• 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

Brexit uncertainty, but LHR is doing well

April 15, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Despite Brexit uncertainty, Heathrow remains a bright light for the UK, with the role we play in keeping people and products moving evident. Our new domestic connections will be pivotal in linking more regions and nations to global opportunities, benefiting all corners of this great country and we look forward to announcing many more of these as part of the expansion programme,”  Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said

  • Heathrow’s passenger numbers continued to climb in March, with over 6.5 million passengers travelling through the UK’s only hub airport, ringing in the 29th consecutive month of record growth for the airport. Notable spikes in the previous month were St Patricks and Mother’s Day, attitudes towards travel remain strong despite ongoing uncertainty around Brexit’.
  • Africa performed especially well over the past month, increasing by 6.2% compared to the same time last year. Domestic connections also saw a slight uplift (+0.2%) with British Airways launching its 2nd service to Inverness and Flybe growing their loads by more than a fifth (23%) with an inaugural flight to Cornwall on March 31.
  • More than 149,000 metric tonnes of cargo travelled through the UK’s biggest port by value, further demonstrating the importance of Heathrow in a post Brexit world.
  • Both Latin America and Africa saw remarkable double digit growth with the former up 23% on 2018 due to additional services to Brazil and increased volumes to Mexico. Freight to and from Africa grew by 11%, thanks to Virgin’s growth on routes to the continent.
  • Two of Heathrow’s Terminals made it into the top five globally, with Terminal 5 taking top spot. In addition, Heathrow was voted amongst the world’s top 10 airports overall and won “Best airport in Western Europe” and “World’s Best Airport Shopping”.
  • In March, Heathrow launched the airport’s new Innovation Prize to fund ideas and solutions addressing aviation environmental impact. The prize is sponsored by Heathrow’s new Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, which connects experts and offers Heathrow as a living laboratory to test and develop ideas that encourage sustainable aviation.
  • The expansion project reached another significant milestone, as the names and locations of the 18 shortlisted sites in the running to become offsite construction centres for Britain’s new runway were revealed. Shortlisted sites will now pitch to airport bosses for their chance to become one of the final four construction centres, to be announced early next year.
  • Heathrow announced the launch of their 10th domestic route. The route is operated by Flybe and links the hub airport to Cornwall in Newquay for the first time since 1997.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, aviation, aviation-website, best, biggest, bosses, Brazil, Breaking Travel News, Brexit, Britain, British, British Airways, cargo, Centre, Centres, CEO, Chance, climb, compared, connections, construction, continent, continued, Cornwall, country, day, doing, domestic, double, due, early, environmental, environmental impact, Europe, evident, excellence, expansion, experts, Feature, first, flight, Flybe, Forward, freight, fund, Global, globally, Government Affairs, Growing, Growth, Heathrow, Holland, hub, ideas, impact, importance, in, inaugural, inaugural flight, increased, increasing, innovation, Inverness, IT, John, John Holland, last, Latin, Latin America, launch, launched, launching, light, links, Living, locations, march, metric, Mexico, milestone, million, million passengers, month, Mother, moving, names, nations, New, new runway, numbers, offers, ongoing, only, operated, opportunities, over, passenger, passenger numbers, passengers, past, Patricks, People, play, port, POST, prize, products, Programme, project, record, regions, remains, revealed, role, route, routes, running, runway, s, said, service, services, shopping, significant, sites, slight, solutions, St, strong, Sustainability, sustainable, sustainable aviation, taking, terminal, Terminal 5, terminals, test, The World, through, time, to, TO BE, top, top 10, top five, top spot, tourism, Transportation News, Travel, travelled, Travelling, Travelwire News, UK, UK Travel News, uncertainty, up, value, virgin, volumes, voted, We, were, Western, Western Europe, won, World, year

Four Sri Lankan nationals arrested at London Luton Airport by counter-terrorism police

April 13, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

British counter-terror police have arrested four men on suspicion of being members of a banned organization hours after they flew into United Kingdom.

The four Sri Lankan nationals arrived at London Luton Airport on 10 April and were arrested by police the next day.

A Met Police spokesman said: “Detectives from the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after four men at Luton Airport were arrested on suspicion of membership of a proscribed organization.

“The men, who are all Sri Lankan nationals, arrived on an international flight on the evening of Wednesday, 10 April.

“All four men are currently in custody at a police station in Bedfordshire. Enquiries are ongoing.”

The four remain in custody at a police station in Bedfordshire.

Membership of a proscribed organization is contrary to section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, April, arrested, Aviation News, aviation-website, banned, Breaking Travel News, British, counter, currently, custody, day, Feature, flight, free, Government Affairs, hours, in, International, International Travel News, Kingdom, Lankan, Lankan nationals, London, London Luton Airport, members, membership, men, met, nationals, nationals arrested, News articles, ongoing, organization, police, police station, said, Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan nationals, Station, suspicion, terror, Terror news, terrorism, Terrorism Act, to, tourism, Transportation News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, UK Travel News, United, United Kingdom, were, WHO, World News

Seychelles present at Access Luxury Travel Show Workshop in capital city of Czech Republic

April 11, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) was present at the seventh Edition of the Access Luxury Travel Show Workshop held on Monday March 11, 2019, at the Kaiserstejnsky Palac in the city of Prague.

