.

“We are delighted to have been given the green light for Ormond Group to push forward with this exciting and ambitious project. Through our new brands, we hope to be able to elevate the hotel scene in Melbourne through our inclusive approach to programming and design. We’ll be looking to work with exciting F&B operators as well as developing inspiring partnerships to bring these properties to life. Our spaces are designed to welcome guests and locals alike. Ormond and MoMo’s will offer culturally relevant experiences for guests and locals at great value for money price points in one central location. We are thrilled to be introducing our hotels to this area of the city’s CBD – we embrace its past, present and future and look forward to meaningfully contributing to the district’s landscape. We feel confident that Melbourne’s already discerning lifestyle audience will enjoy what we bring to Australia’s cultural capital.” says Gareth Lim, CEO of Ormond Group.

Through its approach to delivering authentic travel experiences, the Ormond Group is re-shaping Melbourne’s lifestyle scene with each new hotel. Ormond Hotels is a collection of thoughtfully designed hotels, inspired by local stories and cultural context. Ormond Melbourne will embody the spirit of Luxury Simplified through the brand’s values of comfort, purpose and balance by prioritizing great service, high quality guest essentials, beautiful and thoughtful design and dynamic social programming.

Meanwhile, MoMo’s Melbourne will provide guests with minimalist hotel rooms alongside playful spaces that engage with creative communities and urban nomads. MoMo’s is designed to inspire memorable moments – through interactive events that engage both locals and visitors alike at a value for money price point.

Together they will provide a dual-brand experience – an upscale boutique hotel that celebrates luxury simplified and an accessible, playful hotel concept that celebrates creative collaboration – bringing a new dynamism to Australia’s hospitality scene.

Designed by Melbourne-based architectural firm, Elenberg Fraser, in collaboration with Craig Tan Architects, the project will be managed by Point Polaris. Ormond Group is currently in the process of making interior design appointments. Both properties will be developed and operated by Ormond Group, who has announced the appointment of Caroline King as Chief Operating Officer.

This year, Ormond Group will open the first properties for its two new lifestyle hotel brands, with the Q3 launches of The Chow Kit – an Ormond Hotel and MoMo’s in Kuala Lumpur.

In Early 2021 the group will open the flagship hotel under the Ormond Hotels brand in Dublin following the extensive, multimillion-dollar refurbishment of The Ormond Hotel, which will be followed by the brand’s Melbourne opening in 2022. The group will be looking to expand into other Australian cities.

Ormond Group is a new player in global hospitality offering design-led travel experiences for all audiences via its brands – Ormond, MoMo’s and Tune Hotels. Ormond Group embodies the spirit of modern-day exploration whilst focusing on the careful curation of great service, design and programming.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, appointment, appointments, architectural, area, Asian, audience, Australia, Australia travel news, Australian, authentic, B, balance, bar, based, beautiful, boutique, boutique hotel, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, bringing, built, Business, capital, CBD, celebrates, Central, CEO, chief, chief operating officer, cities, city, collaboration, collection, comfort, communities, concept, contributing, Corporate News, creative, cultural, currently, day, design, designed, development, discerning, dollar, Dublin, early, embrace, Events, expand, experience, experiences, exploration, extensive, firm, first, flagship, following, Forward, free, future, gathering, Global, green, Group, guests, high, hope, hospitality, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel brands, hotel rooms, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, in, inclusive, inspired, inspiring, interactive, interior, Interior Design, International Travel News, introduce, king, Kuala Lumpur, landscape, launches, LED, life, Lifestyle, light, local, locals, location, looking, Luxury, Luxury Travel News, Melbourne, modern, moments, money, multimillion, New, new development, new hotel, News, News articles, offer, offering, officer, open, opening, Operating, operators, Ormond, Ormond Group, Ormond Melbourne, partnerships, past, points, present, price, project, properties, purpose, push, quality, refurbishment, Resort News, restaurant, rise, rooms, s, says, scene, service, sky, social, Southeast, Southeast Asian, space, Spirit, stories, taking, TAN, through, to, TO BE, tourism, Tourism Investment News, tower, Travel, Travel Destination News, travel experiences, Travelwire News, Tune Hotels, upscale, urban, use, value, Victoria, visitors, We, welcome, WHO, work, World News, year

Rosewood Hong Kong opens its harborfront doors

March 20, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Rosewood Hong Kong opens as a new ultra-luxury property in the heart of the Victoria Dockside district on the shores of Victoria Harbour. Situated on one of Hong Kong’s most significant waterfront locations in Tsim Sha Tsui – Kowloon’s dynamic, culturally compelling heart – the property is set to become a grand icon for the city, celebrating the area’s role as Hong Kong’s new creative and cultural epicenter.

