• 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

Tallest modular hotel in the world will be built in New York City

April 18, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The world’s tallest modular hotel – which will carry a brand of Marriott International – is on track to be stacked in late fall in New York City with prefabricated and pre-furnished guestrooms. Once erected over a 90-day period, the 360-foot-tall tower will represent a milestone for Marriott’s ongoing initiative to encourage hotel developers in North America to embrace modular for new construction projects. To be topped with a modular roof and modular rooftop bar, the world’s tallest modular hotel is expected to open in late 2020 as the AC Hotel New York NoMad.

“In North America, the construction process hasn’t changed significantly in 150 years and it’s ripe for innovation,” said Eric Jacobs, Marriott International, Chief Development Officer, North America, Select and Extended Stay Brands. “The world’s tallest modular hotel in one of the world’s greatest destinations will act as a game-changing symbol to ignite even greater interest in modular among the real estate and lending industries.”

Fully finished guest rooms

The 168-room, 26-story AC Hotel New York NoMad is scheduled to rise at 842 Sixth Avenue with prefabricated guestrooms arriving at the hotel site fully constructed, inside and out. Besides finished, painted walls, each “module” will contain a fully outfitted guest room – with beds, sheets, pillows, flooring and even toiletries. The hotel’s roof and rooftop bar are expected to be produced using modular construction, and its more customized public areas such as the restaurant and lobby are expected to be constructed using traditional methods.

Prefabrication is a process that Marriott has found typically reduces the construction timeline, curbs site waste and noise, and results in a higher-quality product produced with factory level precision. The time savings comes from the ability to perform two crucial functions simultaneously – building the public spaces on site while manufacturing the guest rooms offsite.

“This is the moment where modular construction takes center stage,” says Danny Forster, a leading modular building advocate whose firm, Danny Forster & Architecture, designed the project. As he explains it, “This hotel takes every advantage of off-site manufacturing, as you might expect. But it does so in a way that defies expectation. We wanted to demonstrate that modular building can do more than just harness the efficiencies of the factory. It can produce a graceful and iconic tower. And yes, it can do so at the rate of an entire floor a day.”

Marriott sees a modular future

Marriott, which has the largest pipeline of hotels in North America, began researching modular construction in 2014 to offset lengthening hotel construction times – a trend attributed to the nation’s building boom and resulting labor shortages. Since 2011, Marriott has seen the average time to build and open a hotel in North America increase by as much 50 percent, depending on factors such as location and size of property.

Since 2015, Marriott has been educating owners, franchisees, architects, lenders, consultants, general contractors and other stakeholders across the industry about the benefits of modular by hosting town halls, factory tours and stacking events. The company also worked with leading modular manufacturers to help them better understand the untapped demand that hotel development companies represent.

Since the launch of Marriott’s initiative, the company’s development partners in North America have opened 31 Marriott-brand hotels – all low-rise structures – that incorporate prefabricated guestrooms and/or bathrooms, including a Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites in Folsom, Calif.; a Courtyard by Marriott in Pullman, Wash., and three AC Hotels in Oklahoma City, Louisville, Ky., and Chapel Hill, N.C. To date, the largest Marriott-branded modular-built to open is the 354-room, dual-brand Courtyard and TownePlace Suites by Marriott property in Hawthorne, Calif., while the first to also incorporate a prefabricated elevator bank was the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites in Prairie, Wisc. Later this year, a developer will start stacking the first modular-built Moxy hotel in the United States in downtown Oakland, Calif.

The company continues efforts to support developers interested in leveraging prefabrication, most recently launching modular versions of its prototypes for four of its higher-volume brands: Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and TownePlace Suites by Marriott. Underscoring its commitment to igniting demand for modular construction, Marriott this year is offering an incentive to development companies that leverage prefabrication for guestroom construction.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, Architecture, areas, arriving, Avenue, average, bank, bar, bathrooms, beds, benefits, better, boom, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, build, building, built, c, center, center stage, changed, Chapel, Chapel Hill, chief, Chief Development Officer, city, commitment, companies, company, construction, contain, continues, Corporate News, Courtyard, Courtyard by Marriott, date, day, demand, designed, Destinations, developers, development, Downtown, efforts, embrace, estate, even, Events, expect, expected, extended stay, factors, factory tours, fall, firm, first, floor, foot, found, free, future, game, general, greater, greatest, guestrooms, help, higher, Hospitality News, hosting, hotel, hotel development, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, iconic, in, Incentive, including, increase, Industries, Industry, initiative, inn, innovation, inside, interest, interested, International, IT, just, labor, largest, late, later, launch, launching, leading, lenders, lobby, location, Louisville, low, Luxury Travel News, Manufacturers, Marriott, Marriott International, milestone, module, most, Moxy, N, nation, New, new york, New York City, News articles, noise, North, North America, Oakland, offering, officer, offset, Oklahoma, ongoing, open, opened, out, over, owners, painted, partners, percent, perform, period, pillows, pipeline, Pre, prefabrication, product, project, projects, property, prototypes, public, Pullman, quality, rate, real, Real Estate, represent, Resort News, restaurant, results, rise, roof, room, rooms, s, said, savings, says, scheduled, significantly, site, Size, spaces, stakeholders, start, states, stay, story, suites, support, the United States, The World, time, timeline, times, to, TO BE, tourism, Tourism Investment News, Tours, tower, town, traditional, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, trend, United, United States, untapped, using, waste, way, We, worked, World, world's tallest, year, years, York, York City

Brexit has not deterred business travelers in the UK

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

UK’s 2018 Hotels Market Report shows that the UK regional capitals are performing strongly with overall room nights booked growing by 8% across the top 250 UK cities.