The opportunity gave the STB team the chance to meet major partners on the Czech market, which is one of the strongest economies in Central Europe and has shown growing interest in luxury travel over the past few years.

The workshop, which was attended by about 86 participants including Tour Operators, Travel Agents and airline companies was a series of pre-scheduled one on one meetings, presentations and free flow workshop. The evening ended with a networking cocktail and a Raffle draw.

Ms. Myra Fanchette, Paris based STB Senior Marketing Executive represented the organisation at the event, during which she presented Seychelles as a multi-faceted holiday destination offering a plethora of possibilities for leisure and relaxation.

The Destination’s representative through STB, stood alongside 19 other exhibitors including the Constance Hotels & Resorts, few Destination Management Companies, hotel representative from Maldives and the Jamaica Tourism Board.

Ms. Fanchette mentioned that STB’s participation at the Access Luxury Travel Show Workshop opened doors for new business relationships between the service providers from the Czech Republic and STB.

“It was an ideal platform for STB to meet with new Travel Agencies and Tour Operators, which so far Seychelles does not appear in their portfolio and they have demonstrated great interest in new destinations. We also maximised on our presence at the event to meet with our existing partners who wanted to know about any latest developments on the destination and discussed plans and activities for the year,” said Ms. Fanchette.

The Czech Republic has seen an increase of 43% on the visitor’s arrival from January to March 2019, compared to the same period last year. This is very encouraging and our continuous efforts to enhance the growth on the Eastern European markets are ongoing with various activities planned for the year, the next STB appearance will be on a dedicated Eastern Europe Roadshow, which will be held from May 27 to 30, 2019 in four different cities.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, arrival, based, board, Breaking Travel News, Business, capital, capital city, Central, Central Europe, Chance, cities, city, companies, compared, Constance, Constance Hotels, Czech, Czech Republic, Destination, Destination Management, Destinations, developments, different, draw, Eastern, Eastern Europe, Eastern European, economies, edition, efforts, Europe, European, event, executive, exhibitors, existing, far, free, Growing, Growth, held, holiday, holiday destination, hotel, Hotels, in, including, increase, interest, IT, Jamaica, Jamaica tourism, Jamaica Tourism Board, January, last, LATEST, Leisure, Luxury, Luxury travel, major, maldives, management, march, Market, Marketing, marketing executive, markets, May, meet, meetings, Ms, networking, New, new destinations, News articles, offering, ongoing, opened, operators, opportunity, over, Paris, participants, participation, partners, past, period, planned, plans, platform, portfolio, Prague, Pre, presence, present, presentations, raffle, relationships, relaxation, representative, represented, republic, resorts, roadshow, s, said, scheduled, senior, series, service, service providers, Seychelles, Seychelles tourism, Seychelles Tourism Board, Seychelles travel news, show, STB, team, The Seychelles, through, to, tour, Tour Operators, tourism, tourism board, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel agencies, travel agents, Travel Destination News, travel show, Travelwire News, visitor, We, WHO, workshop, year, years

Southwest Airlines: Nonstop from Silicon Valley to Long Beach

April 9, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Today, Southwest Airlines launched nonstop service to Long Beach Airport from Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC).

The flights are scheduled throughout the day to allow travelers more choices in departure and arrival time, and to support ongoing demand for travel between the Bay Area and Los Angeles Basin.

“Southwest has added important new service between Mineta San Jose International Airport and Long Beach Airport, a modern and accessible gateway to Southern California,” said Director of Aviation John Aitken. “The Bay Area to Los Angeles Basin corridor is the U.S.’s busiest air travel market, and Southwest’s four new daily flights give travelers more choices in airline, time-of-day for travel, and airport proximity to their business or leisure destination.”

 

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Angeles, area, arrival, aviation, Aviation News, aviation-website, Bay, Bay area, beach, Breaking Travel News, busiest, Business, California, choices, Corridor, daily, daily flights, day, demand, departure, Destination, director, flights, gateway, important, in, International, International Airport, John, Jose, launched, Leisure, Long Beach, Long Beach Airport, Los Angeles, Market, Mineta San Jose International Airport, modern, nbsp, New, new service, News articles, nonstop, nonstop service, ongoing, s, said, San Jose, San Jose International, scheduled, service, Silicon, Southern, southern california, Southwest, Southwest Airlines, support, time, to, today, Transportation News, Travel, Travel Destination News, travel market, travelers, Travelwire News, valley

Fraport and Deutsche Bahn to Test Artificial Intelligence at Frankfurt Airport

April 8, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The robotic head smiles at the passenger and greets them: “My name is FRAnny. How can I help you?” FRAnny is an expert on Frankfurt Airport, and is able to answer a wide range of questions – including the correct gate, the way to a specific restaurant, and how to access the free Wi-Fi.

