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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Travel News | eTurboNews

Italian Exhibition Group returns to China to promote international tourism

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Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) is returning to China to promote international tourism business. The appointment is at the Shanghai World Travel Fair (SWTF), one of the major tourism industry expos of Eastern China, the 16th edition of which is being held from 18th to 21st April.

Over 750 exhibitors from 53 countries and regions of the world are awaited at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

SWTF, co-organized by Europe Asia Global Link Exhibitions (EAGLE) – joint venture created by Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) and VNU Exhibitions Asia – and Shanghai International Convention & Exhibition Corp. Ltd (on behalf of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism), offers the sector’s trade members a unique business platform and, for the general public, an all-round insight on tourism products, all in the largest tourism region of the Chinese market, Eastern China (China is the world’s largest outbound tourism market, with 149.72 million outbound journeys and a 14.7% increase in 2018).

With over 15,000 trade members expected and a public of 50,000 visitors, the 2019 edition of SWTF will host a busy calendar of appointments and new features. Visitors will explore tourist destinations from all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Gabon, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. SWTF will highlight the entire tourism chain, starting with tourist offices, travel agencies and tour operators, OTA, hotel, airlines, theme parks and resorts, as well as travel services and insurance companies.

On a professional level, SWTF reconfirms its role as a great opportunity for matching to all effects. Over 3,000 B2B appointments with selected buyers from all over Eastern China will take part in the events and the panel scheduled on the latest trends in outbound tourism, organized in cooperation with China Travel Agent. Regarding this, an exclusive B2B area has been realized, which will be accessible to the sector’s trade members exclusively via a face detection system, in order to ensure the quality of the meetings with international suppliers.

Emerging destinations, digital marketing, developments on visa policies and MICE, are just some of the issues that will be covered in the panels by the sector’s opinion leaders, ready to share their successful case histories with the public. Plus, among the speakers, there will also be representatives of the top management of companies such as Ctrip, Tuniu, Uzai, Spring Tour and Tongshen Group, as well as the directors of the Tourism offices of New Zealand, Switzerland and Serbia with branches in Shanghai.

Travel News | eTurboNews

The place to visit today is Thailand: Happy Songkran 2019

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If there was a better time to explore the uniqueness of Amazing Thailand, the Thai New Year, known as the Songkran Festival from April 13 to 16 is an event where an all-out water battle and ancient traditions somehow blend in an annual celebration. The country is coming to a business standstill, turning into a national party.

It’s unlike anything else in the world. And it’s wet. Venturing out onto Thailand’s streets on April 13 is an open invitation to have a bucket of water thrown at you or a loaded water super-soaker aimed in your direction. You WILL get wet.

For tourists, the event offers a huge water party breaking out in the streets of Thailand’s towns and villages. For locals, it is a time when they can spend moments with their families and visit temples to  make merit – and then get involved in the water fights as well.

This Songkran 2019 the Tourism Authority of Thailand has organized celebrations in three  tourist destinations – Tak, Mukdahan and Ranong – and is supporting activities in eight other provinces (Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Ayutthaya, Phuket and Songkhla).

 

 

 

 

 

Songkran is the Thai New Year’s national holiday. Songkran is 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday. In 2019, the holiday will be observed 12–16 April as 13 April falls on a Saturday. The word “Songkran” comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti ,literally “astrological passage”, meaning transformation or change. The term was borrowed from Makar Sankranti, the name of a Hindu harvest festival celebrated in India in January to mark the arrival of spring. It coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar.