London continues to be business travelers’ favorite capital for work trips with 663,000 room nights booked in 2018, an increase of 5% when compared to 2017. But Edinburgh experienced the highest level of growth in 2018 with room nights booked increasing by 16%, Belfast was up 13% and Cardiff up 5%.

The 2018 Hotels Market Report analyses data from corporate hotel bookings made between January and December 2018 by Advantage’s TMC members, who represent around 40% of the UK business travel sector, highlighting business travel trends and booking behaviour.

The report also shows significant growth for cities in the Midlands and North East, with Derby seeing the highest growth with 31% more booked room nights compared to 2017, while York, Nottingham and Gateshead also saw double-digit percentage increases.

Top Ten UK Cities – Booked Room Night Percentage Increase (year-on-year), January – December 2018

1. Derby – 31%
2. York – 22%
3. Plymouth – 21%
4. Inverness – 20%
5. Nottingham – 18%
6. Edinburgh – 16%
7. Reading – 15%
8. Belfast – 13%
9. Norwich – 11%
10. Gateshead – 10%

Global Results

The business world continues to travel widely, with the 2018 Hotels Report recording that hotel demand remains strong in many international cities with New York, Auckland, Wellington, Houston, Paris and Sydney topping the Advantage Top Cities list. In total, worldwide volume grew by over 393,000 room nights, a total increase of 8.74% compared to 2017, indicating that SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) corporate accounts, in which Advantage TMCs specialise, continue to perform strongly.

The total number of bookings made by Advantage business travel members in 2018 saw similar growth – up 8.76% – while the average length of stay remained constant, at 1.87 nights. Increased demand and higher occupancy globally meant hotel rates have increased by US$2 to an average daily rate (ADR) of US$169.41.

The report also looks at trends on bookings and ADR for cities and locations around the world, with New York once again topping the list as the highest volume worldwide city outside the UK, with 90,799 room nights booked at an average rate of US$395.97 per night. Increases were also seen in Bangalore (up 54%), Kuala Lumpur (up 36%) and Boston (up 27%).

The corporate hotel sector continues to grow, with another significant increase in bookings year-on-year, made by independent TMCs. Despite continued uncertainty in both the global and UK economies including Brexit, hotel room night demand is at record levels in many destinations. Although not all destinations in Britain saw an increase in room nights booked, ADR remained strong.

The report is representative of hotel bookings made across most of the major international and independent hotel groups including: Accor, Apex Hotels, Choice Hotels, Citadines, Clayton Hotels, Design Hotels, The Doyle Collection, Edwardian Hotels, glh Hotels, Hallmark Hotels, Hilton, HotelREZ, Hyatt, House of Daniel Thwaites, IHG, Jurys Inn & Leonardo Hotels, Loews Hotels, Macdonald Hotels, Maldron Hotels, Melia Hotels International, Millennium Hotels & Resorts, The Montcalm Hotels, NH Hotels, O’Callaghan Collection, Omni, Park Plaza, Pegasus, QHotels, Quest, Rotana, Radisson Hotel Group, Sabre Hospitality, Small Luxury Hotels, TravelClick, Travelodge, Village Hotels Club, WorldHotels Collection and Wyndham Hotel Group.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, apex, around the world, Auckland, average, Bangalore, Belfast, booked, Booking, bookings, Boston, Breaking Travel News, Brexit, Britain, Business, Business Travel, business travelers, capital, capitals, choice, Choice Hotels, cities, city, club, collection, compared, continue, continued, continues, corporate, daily, Daniel, Data, December, demand, design, Design Hotels, Destinations, double, East, economies, Edinburgh, enterprise, experienced, favorite, free, Global, global results, globally, Group, groups, grow, Growing, Growth, higher, highest, Hilton, hospitality, Hospitality News, hotel, hotel bookings, Hotel Group, hotel rates, hotel room, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, Hotels International, Hotels Market Report, house, Houston, Hyatt, IHG, in, including, increase, increased, increases, increasing, independent, inn, International, International Travel News, Inverness, January, Kuala Lumpur, length of stay, list, locations, London, Lumpur, Luxury, luxury hotels, Macdonald, major, Market, Market Report, Medium, melia hotels, members, MICE Industry News, Millennium, most, New, new york, News articles, NH, NH Hotels, night, nights, North, Nottingham, number, occupancy, outside, over, Paris, park, Park Plaza, Pegasus, percentage, perform, performing, quest, Radisson, Radisson Hotel Group, rate, rates, reading, record, record levels, regional, remained, remains, report, represent, representative, Resort News, resorts, results, room, room nights, Rotana, s, Sabre, sector, seeing, shows, significant, significant growth, small, SME, stay, strong, Sydney, The World, TMC, to, TO BE, top, top cities, top ten, total, tourism, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, travel sector, travel trends, travelers, TraveLodge, Travelwire News, Trends, trips, UK, UK business, UK Travel News, uncertainty, up, US, village, were, WHO, work, World, Worldhotels, worldwide, Wyndham, Wyndham Hotel Group, year, York

US airlines wrongfully reject over 25% of their passengers’ compensation claims

April 16, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Consumer rights advocacy group released the results of a new study showing that United States airlines wrongfully reject more than 25% of compensation claims, indicating that more than one in five travelers are being denied up to $700 they are owed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines following flight disruptions.

Each year, more and more travelers flying out of the U.S. are eligible to claim compensation under European law EC 261 which covers travelers on European flights. AirHelp found more than 25% of valid claims filed against U.S. airlines for disrupted flights in 2016, 2017 and 2018 were turned away on wrongful grounds by airlines trying to avoid their obligation to travelers.

The travel experience is continuously getting worse due to overtourism. In the U.S., 407,000 travelers are eligible to claim compensation under EC 261 following flight delays and cancellations experienced last year, up from 370,000 the previous year. During the first three months of 2019, more than 75,000 passengers experienced disruptions due to the fault of the airlines that have made them eligible for compensation.