The robotic concierge is a cooperative project between Fraport AG, the operator of Frankfurt Airport (FRA), and DB Systel GmbH, Deutsche Bahn’s dedicated IT service provider. Travelers at major transportation hubs, such as airports and train stations, are very often in need of guidance. In these scenarios, digital assistants and robots can support human personnel by fielding routine inquiries, thus enhancing the customer service offering. A six-week trial at Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s largest aviation hub, will help evaluate FRAnny in terms of functionality, customer acceptance and its practical usefulness in everyday situations

FRAnny is based on an artificial intelligence and a cloud-based voice-user interface (VUI) that can be deployed in a variety of forms – including in chatbots, voice assistants and robots. This digital customer service system was developed by a team of Deutsche Bahn IT experts. Using data drawn from the airport’s information system, FRAnny is able to understand and answer questions relating to travel, airport facilities and more. In addition to providing flight information, FRAnny is well versed in small talk and can communicate in German, English and seven other languages.

Fraport and Deutsche Bahn have been jointly exploring the potential of artificially intelligent, voice-based customer service systems since 2017. The first pilot took place at Frankfurt Airport in spring 2018 using FRAnny’s predecessor: the four-week field trial was very successful. After approximately 4,400 interactions, 75 percent of passengers rated their exchange positively. Based on the feedback received, both the artificial intelligence (AI) component and the robot’s user interface were further improved. The more recent trial underscores both companies’ commitment to ongoing innovation in artificial intelligence and robotics. Moreover, it puts the implemented improvements through their paces under real-world conditions.

In June, the AI-based service is to be tested at Berlin central rail station – which has approximately 300,000 travelers and visitors every day. Human customer service agents at Deutsche Bahn’s information center will receive smart support from FRAnny’s sister, SEMMI.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, artificially, assistants, aviation, Aviation News, aviation-website, based, Berlin, Breaking Travel News, center, Central, commitment, companies, concierge, conditions, cooperative, Corporate News, customer, customer service, Data, day, Deutsche, Deutsche Bahn, digital, English, enhancing, everyday, exchange, expert, experts, facilities, first, flight, forms, fra, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport, Fraport, Fraport AG, free, free wi-fi, Gate, German, Germany, Germany Travel News, guidance, head, help, hub, hubs, Human, improved, improvements, in, including, information, information center, innovation, inquiries, intelligence, IT, June, languages, largest, major, name, need, News articles, offering, ongoing, operator, passenger, passengers, percent, personnel, Place, potential, project, questions, rail, range, real, receive, received, recent, restaurant, s, service, seven, small, SMILES, spring, Station, stations, successful, support, system, talk, team, terms, test, through, to, TO BE, tourism, train, train stations, Transportation, Travel, Travel Destination News, travelers, Travelwire News, trial, using, variety, visitors, way, week, were, Wi, Wi-Fi, World

AIDS/HIV research supported by design community

April 6, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Members of the Design Industries have supported AIDS research since 1984 through the Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids (DIFFA), a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization incorporated in New York State.

DIFFA started as a grassroots organization and today is a national foundation headquartered in New York City with chapters in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest. The organization also partners with gift and home industries and other organizations throughout the USA. DIFFA and its partners have raised over $44 million for hundreds of HIV/AIDS organizations nationwide providing education and prevention programs that run the gamut from condom distribution and needle exchanges to protection of legal rights and security for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Every March, DIFFA invites local and international designers to take raw space and morph it into a showcase of WOW dining table-top environments. It is co-located with the Architectural Digest Design Show and thousands of designers, architects, buyers, sellers, media and design educators support this unique event held at Pier 92 in Manhattan.

Dining by Design attracts over 40,000 guests who view dining installations by more than 30 designers, architects, manufacturers and brands. Designers include: Black Designs + Artists Guild, Sheila Bridges, Mikel Welch, Stacy Garcia, Damour Drake, Kingston Design Connection, Joshua David Home, Inc. Architecture, Lucina Loya, Patrick Mele for Benjamin Moore, Roric Tobin for Modern Luxury and David Scott Interiors for Roche Bobois and Stonehill Taylor for Ultrafabrics.

Curated Design-Inspired Table-Scapes

  • Patrick Mele for Benjamin Moore

This table-scape celebrates glamour from an earlier decade and another world. It is presented in a contemporary format with a mélange of berry, cream, gold and silver giving the space an airy and spring-like ambiance that enhances the trompe l’oeil details and highlights its creativity.

  • Rockwell Group

This table-scape is inspired by The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece of interior decorative art. The tableau features digital wallcovering and a custom handmade peacock-feather tablecloth, creating an abstract, modern interpretation of luxuriously – decadent space.

  • Stonehill Taylor for Ultrafabrics

“Journey” links nearly 4 decades of research and human achievement in the fight against AIDS. The colors and patterns suggest the body and being, while the swirling, layered centerpiece addresses hope and optimism thanks to ongoing advances in science and technology.

  • Mckenzie Liautaud/Robert Verdi

Inspired by water and the nexus between the river and the sea, jewelry designer @Mckenziel and tastemaker @RobertVerdi present a table-scape that features pearls and their origin. Dinner guests are seated on pearl-like stools at a table set with silver and crystal under the stars.

Auction (Curated)

Dining by Design features a silent auction that presents innovative products, original works of art and unusual, quirky experiences.

