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IATA announces judges for Diversity and Inclusion Awards

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the members of the independent judging panel for the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards as:

  • Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International
  • Gloria Guevara, President and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council
  • Mark Pilling, Vice President Publishing and Conferences, FlightGlobal
  • Karen Walker, Editor-in-Chief, Air Transport World

“We are honored to have such a renowned and diverse panel of experts as judges for the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards. Our aim is to inspire greater diversity and inclusion across the aviation industry by recognizing role models and company initiatives that are driving critical change,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

IATA also announced the following important changes for nominations:

  • Eligibility: The Young High Flyer Award will be extended to nominations for women under the age of 40 (previously 30). This is to better accommodate the contributions made as nominees develop their careers and networks within the industry.
  • Deadline: The deadline for all nominations will be extended to 6 PM Central European Time, Monday, April 15. This will ensure ample time for any new nominations as a result of the category criteria adjustments.

Sponsored by Qatar Airways, the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards will honor excellence demonstrated in the categories of: (1) Inspirational Role Model, (2) Young High Flyer and (3) Diversity and Inclusion Team. The first awards will be presented at the conclusion of the 75th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit to be held in Seoul, South Korea (1-3 June 2019).

For more information on the Awards visit the webpage.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Maroon 5, Ozuna, Gladys Knight, Third World announced for Curaçao North Sea Jazz 2019

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Curaçao announced first names for the ninth edition of the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival. This year Maroon 5, Ozuna, Gladys Knight and Third World will make their appearance at the festival at the World Trade Center at Piscadera Bay. The organization is still busy with various other artists who will be announced in the course of the coming months. The festival opens on Thursday, 29 August with free concerts of Havana D’Primera and Aymee Nuviola.

American band Maroon 5 has sold over 20 million albums and received three Grammy Awards. Their debut album, Songs About Jane, became their big breakthrough and its successor, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, did even better. Hits were aplenty: Harder To Breathe, This Love, She Will Be Loved, Makes Me Wonder, Moves Like Jagger featuring Christina Aguilera… the list goes on. Their latest album, Red Pill Blues, was released at the end of 2017 and contained the number 1 hit single Girls Like You, featuring Cardi B. This past January, Maroon 5 had the honor of performing during the Super Bowl Half-Time Show.

Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado, known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singer. In early 2016, Ozuna rose to prominence for his appearance on the single La Ocasión, going from strength to strength ever since. He has released two albums to date; 2017’s Odisea and 2018’s Aura, and won two Billboard Music Awards and three Latin American Music Awards, among others. In 2017, he made his acting debut in the film Que León.

Six years after making her debut in Curaçao the ‘Empress of Soul’ Gladys Knight is returning to the island. With her band The Pips she had great hits, such as I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Midnight Train To Georgia, and Baby Don’t Change Your Mind, in the 1960s and 1970s. At the end of the 1980s Knight started her solo career and found instant success with the James Bond title track License To Kill. Her latest album, Where My Heart Belongs, was released in 2014 and is a bona fide gospel album, on which The Pips also performed. Knight now has seven Grammy’s and numerous other awards to her name.

Jamaican band Third World celebrated its 45th anniversary last year. Calling themselves ‘Reggae Ambassadors’ and describing their sound as reggae fusion, Third World mix reggae with many other genres such as soul, funk, and disco. Their biggest hit to date was 1978’s Now That We Found Love. Their success has brought them all over the world and put ten Grammy nominations to their name. Their latest single, Loving You Is Easy, was produced by Damian Marley and released earlier this year.

Cuban Timba band Havana D’Primera was founded by Alexander Abreu in 2008, the band was formed by a collective of musicians in the Cuban music scene, numbering 17 members in total. Abreu is considered one of the best trumpeters of his generation, and is also a skilled composer, singer, and bandleader. Fusing rhythms across salsa, jazz, funk, and Afro-Cuban, the band have released four studio albums so far. The latest is 2018’s Cantor Del Pueblo, which landed them their second Latin Grammy nomination for Best Salsa Album.

Aymée Nuviola, nicknamed ‘La Sonera del Mundo’, is a well-respected singer from Cuba who trained at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory in Havana. Nuviola is one of the biggest Cuban stars of today, and she even recorded a song with American legend Jackson Browne. As a young singer Nuviola moved to Miami where her solo career really took off. Last year she won her first-ever Latin Grammy Award for her 2017 album Como Anillo Al Dedo.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Denis Private Island of Seychelles shortlisted for World Travel Awards

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It has been confirmed that Denis Private Island is in the running for one of the world’s most prestigious honors in the professional tourism trade.

Its nomination in the 26th World Travel Awards (WTA) for the Indian Ocean’s leading private island resort category is a first for the locally-owned property.