This trend is a small part of the larger issue of airlines mistreating passengers. A survey of travelers found 75% of U.S. travelers feel uninformed about their air passenger rights, and less than 25% of travelers who were on a disrupted flight actually file a claim, despite airlines being required by law to inform passengers of their rights.

How the U.S. Airlines Stack Up

Of the U.S. airlines, Delta Air Lines wrongfully rejects the most claims at a rate of one in three. United Airlines wrongfully rejects nearly one in four claims, and American Airlines rejects one in every five. According to an annual ranking of global airlines and airports, U.S. airlines’ unsurprisingly perform poorly, with each major carrier earning less than seven out of 10 for quality of service.

The most popular U.S. airlines ranked on wrongfully rejected claims rate

United States ranking Global ranking for wrongfully rejected claims rate

Airline Wrongfully rejected claim rate

1 32 Delta Air Lines 32%
2 42 United Airlines 23%
3 44 American Airlines 22%

Data from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018

“The bleak picture in the U.S. is just the tip of the iceberg. The volume of legitimate passenger claims being wrongfully rejected by airlines is appalling. Flight delays and cancellations are increasingly heaping chaos on passengers, and travelers are forced to fight airlines for compensation they’re rightfully owed,” says Henrik Zillmer, CEO of AirHelp. “It’s all very well for airlines to say they will compensate passengers who make their claim directly. The reality is that thousands of passengers are continuing to face an impossible struggle to claim the money they’re entitled to. If they are embroiled in a legal battle with an airline, passengers may face costs to hire a lawyer to push through their claim, which can make fighting for compensation virtually impossible.”

U.S. Passenger Rights

U.S. passengers are protected under EC 261 for flights to the EU on an EU airline, and any flight departing from the EU. Cancelled flights, delays of more than three hours, and incidents of denied boarding are covered under EC 261, as long as the disruption was not caused by extraordinary circumstances such as weather, sabotage or political unrest. Eligible passengers may be entitled to financial compensation of up to $700 per person, and can file claims up to three years after the incident occurs.

Travelers have fewer protections on domestic U.S. flights, but can claim up to $1,350 in compensation for denied boarding due to overbooking, depending on the value of the ticket fare and ultimate delay in arrival to their final destination

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, annual, arrival, Aviation News, aviation-website, avoid, battle, bleak, boarding, Breaking Travel News, cancellations, cancelled, cancelled flights, carrier, CEO, chaos, claim, claims, compensation, compensation claims, costs, Data, December, delay, delays, Delta, Delta Air Lines, denied, departing, Destination, directly, disrupted, disruption, disruptions, domestic, due, EC, EU, European, European flights, experience, experienced, Extraordinary, face, fault, Feature, fewer, fight, fighting, file, financial, financial compensation, first, flight, flight delays, flights, Flying, following, forced, found, free, getting, Global, global airlines, global ranking, grounds, Group, hire, hours, iceberg, in, incident, incidents, International Travel News, IT, January, just, last, law, legal, less, lines, major, Make, May, money, months, more travelers, most, most popular, nearly, New, new study, News articles, obligation, one in five, out, over, overbooking, passenger, passenger rights, passengers, perform, picture, political, political unrest, popular, protected, push, quality, quality of service, ranked, ranking, rate, reality, reject, rejected, released, results, rights, s, says, service, seven, showing, small, states, struggle, study, survey, thousands, through, ticket, Tip, to, tourism, Transportation News, Travel, travel experience, travelers, Travelwire News, trend, trying, turned away, U.S. airlines, U.S. passengers, U.S. travelers, United, United Airlines, United States, United States airlines, unrest, up, US, US airlines, value, weather, were, WHO, World News, year, years

ADI statement on circus lion attack in Ukraine

April 4, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Animal Defenders International (ADI) has urged Ukraine and other countries without bans on the use of animals in circuses to stop circus suffering after a lion attacked a trainer during a circus performance in the city of Lugansk.

 

ADI President Jan Creamer said: “Exploited for entertainment, animals in circuses endure a lifetime of suffering and abuse. It’s time for countries without bans in place to step up and stop animals and people being put in harm’s way.”

 

The attack is one of a growing catalogue of incidents involving circus animals around the world, highlighting the inherent animal welfare and human safety issues.

 

Studies of the use of wild animals in traveling circuses show that circuses cannot meet their physical or behavioral needs. Animals are confined in small spaces, deprived of physical and social needs, spending excessive amounts of time shut in transporters. These animals are often seen behaving abnormally; rocking, swaying, and pacing, all indicating that they are in distress and not coping with their environment. ADI’s video evidence has shown how these animals are forced to perform tricks through physical violence, fear, and intimidation.

 

The animal protection organization is currently in Guatemala helping enforce a ban on the use of animals in circuses, as it has done in both Bolivia and Peru, and now has 21 lions and tigers at its temporary rescue center. Eighteen of the big cats will be going to the new ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. To support the rescue mission, donate here: https://donate.adiusa.org/guatemala/

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, animals, around the world, attack, attacked, ban, bans, big, Bolivia, Breaking Travel News, cats, center, circuses, city, countries, currently, defenders, Defenders International, distress, donate, entertainment, environment, evidence, fear, forced, Growing, Guatemala, Helping, Human, in, incidents, International, intimidation, involving, issues, IT, Jan, lion, lions, Lugansk, meet, mission, needs, New, News articles, organization, People, perform, performance, Peru, physical, Place, president, President Jan Creamer, protection, rescue, s, Safety, safety issues, said, sanctuary, show, shut, small, social, South, South Africa, spaces, spending, statement, stop, studies, suffering, support, temporary, The World, through, tigers, time, to, tourism, trainer, Travel Destination News, traveling, Travelwire News, Ukraine, Ukraine travel news, up, use, video, violence, way, wild, wild animals, wildlife, World

Aviation Safety: Fatigue management

March 28, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

In aviation operations, managing fatigue is important because it diminishes an individual’s ability to perform almost all operational tasks. This clearly has implications for operational efficiency, but in situations where individuals are undertaking safety-critical activities, fatigue-effected performance can also have consequences for safety outcomes. Fatigue is a natural consequence of human physiology.