  • Infiore Floor Lamp by Estiluz

The lamp was designed by the Lagrania Studio. Fiore means flower in Italian, and this is an original elegant lamp that opens it petals and shines it unique light wherever it is placed. The bi-injected polycarbonate petals provide a two-color lighting effect. A halogen bulb is hidden within and is protected by satinized glass that delivers a warm, pleasant light that presents different tones and color effects.

  • Izmir Filo Table Lamp

This playful table lamp was designed by Andrea Anastasio for Foscarini. The lamp and its cord land casually on a tripod, and on the cord are large, effective glass beads. The Filo Lamp is an artistic masterpiece that will be admired forever.

For additional information: diffa.org

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, architectural, Architecture, art, artistic, auction, Benjamin Moore, Benjamin Moore This, black, body, brands, Breaking Travel News, bridges, buyers, c, celebrates, charitable organization, Chicago, city, Color, community, connection, creativity, Cultural Travel News, Dallas, decade, decades, design, designed, designer, designers, designs, DIFFA, different, digital, dining, Dinner, Distribution, earlier, Education, effect, effects, elegant, event, exchanges, experiences, Feature, Features,, fight, fighting, floor, foundation, Francisco, gift, giving, glass, gold, grassroots organization, Group, guests, held, hidden, highlights, HIV, HIV/AIDS, home, hope, Human, in, Inc, Industries, information, innovative, innovative products, inspired, interior, International, IT, Italian, izmir, jewelry, journey, Kingston, l, lamp, Land, legal, light, like, links, Living, local, Luxury, Manhattan, Manufacturers, march, media, members, million, modern, national, Nationwide, nearly, New, new york, New York City, New York State, News articles, Northwest, ongoing, optimism, organization, organizations, original, over, Pacific, Pacific Northwest, partners, Peacock, pearl, People, pier, present, prevention, products, programs, protected, protection, quirky, raised, research, research supported, rights, river, Robert, room, s, San Francisco, science, sea, Security, Set, show, showcase, space, spring, Stars, started, State, Studio, support, supported, supported AIDS, Technology, thousands, through, to, today, top, Travelwire News, Ultrafabrics, unique, unusual, USA, Verdi, view, water, Whistler, WHO, works, World, WOW, York, York City

IATA Report: Aviation continues to deliver solid

April 4, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for February 2019 showing total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 5.3%, compared to February 2018. This was the slowest rate of growth in more than a year but still in line with long-term demand trends. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.4%, and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage point to 80.6%, which is still high by historic standards.

“After January’s strong performance, we settled down a bit in February, in line with concerns about the broader economic outlook. Continuing trade tensions between the US and China, and unresolved uncertainty over Brexit are also weighing on the outlook for travel,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

February 2019
(% year-on-year)
World share1 RPK ASK PLF
(%-pt)2
PLF
(level)3
Total Market 100.0% 5.3% 5.4% -0.1% 80.6%
Africa 2.1% 2.8% 1.1% 1.1% 70.4%
Asia Pacific 34.5% 6.3% 5.8% 0.4% 82.6%
Europe 26.7% 7.3% 7.7% -0.3% 81.5%
Latin America 5.1% 5.0% 5.5% -0.4% 81.3%
Middle East 9.2% -0.9% 2.7% -2.6% 72.6%
North America 22.4% 4.2% 3.9% 0.3% 80.8%

 

nternational Passenger Markets

February international passenger demand rose 4.6% compared to February 2018, which was a slowdown from 5.9% growth in January. Capacity climbed 5.1%, and load factor dropped 0.4 percentage point to 79.5%. Airlines in all regions but the Middle East showed traffic growth versus the year-ago period.

  • European carriers showed the strongest performance for a fifth consecutive month in February. Passenger demand increased by 7.6%, compared to a year ago, unchanged from January. Europe’s continuing strong performance provides a paradox given Brexit concerns and signs of a softer economic outlook. Capacity rose 8.0% and load factor slid 0.3 percentage point to 82.3%, which still was the highest among regions.
  • Asia-Pacific airlines’ February traffic rose 4.2% compared to the year-ago period, a substantial slowdown from the 7.2% increase recorded in January. The timing of the Lunar New Year holiday in the first week of February this year may have shifted some traffic to January. Capacity increased 4.7% and load factor dipped 0.3 percentage point to 81.0%.
  • Middle East carriers recorded a 0.8% traffic decline in February compared to a year ago, the only region to report a drop year-over-year. Capacity rose 2.9% and load factor fell 2.7 percentage points to 72.6%. Broadly speaking, passenger volumes of the region’s airlines have been moving sideways for the past 12 – 15 months.
  • North American airlines’ traffic climbed 4.2% in February, a decline from 5.4% growth in January. Capacity rose 2.9% and load factor was up 1.0 percentage point to 79.0%. Signs of softening economic activity at the end of 2018, in conjunction with the effects of ongoing tensions between the US and several of its trading partners, may be mitigated by the region’s low unemployment and generally sound economic backdrop.
  • Latin American airlines saw traffic rise 4.3% compared to February 2018, a slippage from 5.4% annual growth in January. Capacity increased by 5.6%, and load factor dropped 1.0 percentage point to 81.4%. Renewed economic and political uncertainties in a number of key countries may weigh upon air transport demand in coming months.
  • African airlines experienced a 2.5% rise in traffic for the month compared to the year-ago period, down from 5.1% growth in January. Concerns over conditions in the largest economies are contributing to the slowdown. Capacity rose 0.3%, and load factor climbed 1.5 percentage points to 69.7%.