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Fraport Traffic Figures March and First Quarter of 2019: Growth Trend Continues

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Fraport

Passenger traffic rises at Frankfurt Airport – Fraport’s Group
airports worldwide largely report positive performance
In the first three months of 2019, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served
almost 14.8 million passengers – an increase of 2.5 percent
year-on-year. Aircraft movements rose by 3.0 percent to 116,581
takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs)
climbed by 2.9 percent to some 7.3 million metric tons. Only cargo
throughput (airfreight + airmail) declined by 2.3 percent to a total
of 527,151 metric tons, reflecting the worldwide economic slowdown.
In March 2019, Frankfurt Airport recorded year-on-year traffic growth
of 1.4 percent to about 5.6 million passengers. This increase was
achieved despite the fact that, in March last year, traffic was
additionally boosted by the earlier timing of the Easter school
holidays, falling in April this year. Aircraft movements climbed by
2.1 percent to 42,056 takeoffs and landings, while accumulated MTOWs
grew by 2.8 percent to about 2.6 million metric tons. Cargo
throughput remained almost level compared to March 2018, rising by
0.2 percent to 202,452 metric tons.
Across the Group, the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio
largely performed well in the first quarter of 2019, even though the
different timing of the Easter holidays had an impact on some
airports serving tourist destinations. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in
Slovenia closed the January-to-March period with an increase of 4.0
percent to 342,636 passengers (March 2019: up 3.0 percent to 133,641
passengers). In Brazil, the two airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto
Alegre (POA), combined, welcomed some 3.9 million passengers, posting
a gain of 11.9 percent (March 2019: up 8.3 percent to approximately
1.2 million passengers).
Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports served some 1.9 million
passengers overall in the first quarter of the year – an increase of
8.2 percent (March 2019: up 1.1 percent to a total of 713,045
passengers). The busiest airports in Fraport’s Greek portfolio
included Thessaloniki (SKG) with around 1.2 million passengers (up
20.3 percent), Chania (CHQ) on the island of Crete with 153,225
passengers (down 0.4 percent), and Rhodes (RHO) with 151,493
passengers (down 18.1 percent).
Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru advanced by 3.7 percent to some 5.5
million passengers (March 2019: up 2.2 percent to about 1.8 million
passengers). Combined traffic at the two airports of Varna (VAR) and
Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast slipped by 5.8 percent
to 203,606 passengers (March 2019: down 9.9 percent to 74,102
passengers). Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey posted a 5.8 percent
gain to more than 2.7 million passengers (March 2019: down 0.1
percent to nearly 1.1 million passengers). St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo
Airport (LED) in Russia grew by 14.7 percent to about 3.6 million
passengers (March 2019: up 16.3 percent to approximately 1.3 million
passengers). Almost 11.3 million passengers passed through Xi’an
Airport (XIY) in China in the first three months of the year,
representing an increase of 8.0 percent (March 2019: up 3.7 percent
to nearly 3.8 million passengers).

Travel News | eTurboNews

Cebu Pacific airline to fly Shanghai – Cebu 

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The Philippines air carrier, Cebu Pacific, will begin regular flights between Shanghai and Cebu starting April 15, 2019 as it boosts its route network from key tourism markets in North Asia to prime leisure destinations in the Philippines.

The new Shanghai route is also in line with the carrier’s plans to ramp-up capacity in its Cebu hub by as much as 20% in 2019. Flights between Shanghai and Cebu will run 6 times weekly (Monday to Saturday).

China is the fastest-growing tourism market of the Philippines, with destinations such as Cebu and other neighboring islands among the most popular. In 2018, Central Visayas—which includes prime tourist destinations such as Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete and Siquijor – welcomed over 8 million tourists, of which 17% were Chinese.

Cebu offers direct connections to Siargao, Camiguin, Puerto Princesa and 19 other domestic destinations. Aside from Shanghai, Cebu Pacific flies direct between Cebu, Hong Kong and Macau in China, as well as Narita, Japan; Incheon, Korea; and Singapore.

Cebu Pacific operates flights out of 7 other strategically-placed hubs in the Philippines: Manila, Clark, Kalibo, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan) and Davao. In 2018, CEB flew 20.3 million passengers on over 2,130 weekly flights across 37 domestic and 26 international destinations.

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