Because fatigue is affected by all waking activities (not only work demands), fatigue management has to be a shared responsibility between the State, service providers and individuals.

A brief history of flight and/or duty limitations

For most workers, hours of work are part of the working conditions and remuneration packages established through industrial agreements or social legislation. They are not necessarily established from a safety perspective.

However, the need to limit pilots’ flight and duty hours for the purpose of flight safety was recognized in ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in the first edition of Annex 6 published in 1949.  At that time, ICAO SARPs required the operator to be responsible for establishing flight time limits that ensured that “fatigue, either occurring in a flight or successive flights or accumulating over a period of time, did not endanger the safety of a flight”. These limits had to be approved by the State.

By 1995, ICAO SARPs required States to establish flight time, flight duty periods and rest periods for international flight and cabin crew. The onus was on the State to identify “informed boundaries” that aimed to address the general fatigue risk for flight operations nationally. At no time have ICAO SARPs identified actual flight and duty hours because it had proven impossible to identify global limits that adequately addressed operational contexts in different regions.While ICAO SARPs apply only to international operations, many States also chose to establish similar flight and duty time limitations for domestic operations. States generally used the same flight and duty limits for helicopter crew as for airline crew.

The fallacy of flight and/or duty limitations is that staying within them means that operations are always safe. Buying into this fallacy suggests that scheduling to the limits is enough to manage fatigue-related risks. However, more recent SARP amendments related to prescriptive limits have highlighted the responsibilities of the operator to manage their particular fatigue-related risks within the limits using their SMS processes.

And then there was FRMS….

Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) represent an opportunity for operators to use their resources more efficiently and increase operational flexibility outside the prescriptive limits, whilst maintaining or even improving safety. In implementing an FRMS, the onus shifts to the operator to prove to the State that what they propose to do and how they continue to operate under an FRMS, is safe.

In 2011, SARPs enabling FRMS as an alternative means of compliance to prescriptive limitations were developed for aeroplane flight and cabin crew (Annex 6, Part I).  At the time of development, it was necessary to address concerns that airline operators would take this as an opportunity to schedule purely for economic benefits at the cost of safety. Therefore, while often referred to as “performance-based” approach, the FRMS SARPs are nevertheless very prescriptive about the necessary elements of an FRMS and require the explicit approval of an operator’s FRMS by the State.

Since then, similar FRMS SARPs were made applicable for helicopter flight and cabin crew in 2018 (Annex 6, Part III, Section II).

But what about air traffic controllers?

Despite their obvious impact on flight safety outcomes, ICAO SARPs have never required the hours of work to be limited for air traffic controllers even though some States have had hours of duty limitations for air traffic controllers for many years. This is about to change. Amendments to Annex 11, becoming applicable in 2020, will require that ICAO States establish duty limits and specify certain scheduling practices for air traffic controllers. As for international airline and helicopter operations, States will have the option of establishing FRMS regulations for air traffic service providers.

Fatigue Management SARPs today

Today, ICAO’s fatigue management SARPs support both prescriptive and FRMS approaches for managing fatigue such that:

  • Both approaches are based on scientific principles, knowledge and operational experience that take into account:
    • the need for adequate sleep (not just resting while awake) to restore and maintain all aspects of waking function (including alertness, physical and mental performance, and mood);
    • the circadian rhythms that drive changes in the ability to perform mental and physical work, and in sleep propensity (the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep), across the 24h day;
    • interactions between fatigue and workload in their effects on physical and mental performance; and
    • the operational context and the safety risk that a fatigue-impaired individual represents in that context.
  • States continue to be obliged to have flight and duty time limitations but are under no obligation to establish FRMS regulations. Where FRMS regulations are established, the operator/service provider, can manage none, some or all of its operations under an FRMS, once approved to do so.
  • Prescriptive fatigue management regulations now provide the baseline, in terms of safety equivalence, from which an FRMS is assessed.

In practice…

In Airlines:  The Fatigue Management amendments to the Annex 6, Part I, in 2011 led many States  to reviewing their prescriptive limitation regulations for pilots based on scientific principles and knowledge (refer text box) and identifying further requirements for operators to manage their fatigue-related risks within the prescribed limits.  Fewer States have reviewed their prescriptive limitation regulations for cabin crew.

In every case, despite a refocus on providing adequate opportunities for sleep and recovery, altering existing flight and duty limitations remains a very sensitive and difficult task because it impacts income and work conditions as well as the constraints of pre-existing employment agreements. It is made even more challenging for States whose flight and duty time limitations are legislated.

Where States have reviewed their prescribed flight and duty limits, the increased awareness of the relationship between sleep and performance has served to highlight the responsibilities of the individual crew member and the airline to manage fatigue, and in some cases have resulted in the prescribed limits sitting alongside a set of regulations  that make these responsibilities more explicit, e.g. the FAA’s Fatigue Risk Management Program, EASA’s Fatigue Management requirements, CASA’s Fatigue Management requirements and CAA South Africa’s Fatigue Management Program.

The scientific principles of fatigue management

 

  1. Periods of wake need to be limited.  Getting enough sleep (both quantity and quality) on a regular basis is essential for restoring the brain and body.
  2. Reducing the amount or the quality of sleep, even for a single night, decreases the ability to function and increases sleepiness the next day.
  3. The circadian body-clock affects the timing and quality of sleep and produces daily highs and lows in performance on various tasks.
  4. Workload can contribute to an individual’s level of fatigue.  Low workload may unmask physiological sleepiness while high workload may exceed the capacity of a fatigued individual.