Domestic Passenger Markets

Domestic travel demand rose 6.4% in February compared to February 2018, down from 7.4% annual growth in January. All markets except Australia reported increases in traffic, with India recording its 54th consecutive month of double-digit percentage growth. Domestic capacity climbed 5.8%, and load factor edged up 0.5 percentage point to 82.4%.

February 2019
(% year-on-year)
World share1 RPK ASK PLF
(%-pt)2
PLF
(level)3
Domestic 36.1% 6.4% 5.8% 0.5% 82.4%
Australia 0.9% -1.7% -1.6% -0.1% 78.0%
Brazil 1.1% 5.8% 3.1% 2.1% 82.5%
China P.R 9.5% 11.4% 8.9% 1.9% 86.9%
India 1.6% 10.0% 12.3% -1.9% 89.1%
Japan 1.0% 2.5% 2.9% -0.2% 70.9%
Russian Fed. 1.4% 10.1% 11.8% -1.1% 76.9%
US 14.1% 4.5% 4.8% -0.2% 81.7%

 

  • China topped the growth chart for a second month in a row, with RPKs up a strong 11.4% year-on-year, although this was down from 14.5% growth in January compared to a year ago.
  • Brazil’s domestic traffic increased 5.8% in February, compared to a year ago, the fastest pace in more than six months and more than double the 2.6% year-over-year rise for January. Brazil was the only domestic market tracked by IATA to show an increase in the year-on-year growth rate compared to January 2019.

The Bottom Line

“While overall economic confidence appears to be softening, aviation continues to deliver solid results, helping to sustain global commerce and the movement of people. The Brexit deadline has come and gone with no separation agreement, but with vital air connectivity between the UK and the Continent maintained for the present. Temporary measures, however, are no substitute for a comprehensive Brexit package that will ensure that the Business of Freedom is able to play its vital role in contributing to the well-being of the region—and the world,” said de Juniac.

Read the full February Passenger Traffic Analysis  (pdf)

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, annual, Asia, Asia Pacific, association, Australia, aviation, Aviation News, aviation-website, backdrop, Bit, bottom line, Brazil, Breaking Travel News, Brexit, Business, capacity, carriers, CEO, China, come, coming, commerce, compared, concerns, conditions, confidence, connectivity, continent, continues, contributing, Corporate News, countries, deadline, decline, deliver, demand, demand rose, director, director general, domestic, domestic capacity, domestic market, domestic travel, double, down, drop, East, economic, economic outlook, economies, effects, end, Europe, European, European carriers, experienced, factor, first, freedom, full, general, Global, global passenger traffic, Growth, Growth Rate, Helping, high, highest, historic, holiday, IATA, in, In February, increase, increased, increases, India, International, International Air Transport Association, January, japan, Juniac, kilometers, largest, largest economies, Latin, Latin America, Latin American, line, load, load factor, low, lunar new year, Lunar New Year Holiday, Market, markets, May, measures, Middle, Middle East, month, months, movement, moving, nbsp, New, new year, News articles, North, North America, North American, North American airlines, number, ongoing, only, outlook, over, P.R, Pacific, package, partners, passenger, passenger demand, passenger markets, passenger traffic, past, People, percentage, performance, period, play, points, political, present, provides, pt, rate, recorded, region, regions, report, reported, results, Revenue, rise, role, rose, row, Russian, s, said, seat, second, separation, settled, show, Sideways, signs, slowdown, sound, standards, strong, strong performance, sustain, temporary, tensions, term, The International Air Transport Association, The Region, The World, timing, to, TO BE, total, tourism, Trade, trading, traffic, traffic growth, traffic results, traffic rose, transport, Transportation News, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel demand, Travel Destination News, Travel Technology News, Travelwire News, Trends, UK, UK Travel News, uncertainty, unchanged, unemployment, up, US, Vital, volumes, We, week, World, year

Air freight demand still spiraling down

April 3, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

For the fourth consecutive month, global air freight performance has reported a negative year-on-year growth and the worst performance in the last three years. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight ton kilometers (FTKs), decreased 4.7% in February 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.

Freight capacity, measured in available freight ton kilometers (AFTKs), rose by 2.7% year-on-year in February 2019. This was the twelfth month in a row that capacity growth outstripped demand growth.

Demand for air cargo continues to face significant headwinds:

  • Trade tensions weigh on the industry;
  • Global economic activity and consumer confidence have weakened;
  • And the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing and export orders has indicated falling global export orders since September 2018.

“Cargo is in the doldrums with smaller volumes being shipped over the last four months than a year ago. And with order books weakening, consumer confidence deteriorating and trade tensions hanging over the industry, it is difficult to see an early turnaround. The industry is adapting to new markets for e-commerce and special cargo shipments. But the bigger challenge is trade is slowing. Governments need to realize the damage being done by protectionist measures. Nobody wins a trade war. We all do better when borders are open to people and to trade,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

 

Regional Performance

All regions reported a contraction in year-on-year demand growth in February 2019 except for Latin America.

  • Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for air freight contract by 11.6% in February 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. Weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters in the region, ongoing trade tensions and a slowing of the Chinese economy impacted the market. Capacity decreased by 3.7%.

 

  • North American airlines saw demand contract by 0.7% in February 2019, compared to the same period a year earlier. This was the first month of negative year-on-year growth recorded since mid-2016, reflecting the sharp fall in trade with China. North American carriers have benefited from the strength of the US economy and consumer spending over the past year. Capacity increased by 7.1%.

 

  • European airlines experienced a contraction in freight demand of 1.0% in February 2019 compared to a year ago. The decline is consistent with weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters in Germany, one of Europe’s major economies. Trade tensions and uncertainty over Brexit also contributed to a weakening in demand. Capacity increased by 4.0% year-on-year.

 

  • Middle Eastern airlines’ freight volumes contracted 1.6% in February 2019 compared to the year-ago period. Capacity increased by 3.1%. A clear downward trend in seasonally-adjusted international air cargo demand is now evident with weakening trade to/from North America contributing to the decrease.

 

  • Latin American airlines posted the fastest growth of any region in February 2019 versus last year with demand up 2.8%. Despite the economic uncertainty in the region, a number of key markets are performing strongly. Seasonally-adjusted international freight demand achieved growth for the first time in six months. Capacity increased by 14.1%.

 

  • African carriers saw freight demand decrease by 8.5% in February 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. Seasonally-adjusted international freight volumes are lower than their peak in mid-2017; despite this, they are still 25% higher than their most recent trough in late-2015. Capacity grew 6.8% year-on-year.

View full February freight results (pdf).

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Asia, Asia Pacific, association, Aviation News, aviation-website, better, bigger, Books, Borders, Breaking Travel News, Brexit, capacity, capacity growth, cargo, carriers, CEO, challenge, China, Chinese, Clear, commerce, compared, conditions, confidence, consumer confidence, consumer spending, continues, contract, contributing, damage, Data, decline, decrease, decreased, demand, demand growth, deteriorating, director, director general, down, e-commerce, earlier, early, Eastern, Eastern Airlines, economic, economic uncertainty, economies, Economy, Europe, European, European airlines, evident, experienced, export, face, fall, falling, first, freight, freight demand, freight markets, full, general, Germany, Global, Global Air, global economic, governments, Growth, higher, IATA, in, In February, increased, index, Industry, International, International Air Transport Association, International Travel News, IT, Juniac, key markets, kilometers, last, late, Latin, Latin America, Latin American, lower, major, managers, Market, markets, measures, Middle, Middle Eastern, month, months, most, nbsp, need, negative, New, new markets, News articles, North, North America, North American, North American airlines, number, ongoing, open, order, orders, over, Pacific, past, peak, People, performance, performing, period, posted, Protectionist, purchasing, Purchasing Managers Index, recent, recorded, region, regional, regions, released, reported, results, rose, row, s, said, see, September, significant, slowing, smaller, Special, spending, strength, Switzerland travel news, tensions, The International Air Transport Association, The Region, time, to, Trade, trade war, transport, Transportation News, Travelwire News, trend, turnaround, uncertainty, up, US, US economy, view, volumes, war, We, worst, year, years

WTTC Global Summit: President Obama was a disappointment for many

April 3, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

U.S. President Barak Obama was the most expected speaker at the ongoing World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit in Seville today.

More than 1500 CEOs, association presidents, ministers of tourism, and heads of state were attending the summit, and hundreds of viewers from around the world were watching the live video stream of the summit, also announced by this publication. Many who saw the eTN announcement in Hawaii were up at 2:00 am in the morning to listen in.

A loyal group of fans of the former president was in for a big disappointment when without prior warning the video live stream was stopped during the president’s address.

The feedback eTN received from people in the audience listening to Obama’s conversation was not really great. The money spent by WTTC to get some advice from the most popular head of state was disappointing.

There was no substance in the presidents’ talk was some feedback. His talk about his love for hiking when he was young was not relevant to the needs top executives were hoping to hear.

The challenges, needs of the second largest industry was not mentioned. There was no word about equality and dangers LGBT tourists face in countries like Brunei.

Mr. Obama talked about the advice he gave to his daughters: “Be kind, be useful.”

After the microphones and cameras were turned on again moderator Nick Ross praised Obama as the most popular president in generations, saying “lack of power reveals.”

President Obama arrived in Seville at midnight before the event and spent the night at Hotel Alfonso XIII, drawing attention from local residents and the press. In 2016, a scheduled visit by Obama to the Andalusian capital was canceled due to a shooting in Dallas.

He visited Reales Alcázares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the morning before returning to his hotel.

He left again at 2 pm for Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, which is hosting the international event on April 3 and 4.

After meeting privately with around 50 summit attendees, Obama delivered his short address to WTTC delegates.

After his speech, Obama was scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for around 20 minutes inside one of the center’s private rooms. It will be their second one-on-one after their meeting last year in Madrid.