The opening of Rosewood Hong Kong is a defining milestone for the group, solidifying its stature as one of the world’s most dynamic hotel brands and a leader in global style. This showpiece of the brand’s highest aspirations epitomizes Rosewood’s essence and represents the complete manifestation of a differentiated and modern expression of ultra-luxury hospitality.

From the brand’s inception 40 years ago as a fine private home that opened its doors to guests, each Rosewood hotel continues to be guided by A Sense of Place® philosophy and the concept of the hotel as a living canvas celebrating artistry in all its forms. This spirit reaches its zenith at Rosewood Hong Kong. Guests can experience the first urban outpost of the brand’s pioneering wellness concept; gastronomic innovation showcasing locally grown and artisanal ingredients; masterworks by the world’s most highly acclaimed artists; and supremely stylish, residentially natured gathering and living spaces – all within a masterfully designed and meticulously curated journey in architecturally bold environs commanding the harbor.

Rosewood’s opening in Hong Kong marks the evolution of another meaningful historic legacy. The site is the former Holt’s Wharf, dating back to 1910, which subsequently became New World Centre, a lifestyle magnet for the city in the 1980s, which holds a unique place in the hearts and minds of local residents as a place of discovery and wonderment. New World Centre – a proud expression of Hong Kong’s evolution – was the creation of Dr. Cheng Yu-tung and Dr. Henry Cheng, the grandfather and father (respectively) of Rosewood Hotel Group Chief Executive Officer, Sonia Cheng.

“With Hong Kong evolving from a business and financial center to become a true global cultural capital, I wanted to create an iconic property that not only showcases the city’s rich history but also reflects its bright future,” says Sonia Cheng. “New World Centre was conceived as my grandfather’s ultimate gift to Hong Kong, a celebration of its progress, vibrancy and spirit. I hope that Rosewood Hong Kong enhances this legacy and helps fulfill his and my father’s vision for the city that they loved. Rosewood Hong Kong sets bold new benchmarks for design, guest experience, cuisine, and culture. Our ambition is to create a new world standard for ultra-luxury hospitality and a focal point of the vibrant Hong Kong lifestyle, reflecting its incredible dynamism, style and diversity.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, area, bold, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, Business, capital, celebration, center, Centre, chief, chief executive, chief executive officer, city, compelling, complete, concept, continues, Corporate News, create, creation, creative, cuisine, cultural, culture, design, designed, Discovery, diversity, Dr, executive, experience, father, financial, fine, first, forms, free, future, gathering, gift, Global, Grand, Group, guests, harbor, Harbour, hearts, helps, Henry, highest, historic, history, home, Hong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong travel news, hope, hospitality, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel brands, Hotel Group, Hotel Travel News, ICON, iconic, in, innovation, International Travel News, journey, Kong, kowloon, leader, legacy, Lifestyle, Living, local, locally, locations, Luxury, luxury property, Luxury Travel News, marks, milestone, modern, most, New, News articles, officer, only, opened, opening, philosophy, Place, private, progress, property, proud, represents, residents, Resort News, rich, role, Rosewood, Rosewood Hong Kong, rosewood hotel, s, says, sets, showcasing, significant, site, Spirit, standard, Style, The World, to, TO BE, tourism, Tourism Investment News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, ultra, unique, urban, Victoria, vision, waterfront, wellness, World, World Centre, World News, years

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Search



Recent Articles

  • Seychelles Tourism Board appoints BRANDit as India Representative
  • United Announces 2020 Financial Results: 2021 Will Focus On Transition To Recovery; Expects To Exceed 2019 Adjusted EBITDA Margin By 2023*
  • American Airlines Extends Travel Waiver Through March 31
  • TAT updates East Asian markets on Thailand’s New Normal tourism
  • WHO promotes healthy food in public facilities during COVID-19
  • TAT keeps Thailand top-of-mind in long-haul markets
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 20 January 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • Adam Stewart named Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts International
  • Bartlett congratulates Adam Stewart on being named Executive Chairman of SRI
  • Doreen Burse Named Worldwide Sales SVP

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in