Many States have established, or plan to establish, FRMS regulations, often at the encouragement of their airlines. The FRMS challenge for States continues to be whether they have the resources to provide the necessary oversight from a scientific and performance-based perspective, particularly when the same regulations usually apply to a variety of domestic flight operations. While FRMS requirements are onerous and time-consuming, the few airlines who have so far managed to get FRMS approval for particular routes have found the operational flexibility gained to be worth the effort.

General scheduling principles

 

  1. The perfect schedule for the human body is daytime duties with unrestricted sleep at night. Anything else is a compromise.
  2. The circadian body clock does not adapt fully to altered schedules such as night work.
  3. Whenever a duty period overlaps a crew member’s usual sleep time, it can be expected to restrict sleep. Examples include early duty start times, late duty end times, and night work.
  4. The more that a duty period overlaps a crew member’s usual sleep time, the less sleep the crew member is likely to obtain. Working right through the usual nighttime sleep period is the worst case scenario.
  5. Night duty also requires working through the time in the circadian body clock cycle when self-rated fatigue and mood are worst and additional effort is required to maintain alertness and performance.
  6. The longer a crew member is awake, the worse their alertness and performance become.
  7. Across consecutive duties with restricted sleep, crew members will accumulate a sleep debt and fatigue-related impairment will increase.
  8. To recover from sleep debt, crew members need a minimum of two full nights of sleep in a row. The frequency of recovery breaks should be related to the rate of accumulation of sleep debt.
  9. Keep short notice changes to a minimum, especially where they infringe or overlap the  Window of Circadian Low (WOCL).
  10. Duty periods associated with high workload (such as multiple, challenging landings and in marginal weather conditions) may need to be shortened and extensions avoided where at all possible.

In Helicopter Operations:  For some States, the recent amendments to Annex 6, Part II (Section II) have highlighted the need to establish flight and duty time limits for helicopter crew members that better relate to the context of helicopter operations, rather than using the same limits as for airline pilots. Within those limits, the helicopter operator is expected to build crew schedules that use both fatigue science and operational knowledge and experience.

A new fatigue management guide for helicopter operators, currently under development in ICAO, identifies general scheduling principles based on fatigue science to guide helicopter operators in building “fatigue-aware” schedules that offer optimum opportunities for sleep and recovery (refer text box).

The particular challenge in helicopter operations, however, is that so many helicopter operations are unscheduled. While some helicopter operators will be able to operate within prescribed limits and effectively manage fatigue risks using an SMS, many types of helicopter operations, such as those that require unscheduled, immediate responses, possibly in high-risk settings, will benefit from the operational flexibility and safety gains of an FRMS.

In Air Traffic Control Services: Next year, States are expected to have established prescriptive work hour limits for air traffic controllers, while FRMS regulations remain optional and can be established at any time. However, the nature of the relationship between the Air Navigation Services Provider (ANSP) and the State will influence how the implementation of fatigue management regulations will unfold. In most cases, the State provides oversight of only one ANSP and although there is a current trend for privatisation, many of the ANSPs are fully or partially owned by the State.

In an industry sector that is often largely self-regulated, the distinction between a prescriptive fatigue management approach and FRMS may become blurred. However, a refocus on safety and not only organisational expediency or personal preference is likely to have substantial effects on the way controllers’ work schedules are built in ANSPs across the world. This is a “watch this space”.

Fatigue Management Guidance for ICAO States

The Manual for the Oversight of Fatigue Management Approaches (Doc 9966) received another update this year – Version 2 (Revised) – and an unedited version (in English only) will shortly replace the current manual available for download here. On this website you can also find the following:

  • Fatigue Management Guide for Airline Operators (2nd Edition, 2015)
  • Fatigue Management Guide for General Aviation Operators of Large and Turboject Aeroplane (1st Edition, 2016)
  • Fatigue Management Guide for Air Traffic Service Providers (1st Edition, 2016)
  • The Fatigue Management Guide for Helicopter Operators (1st Edition) is expected to be available later this year.

The Fatigue Management Guide for Helicopter Operators (1st Edition) is expected to be available later this year.

The author, Dr. Michelle Millar, is the Technical Officer (Human Factors) and the NGAP Program Manager at ICAO. She heads the ICAO FRMS Task Force and has been involved in the development of ICAO fatigue management provisions since 2009. Her academic background is in sleep, fatigue and performance.

 

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Annex, ANSP, apply, approval, approved, asleep, author, aviation, Aviation News, aviation safety, aviation-website, Aware, Awareness, based, benefit, benefits, better, body, Box, Breaking Travel News, breaks, brief, build, building, built, buying, CAA, cabin, cabin crew, capacity, case, challenge, change, changes, Compliance, compromise, concerns, conditions, continue, continues, control, controllers, cost, crew, crew member, crew members, critical, current, currently, daily, day, debt, demands, development, different, domestic, domestic operations, download, Dr, drive, duty, duty limits, early, EASA, economic, edition, effects, efficiency, effort, elements, employment, end, English, essential, establish, even, existing, expected, experience, FAA, factors, fall, far, fatigue, Fatigue Risk Management Program, Fatigue Science, fatigued, fewer, find, first, flight, flight operations, flight safety, flights, following, force, found, frequency, FRMS, FRMS SARP, full, function, G, gains, general, getting, Global, guidance, guide, Heads, helicopter, high, highlight, history, hours, Human, ICAO, II, impact, impacts, implementation, important, in, including, income, increase, increased, increases, individual, industrial, Industry, influence, International, international airline, IT, just, keep, knowledge, landings, late, later, LED, legislation, less, limit, Limited, limits, low, maintain, Make, Manage, management, Management Guide, manager, Managing, May, member, members, Michelle, most, nationally, natural, nature, navigation, nbsp, need, New, News articles, night, nights, notice, obligation, offer, officer, only, operate, operational, operations, operator, operators, opportunity, option, outside, over, oversight, packages, particularly, perform, performance, period, personal, physical, pilots, plan, practices, Pre, principles, privatisation, processes, program, propose, provides, published, purpose, quality, quantity, rate, received, recent, recover, recovery, regions, regular, regulations, relate, related, Relationship, remains, represents, require, requirements, resources, responsibility, responsible, restore, resulted, right, Risk, risk management, risks, routes, row, s, safe, Safety, SARP, SARPS, schedule, science, sector, service, service providers, services, short, single, sleep, SMS, social, South, South Africa, space, standards, start, State, states, stay, support, task, task force, Technical, terms, text, the crew, The World, through, time, times, timing, to, TO BE, TO DO, today, traffic, traffic controllers, Transportation News, Travelwire News, trend, update, use, used, using, usual, variety, way, weather, weather conditions, website, were, WHO, work, workers, working, World, worst, worth, year, years