Although this is Obama’s first trip to Seville, he has ties to the city because his daughter Malia lived there for a few months.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, announcement, April, around the world, association, attendees, audience, Barak Obama, big, Breaking Travel News, Brunei, cameras, canceled, capital, center, CEO, CEOs, challenges, city, Corporate News, council, countries, Dallas, dangers, daughter, delegates, delivered, disappointing, disappointment, due, Equality, eTN, event, executives, expected, face, fans, Feature, first, former president, generations, Global, global summit, Group, Hawaii, head, Heads, heritage, hosting, hotel, in, Industry, inside, International, international event, IT, lack, largest, last, LGBT, LGBT tourists, like, Listen, live, local, love, loyal, Madrid, meet, meeting, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, minister, ministers, Ministers of Tourism, minutes, money, months, most, most popular, Mr, needs, News articles, night, Obama, ongoing, People, People in Travel, PM, popular, power, president, President Obama, presidents, Press, Prime Minister, private, publication, received, residents, rooms, Ross, s, saying, scheduled, second, Seville, shooting, short, site, Spain travel news, Spanish, speaker, speech, State, stopped, summit, talk, The World, ties, TN, to, today, top, tourism, tourism council, tourists, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, trip, U.S. president, UK Travel News, UNESCO, UNESCO world heritage, UNESCO world heritage site, up, video, visit, visited, warning, were, WHO, word, World, World Heritage, World Heritage Site, world travel, world travel and tourism, World Travel and Tourism Council, WTTC, wttc global summit, Y, year, young

Middle East visitors to Egypt to increase 50% by 2022, ATM report reveals

April 2, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Arrivals from the Middle East to Egypt are expected to increase 50% from 1.49 million in 2018 to 2.23 million in 2022 with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving this growth, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2019, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 April – 1 May 2019.

While arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest contributor on a regional basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists in 2022, the latest research from Colliers International revealed arrivals from the Middle East will actually witness the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at 11%.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Over the last 12 months, Egypt’s tourism industry has witnessed healthy and steady growth, with arrivals up 14.5% from 8.3 million in 2017 to 9.5 million in 2018. Growth has been fuelled by the cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights.

“Adding to this, we are witnessing this growth first hand at ATM with the total number of attendees coming from Egypt increasing 16% YoY.”

Taking advantage of this resurgence in tourists are some of Egypt’s most prominent tourism companies including Dana Tours, Nicolas Tours and Standard Tours who will exhibit at ATM 2019 – and of course the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board who will have a major presence too.

Egypt tourism capital investment is estimated to reach US$ 4.2billion (EGP 75bn) in 2019, up 25 per cent on 2018, as the country strives to keep pace with an ongoing leisure travel boom and GDP growth.

The data from Colliers revealed that Egypt’s total tourism revenue will increase at a CAGR of 16.5% between 2018 and 2022 – outperforming the business segment. During 2017 and 2018, the leisure spend was US$ 13.79billion (EGP 239bn) and US$ 16.67billion (EGP 289bn) respectively, while business totaled US$ 1.93billion (EGP 33.5bn) and US$ 2.36billion (EGP 41bn) over the same period.

“The overall revenue generated by the leisure segment in 2018 represented 87% of total tourism spend and we expect this growth to continue as a series of new government and private sector attractions and investments are unveiled – including the development of new airports and new luxury hotel resorts in Red Sea destinations Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada,” Curtis said.

Egypt has a diverse range of source markets – decreasing the risk of being over-reliant on one specific market. Germany, Russia, the UK and Italy are Egypt’s top four source markets, with the first and last in top gear – both growing 29% in 2018 – and showing the highest CAGR growth of 11%.

The UK, which recorded just a 4% increase in arrivals between 2017 and 2018, has traditionally been a long-standing major source market for the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. However, an ongoing ban on direct flights between the two destinations has stifled visitor numbers.

Curtis added: “It is hoped the recent resumption of Serbian flights to Sharm El Sheikh after a six-year absence and the introduction of Turkish Airlines’ daily flight from Moscow to the Red Sea via Istanbul, will kick-start direct flights between the UK and Egypt, and of course Russia and Egypt.”

ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2018 event, showcasing the largest exhibition in the history of the show, with hotels comprising 20% of the floor area.

Brand new for this year’s show will be the launch of Arabian Travel Week, an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including ATM 2019, ILTM Arabia, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa – a new route development forum and new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper. Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 27 April – 1 May 2019.

About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2018 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 141 countries over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre.  Arabian Travel Market 2019 will take place in Dubai from Sunday, 28th April to Wednesday, 1st May 2019. To find out more, please visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.