Seychelles prides itself on having some of the best tourism accommodation properties, and seeing such nominations for the 26th World Travel Awards (WTA) only confirms the achievements of the local hospitality industry.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Anguilla’s beloved Moonsplash Music Festival returns this March

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Anguilla’s beloved Moonsplash Music Festival returns this March

Anguilla’s iconic Moonsplash Music Festival will once again take place under a full moon at the legendary Dune Preserve on Rendezvous Bay, from March 21 – 24, 2019.

Music lovers and Anguilla fans were devastated last year, when for the first time in its 27 year history, Moonsplash producer and creator Bankie Banx suspended the event, as repairs to the venue were still underway. Some of the biggest names in reggae music have graced the Moonsplash stage — Steel Pulse, Jah Cure, Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott, Marcia Griffiths, Bunny Wailer, Inner Circle – just to name a few. So have popular music artists like Jimmy Buffet and John Mayer, and award winning rappers Nas and Q-Tip. It is a magical experience, on an extraordinary island.

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This year’s Moonsplash returns to its roots as the Coolest Beach Party in the Caribbean. Timed to coincide with the first full moon of the month, the magical evenings unfold at the rustic Dune Preserve, Bankie’s legendary retreat, that doubles as laid back beach bar by day and pulsating dance party each evening. The newly renovated beach bar now accommodates 500 persons on decks and another 500 under a temporary beach extension.

Highlights of this year’s Festival are two, not to be missed celebrations — Sheriff Bob’s 80th Birthday Bash and Third World and Friends 40th Anniversary celebration.  Robert Saidenberg, The Sheriff of Goodtimes (aka Sheriff Bob) met Bankie Banx in the late 80s at a recording studio in New York City. Bankie invited Sheriff down to Anguilla and that summer they started planning the first Moonsplash.  This is a very special year for The Sheriff of Goodtimes as he’ll be celebrating his 80th Birthday at Moonsplash 2019. He was also the subject of the 2018 award-winning short documentary film, The Sheriff of Goodtimes, which won Best Short Documentary at the Big Apple Film Festival.

Third World, the ‘Reggae Ambassadors’, is one of the longest lived Reggae bands of all time, and the world’s greatest reggae fusion band, mixing in elements of R&B, funk, pop, rock, dancehall and rap. With 10 Grammy nominations and catalogue of charted hits spanning four decades, Third World will be releasing a new studio album in Spring 2019, produced by 4-time Grammy winner, Damian “Jr Gong” Marley, the youngest son of the legendary Bob Marley, under the Ghetto Youth International imprint. The lead single “Loving You Is Easy” was released late 2018.

Moonsplash kicks off at 6:30PM on Friday, March 22nd with Funky Horns SXM on the Beach Stage, along with other supporting acts.  Headliners on the Main Stage later that evening are Anguilla’s own Omari Banks and the legendary Mighty Diamonds, with additional supporting acts to be announced. Omari’s international musical career has taken him on tour to North America, Europe and Asia, and his recently released single “Me and You” was produced by multi-platinum, multi-Grammy nominee Jason “J Vibes” Farmer. Tabby, Bunny and Judge have produced over forty albums in their long and storied career.

On Saturday, March 23rd, starting from 6:30PM on the Beach Stage, festival fans will be treated to the Sheriff’s 80th Birthday Bash featuring Orange Grove, the popular Sint Maarten band whose infectious sound echoes traces of rock, hip-hop and reggae, and Sheriff and the Deputy, featuring Kat Minogue and Captain Bob.

Sheriff and The Deputy play traditional Folk, Rock, and Country music – the band enjoyed 9 months of performances at Opry City Stage, the NYC branch of the world-famous Grand Ole Opry.

The Third World and Friends 40th Anniversary Celebration takes the Main Stage later that evening, along with the Festival’s own impresario, the incomparable Bankie Banx, and the versatile True intentions, a reggae band that originated in Anguilla with roots in Dominica, who has rocked the local and regional music scene. A surprise guest will complete Saturday’s fantastic line up.

On Sunday, March 24th, the Moonsplash Beach party commences at 11:30AM with spontaneous appearances by the Bankie Banx Moonsplash cast. A host of fun activities are planned for the day.

Cool vibes, great beaches, thrilling performances, amazing music — what more could you wish for? A Beyond Extraordinary experience awaits you when you join us at Moonsplash in Anguilla next month.

For information on Anguilla, please visit the official website of the Anguilla Tourist Board: www.IvisitAnguilla.com; follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/AnguillaOfficial; Instagram: @Anguilla_Tourism; Twitter: @Anguilla_Trsm, Hashtag: #MyAnguilla.