Reimagining tourism for the future

March 22, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

In the last decade or so, tourism has positioned itself as a critical variable in the development planning space and the development discourse globally. Today businesses, governments, international organizations as well as NGOs have established, or are establishing programs, initiatives and programs to facilitate tourism for development. Academic institutions have also been introducing, organizing or reorganizing ‘tourism’ as an important element of their curriculum. The University of the West Indies is no exception. Through its many courses, centers and institutes, the UWI has been preparing our Caribbean nationals for the expanding opportunities and benefits being presented by the growth of the tourism sector. But we have much more to do.

Tourism and Development

According to the UNTWO, WTTC, CTO, PATA and several other regional and global institutions, tourism has been recognized as that force, which accelerates human development, social and economic inclusiveness, increased entrepreneurship and self-employment, the generation of decent work, environmental sustainability and also support regional integration.

Indeed, the contribution of tourism to both national and regional development continues to be enormous and I dare say unmatched. Firstly, tourism is linked to the notion of a sustainable economy in several ways. The economic indicators show that Caribbean is the most-tourism dependent in the world, tourism is the main economic sector in 16 out of 28 Caribbean states and the total contribution of tourism to employment in the Caribbean is estimated at 2.4 million jobs according to the World Travel and Tourism Annual Report for 2018. In Jamaica tourism employs one in every four persons.

Beyond direct employment tourism and hospitality there are vast indirect opportunities for supplying inputs to tourism enterprises catering to the visitor experience in areas such as accommodations, food and beverage, cultural and creative arts, entertainment and recreation, agriculture, manufacturing, banking and finance and foreign exchange.

Tourism is also linked to the preservation of heritage and culture through the concept of experiential tourism. Most tourists travel to have authentic experiences that require that they partake in activities and consume and acquire products/goods that are indigenous to the countries they travel. Tourism thus helps to preserve natural and cultural resources while generating revenues and incomes for local populations.

To unlock the potential of tourism to contribute to inclusive growth and development our main focus at the Ministry of Tourism is to find innovate ways to reduce economic leakage in the tourism sector and to improve retention. This mandate is already being executed through our Linkages Network which has been coordinating policies and strategies designed to strengthen linkages with other sectors of the economy particularly the agricultural and manufacturing sector, strengthen the benefits derived from the industry by local residents and communities and promote broader participation by nationals.

We however recognize that the competitiveness 0f the Caribbean destinations will significantly rely on how well we prepare our people for the emerging opportunities. If Caribbean destinations are to remain globally-competitive and increase their share of the global tourist market, we must find ways to unlock new sources of competitiveness and comparative advantage.

Traditionally the tourism sector has enjoyed one of the highest rates of labor mobility of any segment of the economy. However, many of the opportunities taken up by our citizens are those that require low skill and offer limited prospect for economic mobility. This fact is largely attributable to the fact that the majority of the tourism-related jobs are deemed to require low to medium-level technical skills. The global tourism market is however becoming increasingly differentiated and segmented. Consequently, the continued growth of Travel & Tourism in the region will depend on the right people with the right skills being available to meet this demand for additional human capital. And we at the MOT have been working to create a paradigm shift in the local tourism space which will see our citizens accessing more substantive jobs and I will discuss this some more in a minute.

Many trends are impacting the skills needed to perform competently in tourism-related jobs such as digitalization and virtualization, the need for sustainable behaviors & practices, the growth of non-traditional segments, the changing demographics of international travelers (more youthful, more specific), changing lifestyles and consumer demands and the need for data-driven policies. Technology has had a significant impact on tourism-related employment as well as supporting and changing how services are delivered. While technology has downgraded certain skills in the tourism sector it has upgraded other skills, particularly in the areas of marketing, information and communication. Caribbean destinations must recognize the differing preferences of a new generation of younger travelers and the growing importance of online services and marketing, especially through mobile internet. The future of tourism lies in the manipulation and exploitation of ICT capabilities such as big data, big data analytics, machine learning, blockchain technologies, the Internet of Things, robotics etc. We thus need to urgently capitalize on the opportunities for high-skilled employment that are being generated in the ICT-related fields in tourism.

The growth of non-traditional markets in Europe, Asia and Central America will require increased focus on cultural studies and the development of competencies in various foreign languages. The increased focus on data-driven policies to better understand the emerging needs of markets, to analyze trends and to predict future patterns means that tourism development strategy must increasingly emphasize research-based skills. The evolving tourism market will require modern managerial skills that can drive performance improvements in the sector by raising productivity through better staff planning and scheduling, employing new technology and improving employee motivation, thereby reducing staff turnover. Most importantly , we must equip our citizens with the competitive business management and marketing skills that are required to operate successful tourism enterprises in this globalized era.