About Arabian Travel Week

Arabian Travel Week is an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including Arabian Travel Market and ILTM Arabia as well as CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa – a new route development forum launching this year and ATM’s first ever consumer event – ATM Holiday Shopper. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector – under one roof over the course of one week – the inaugural Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from Saturday 27th April – Wednesday 1st May 2019. For more information visit: arabiantravelweek.com

About CONNECT

CONNECT Route Development Forum delivers a total networking experience, bringing together airports, airlines and aviation suppliers in a format that offers formal one-to-one pre-arranged meetings, engaging industry seminars together with social opportunities to cement relationships with existing clients and engage with new ones. Created and organised by The Airport Agency-France, CONNECT is now in its 16th year and set to attract over 650 participants in June 2019 at its flagship event taking place in Cagliari, Sardinia. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com

The inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa event will be the first and only networking forum in the Middle East. Ideally located in Dubai to address the booming aviation market of the Middle East, it will bring together the aviation and the tourism industry which are the backbone and catalyst to economic development. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com/2019-meia/

About ATM Holiday Shopper

ATM Holiday Shopper is the brand-new travel event for consumers offering the very best travel and tourism discounts and deals plus the chance to learn about a range of emerging and unexplored destinations and activities from destinations around the world.  The inaugural event will take place in Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday, 27th April 2019 from 12:00 – 20:00. For more information, visit: www.atmholidayshopper.com

About ILTM Arabia

International Luxury Travel Market Arabia is an exclusive event for those looking to attract HNW travellers from the Middle East to their destination. Returning for its third year, ILTM will allow international luxury suppliers and key luxury buyers to connect via one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments and networking opportunities. ILTM will take place on Sunday 28th April and Monday 29th April 2019. For more information, visit: www.iltm.com/arabia/

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, annual, appointments, April, arabia, Arabian, Arabian Travel Market, Arabian Travel Week, area, around the world, arrivals, ATM, attendees, attract, attractions, aviation, aviation market, ban, barometer, best, board, boom, booming, brand, Breaking Travel News, bringing, Business, buyers, CAGR, capital, Centre, Chance, charter, clients, Colliers, coming, companies, compound, connect, consumers, continue, Corporate News, countries, country, course, created, daily, Dana, Data, Days, deals, decreasing, Destination, Destinations, development, direct, direct flights, director, discounts, driving, Dubai, Dubai World, Dubai World Trade Centre, East, economic, economic development, edition, EGP, Egypt, Egypt tourism, Egypt travel news, Egyptian, Egyptian tourism, emerging, Europe, event, exclusive, exhibit, exhibition, existing, expect, expected, experience, find, first, flagship, flight, flights, floor, For immediate Release, forum, France, GDP, Germany, government, Growth, Growth Rate, Hall, hand, healthy, highest, history, HNW, HNW travellers, holiday, hotel, Hotels, Hurghada, ILTM, ILTM Arabia, in, inaugural, inaugural event, inbound, incentives, including, increase, increase in arrivals, increasing, India, Industry, information, International, international flights, International Luxury Travel Market, international travel, introduction, Investment, investments, Istanbul, IT, Italy, June, just, keep, largest, last, LATEST, launch, launching, leading, learn, LED, Leisure, leisure travel, looking, Luxury, luxury hotel, Luxury travel, luxury travel market, major, Market, markets, May, meetings, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, Middle, Middle East, Middle East and North Africa, million, million tourists, months, Moscow, most, networking, New, new airports, new government, new luxury, new route, News articles, Nicolas, North, North Africa, number, numbers, offering, offers, ongoing, only, Operating, out, outbound, outbound tourism, over, participants, People, period, Place, pound, Pre, presence, private, private sector, professionals, promotion, published, range, rate, recent, recorded, Red, Red Sea, Red Sea resort, regional, report, representation, represented, research, resort, resorts, revealed, Revenue, Risk, roof, route, route development, Russia, s, said, Sardinia, Saudi, Saudi Arabia. (, scheduled, sea, sector, seminars, series, Sharm el Sheikh, Sheikh, show, showcasing, shows, social, Source, standard, standing, start, steady, suppliers, taking, taking advantage, The World, to, TO BE, top, Top Gear, total, tourism, tourism companies, tourism event, Tourism Industry, tourism professionals, tourism promotion, tourism revenue, tourism sector, tourists, Tours, Trade, traditionally, Travel, travel and tourism, travel and tourism event, travel boom, Travel Destination News, travel event, travel market, Travel Week, travellers, Travelwire News, turkish, Turkish Airlines, UK, unveiled, up, US, visit, visitor, visitor numbers, visitors, We, week, welcomed, WHO, witness, World, WTM, year, YOY

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Search




Recent Articles

  • Sandals Resorts Jamaica adds exciting new resorts
  • Hyatt House Davis Celebrates Official Opening
  • Norwegian Cruise Line donates US$1 million to Jamaica – Bartlett
  • American Airlines Uses Partnerships to Grow Its Network, Offer Customers More Choice, and Provide a Premier Travel Experience in the Northeast
  • Courtyard By Marriott Taps Clubhouse App to Host NFL Draft Conversation with Rich Eisen
  • United Customers Can Now Schedule COVID Tests and be Automatically Cleared for Travel Directly through the Travel-Ready Center
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 21 April 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • ‘Entry Thailand’ online information centre launched for vaccinated international visitors
  • Jamaica Tourism Minister: Building Forward Stronger – Tourism 2021 and Beyond
  • The prestigious 2021 MICHELIN Guide Malta awards stars to two more restaurants as the Mediterranean archipelago establishes itself as a gastronomic destination

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