In the current dispensation, the hospitality sector has to contend with negative perceptions of low wages and the lack of career opportunities beyond entry-level jobs. Studies have found that many university students have a peripheral view of tourism. There is oftentimes scarce information and misconceptions about the skills required as well as the opportunities for career development. National governments must take a lead in developing a long-term workforce development strategy. Ideally, such a strategy would be developed within the broader context of improving the industry’s competitiveness and sustainability, since the increasing demand for skilled labor will continue to present a major challenge in all countries. It is highly recommended that strategies and their implementation should be carried out with the private and education sectors and embrace agreed-upon commitments from the industry.

A robust institutional framework is needed to determine the education and training policies and programs that will support a more attractive labor market and business environment in tourism which will allow the industry to maintain a sufficient and highly-qualified workforce and hence support the enhancement of productivity in the industry. My view is that while formal qualifications are not always required in tourism, their existence, and a widely available opportunity to obtain qualifications and competency development in tourism may contribute to raising the prestige of the occupation and the sector in general.

A study by the WTTC revealed that Travel & Tourism’s human capital challenges are significantly higher than those faced in other sectors with most countries in study projecting to face a talent ‘deficit’ or ‘shortage’ in Travel & Tourism over the next ten years. Talent development will also prevent many high-skilled positions from being filled by migrant workers. Both public and private sector are thus encouraged to act now to address the anticipated talent shortage.

Given the robust nature of UWI’s tourism portfolio which was recently expanded with the recent launch of the region’s first Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, here at UWI, changes in the tourism space, new instruction technologies, the ever diversifying nature of tourism, it is time for the UWI to reimagine its tourism portfolio and consolidate its programs, courses, institutes, centers, etc. under one roof here in one of the Caribbean’s mecca of tourism (Montego Bay) with the establishment of a school or a faculty of Tourism.

Indeed, UWIs global recognition as a powerful intellectual institution will position the UWI to make an even more substantive contribution to the development of the region through such a Faculty or School. Certainly, this effort would have my support, and, although I cannot speak for my Caribbean counterparts, I am more than certain it would also have the support of the government of the region. More specifically, in keeping with the mandate of the administration that I am apart of, I reiterate my commitment to promoting a sustainable tourism product that advances the well-being of local communities and that incorporates more local talent in the delivery of tourism services.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, areas, Arts, Asia, attractive, authentic, based, Bay, behaviors, benefits, better, beverage, big, big data, Breaking Travel News, Business, businesses, capital, capitalize, Career, career opportunities, Caribbean, Caribbean destinations, catering, Centers, Central, Central America, Centre, challenge, challenges, changes, citizens, commitment, Communication, communities, competitive, competitiveness, concept, consolidate, continue, continued, continued growth, continues, contribution, countries, courses, create, creative, Crisis, Crisis Management Centre, critical, CTO, cultural, culture, current, Data, data analytics, decade, deficit, delivered, delivery, demand, demands, demographics, designed, Destinations, development, development strategy, direct, Discuss, drive, economic, Economy, Education, effort, Element, embrace, emerging, employee, employment, encouraged, entertainment, entrepreneurship, entry, environment, environmental, establishment, etc, Europe, even, exchange, expanded, expanding, experience, experiences, exploitation, face, Feature, Finance, find, first, food, force, foreign, foreign exchange, foreign languages, found, framework, free, future, future of tourism, general, Global, global tourism, Global Tourism Resilience, global tourist, globally, goods, government, Government Affairs, governments, growing importance, Growth, helps, heritage, high, highest, hospitality, Hospitality News, hospitality sector, human development, ict, impact, impact on tourism, implementation, importance, important, improve, improvements, in, inclusive, increase, increased, increasing, increasing demand, indigenous, Industry, information, information and communication, initiatives, institution, instruction, integration, International, International Travel News, international travelers, Internet, IT, Jamaica, Jamaica tourism, Jamaica travel news, Jobs, labor, lack, languages, last, launch, lead, learning, lies, Limited, linkages, linked, local, low, maintain, Make, management, manipulation, Market, Marketing, markets, May, Mecca, Medium, meet, million, ministry, Ministry of Tourism, mobile, modern, Montego, Montego Bay, most, MOT, national, nationals, natural, nature, need, needed, needs, negative, negative perceptions, network, New, new generation, News articles, Non, occupation, offer, online, online services, operate, opportunity, organizations, organizing, out, over, participation, PATA, People, People in Travel, perform, performance, planning, policies, portfolio, position, positions, potential, practices, preferences, present, preservation, preserve, private, private sector, product, productivity, products, programs, promote, promoting, prospect, public, qualified, rates, recent, recognition, recognize, recreation, reduce, region, regional, report, require, research, residents, resilience, resources, Responsible Tourism News, revealed, revenues, right, roof, s, school, sector, sectors, see, segments, services, Share, shift, shortage, show, significant, significantly, skills, social, sources, space, speak, staff, states, strategies, strategy, students, studies, study, successful, sufficient, support, supporting, Sustainability, sustainable, sustainable tourism, talent, Technical, Technology, term, the Caribbean, The Ministry, The Region, The World, things, through, time, to, TO BE, TO DO, today, total, tourism, tourism and hospitality, Tourism Development, tourism enterprises, Tourism Market, tourism product, tourism resilience, tourism sector, tourism services, tourist, tourist market, tourists, traditional, traditionally, training, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, travelers, Travelwire News, Trends, university, untwo, up, UWI, view, visitor, visitor experience, wages, ways, We, West, west indies, work, workers, workforce, working, World, World News, world travel, world travel and tourism, WTTC, years

Festival de Lanaudière: International stars and prestigious beginnings

March 21, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Festival de Lanaudière’s Artistic Director Renaud Loranger has announced four new concerts in the artistic programming of the 42nd edition of the Festival de Lanaudière. They feature the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM), Orchestre Métropolitain (OM), Venice Baroque Orchestra, and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. The Festival runs from July 5 to August 4 this year.

The OSM has been invited to give the Festival’s opening concert on Friday, July 5. Renowned French conductor Alain Altinoglu makes a return appearance at the helm of the OSM after his highly acclaimed performance with this orchestra last fall. Pianist Francesco Piemontesi, who began his career performing throughout Quebec and notably at Lanaudière, is the featured soloist. Some of the great literary classics have inspired the works on this program: Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Piano Concerto No. 1, Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss.

On Saturday, July 6, the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay welcomes the OM and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, along with a great lady of French opera, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Audiences will be treated to nineteenth-century composer Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 2, after which Susan Graham will join forces with the orchestra to transport us to the world of mythical and legendary characters, with a performance of La mort de Cléopâtre by Hector Berlioz. The concert will conclude with excerpts from Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and will be the first event in the season to mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death (#Berlioz150). An evening of pure Romanticism!

On Sunday, July 7, the exceptional Venice Baroque Orchestra makes a long-awaited return to Quebec, leading audiences on a journey from Naples to Venice at the time of Vivaldi. The ensemble will explore the flamboyant beauty of this composer’s works, including the famous Four Seasons, as well as those of his contemporaries. Nothing less than explosive!

Finally, German violinist Christian Tetzlaff will perform at the Église de la Purification in Repentigny on Monday, July 29, in what will be his only summer season concert on Canadian soil. His programme features several essential works from the repertoire for unaccompanied violin: a Sonata for Solo Violin by Eugène Ysaÿe, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata for Solo Violin No. 3, several pieces by György Kurtág, as well as Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, anniversary, announced, artistic, August, beauty, Breaking Travel News, Canada Travel News, Canadian, Career, Century, characters, Christian, concert, concerts, conductor, Cultural Travel News, death, director, dream, edition, essential, ET, event, explore, Explosive, fall, famous, Feature, Features,, Festival, first, Forces, Four Seasons, free, French, German, in, including, inspired, International, International Travel News, invited, join, journey, LA, lady, Lanaudière, last, leading, less, Naples, New, News articles, night, only, opening, Opera, OSM, People in Travel, perform, performance, performing, prestigious, program, Programme, Quebec, return, Richard Wagner, s, season, Seasons, Solo, Solo Violin No, Sonata, Stars, summer, summer season, The World, time, to, tourism, transport, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, US, Venice, welcomes, WHO, works, World, World News, year

Canada’s government officials announce support for victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302

March 18, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Today, the Honorable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and the Honorable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement announcing Canada’s support to victim identification efforts following the tragic aircraft accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines Flight.

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, we wish to extend our most sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who perished in this tragic accident.  Our thoughts continue to go out to each of the Canadian families, friends and communities affected by this awful accident.

The situation on the ground is fluid and may continue to evolve rapidly. Canada will remain ready to assist with the ongoing recovery efforts.

To this end, the Government of Canada, through the Government Operations Centre and Global Affairs Canada, is in constant contact with international and local officials to coordinate Canada’s contribution to these efforts, in support of Interpol’s call for assistance. At present, the RCMP has provided a team of three specialized personnel to assist with providing disaster victim identification support.

Four additional Canadian officials have been dispatched to Ethiopia to provide added capacity and expertise as well as support to affected families. Officials from the Embassy and from Global Affairs Canada’s Standing Rapid Deployment Team have been coordinating with local authorities in Addis Ababa. Officials have been supporting family members of Canadian victims who have travelled to Ethiopia, including by sharing updates on the situation, providing information about local contacts and services, and accompanying families to the site of the tragedy.

Canadian officials will continue to work closely with Ethiopian Airlines and local authorities on the gathering and sharing of information in real time with the families, including on questions relating to repatriation.

Friends and relatives in Canada who are in need of assistance should contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa at +1-613-996-8885 or email sos@international.gc.ca.

On behalf of all Canadians, we are grateful to all nations who have heeded the international call for assistance, and commend the Canadians who will solemnly perform their duties in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announce, assist, assistance, authorities, Aviation News, aviation-website, Breaking Travel News, CA, Canada, Canada Travel News, Canadian, Canadians, capacity, Centre, communities, condolences, contact, contacts, continue, contribution, Disaster, efforts, Email, embassy, emergency, end, Ethiopia, Ethiopian, Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines Flight, expertise, extend, families, Family, flight, fluid, following, foreign, Foreign Affairs, free, Freeland, friends, gathering, Global, GO!, government, Government Affairs, government officials, ground, in, including, information, International, International Travel News, Interpol, involving, issued, local, May, members, minister, minister of foreign affairs, most, nations, need, News articles, officials, ongoing, operations, Ottawa, out, People in Travel, perform, personnel, preparedness, present, public, public safety, questions, RCMP, ready, real, recovery, response, s, Safety, services, sharing, site, situation, standing, statement, support, supporting, team, through, time, to, today, tourism, tragedy, Tragic, Tragic accident, Transportation News, Travel Disaster & Emergency News, travelled, Travelwire News, updates, victim, victims, We, WHO, work, World News

Search




Recent Articles

  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 18 April 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • The Unbound Collection by Hyatt Brand Expands in China With The Opening of Commune by The Great Wall
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 17 April 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • Thailand strengthens measures to contain new wave of COVID-19 infections
  • Aeroflot adds third frequency on Seychelles route
  • Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica pays courtesy call on Jamaica’s Tourism Minister
  • CAAT announces COVID-19 control guidelines on domestic flights
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 13 April 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • Royal Palaces temporarily close from 13 April 2021 until further notice
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 14 April 2021, 11.30 Hrs.

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