• 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

Major tour operators converging on Barbados for 2019 meeting with tourism partners

April 23, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Three weeks away from the May 1 start of the premier business-to-business marketplace, Connect Barbados, with over 100 participants – inclusive of 56 tour operators, have already registered to come and meet with local tourism partners including attraction providers and hoteliers.

Under the theme ‘Breathing Power into Business Connections’, the three-day conference is now in its 14th year. Tour operators have been invited from Barbados’ main source markets – the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Europe and Caribbean and Latin America. Tour operators such as: Air Canada Vacations, Virgin Holidays and Expedia Group, to name a few have already registered to come learn about what is new in Destination Barbados.

Connect Barbados is an annual conference providing opportunities to island operators to sell Barbados’ holiday products to invited tour operators in all of the island’s major source markets.

The marketplace allows global travel partners to learn about and experience the latest product and service developments on the island, while affording local partners the occasion to thank them for the tremendous contribution they continue to make the success of Barbados’ premier economic sector.

BTMI CEO, William ‘Billy’ Griffith, mentioned, “We are positively anticipating to surpass the 1,200 meeting appointments from Connect 2018 as we once again welcome and share our beautiful product with participating tour operators. Being able to connect our local service providers with the agents who have direct contact with potential visitors to Barbados will be extremely vital to both parties.”

This year, as we celebrate the Year of Wellness and Soft Adventure, tour operators will be treated to an outdoor welcome reception as they kick their feet in the sand at the “Feet in the Sand Beach Party, featuring top local entertainment and cuisine, before proceeding to two full days of business-to-business meetings at the Hilton Barbados Resort.

To close out the highly-anticipated conference, a special final evening reception will be held at the prestigious Harrison’s Cave and tour operators will get the opportunity to tour the cave first-hand. On the final day, participants will tour the island for a diverse Attractions Day, inspecting places of interest based on their specialties.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, annual conference, appointments, attraction, attractions, Barbados, Barbados travel news, based, beach, beach party, beautiful, Breaking Travel News, Business, business meetings, Canada, Caribbean, cave, celebrate, CEO, close, come, conference, connect, connections, contact, continue, contribution, cuisine, day, Days, Destination, developments, direct, economic, entertainment, Europe, Expedia, Expedia Group, experience, featuring, feet, first, First-hand, For immediate Release, free, full, Global, global travel, Group, hand, held, Hilton, holiday, holidays, Hospitality News, hoteliers, in, including, inclusive, interest, International Travel News, invited, island, Kingdom, LATEST, Latin, Latin America, learn, local, Main, major, Make, marketplace, markets, May, meet, meeting, meetings, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, name, New, News articles, operators, opportunities, opportunity, out, outdoor, over, participants, parties, partners, party, People in Travel, places, places of interest, potential, power, premier, prestigious, product, products, reception, resort, s, sand, sector, sell-off, service, service providers, Share, Source, source markets, Special, specialties, start, states, success, surpass, The Island, the United States, theme, to, top, tour, Tour Operators, tourism, tourism partners, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, United, United Kingdom, United States, United States of America, vacations, virgin, Virgin Holidays, visitors, Vital, We, weeks, welcome, welcome reception, wellness, WHO, World News, year

New team member at The Pod Hotels

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Pod Hotels is striving to address the rapidly-increasing demand for affordable lifestyle hotels targeted at progressive-minded and budget-conscious travelers who are creative and ambitious and who maintain high expectations when it comes to authentic experiences, smart design and intuitive technology.

As part of this progress, BD Hotels today announced the appointment of Rani Gharbie as the Head of Acquisitions & Development for The Pod Hotels, BD Hotel’s highly profitable micro-hotel concept to replicate this successful business model in even more key markets including Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Nashville, Seattle, Montreal, Toronto, and Mexico City, amongst others.

Gharbie formerly oversaw development and acquisitions for North America at Virgin Hotels where he actively contributed to grow the brand’s footprint in key markets.

As Head of Acquisitions & Development working closely with BD Hotels owners Richard Born and Ira Drukier, Gharbie will be responsible for identifying potential investment opportunities and bringing together strategic partners and investors to fund future projects in numerous markets. He will leverage BD Hotels’ expertise in hotel development, investment and operations to expand The Pod Hotels brand across the country and eventually globally.

“Rani joins us at a pivotal time as we scale The Pod Hotels portfolio exponentially in North America” said Richard Born, Owner of BD Hotels. “He will undoubtedly be a tremendous asset as he brings over 20 years of experience in hotel acquisitions, development and operation.”

“I’m looking forward to expanding the profitable model Richard and Ira created to key markets nationwide,” said Gharbie. “I see great growth potential for the brand as there is an increased desire from today’s travelers to stay at smart, innovative brands like The Pod Hotels.”

Prior to joining Virgin Hotels, Gharbie was the Managing Director and Founder at Cedar Funds, a New York City based development and investment firm with a focus on progressive hotel and real estate assets, as well as regional Director of Development with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). In addition, Gharbie is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia’s Masters in Real Estate Development program, where he teaches the spring course Private Equity Development, Hotel Focus. He holds a Masters Degree from the program, an MBA from the HEC Business School in Montreal, a Bachelor degree in Hotel Management from the Glion Hotel School in Switzerland, and a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University in New York.

The Pod Hotels currently has five properties in the portfolio, three of which opened over the past two years (the brand’s flagship Pod Times Square opened in January 2018; Pod DC and Pod Brooklyn opened in 2017), with the brand recently announcing two more hotels in the direct pipeline (Pod Philly opening in fall 2019 and Pod LA slated for 2020). With its functional guestrooms, vibrant communal space and flexible design, The Pod Hotels presents superior investment returns when compared to legacy hotel brands of similar positioning.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, amp, and, announced, appointment, assets, Austin, authentic, Bachelor, based, BD, BD Hotels, Boston, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, bringing, Brooklyn, budget, Business, business model, certificate, Chicago, city, columbia, compared, concept, Cornell, country, course, created, creative, currently, D.C., demand, design, development, development program, direct, director, equity, estate, even, expand, expanding, expectations, experience, experiences, expertise, fall, firm, flagship, Forward, founder, Francisco, fund, funds, future, globally, Group, grow, Growth, guestrooms, head, high, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel brands, hotel development, Hotel Focus, hotel management, hotel school, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, Hotels The Pod Hotels, IHG, in, including, increased, increasing, increasing demand, innovative, InterContinental, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Investment, investment opportunities, investments, investors, IT, January, joining, joins, key, key markets, LA, legacy, Lifestyle, like, looking, M, maintain, management, Managing, managing director, markets, Masters, MBA, member, Mexico, Mexico City, Miami, model, Montreal, Nationwide, New, new york, New York City, News articles, North, North America, numerous, opened, opening, operation, operations, opportunities, over, owner, owners, partners, past, People in Travel, pipeline, Pod, Pod Hotels, portfolio, potential, private, Professor, profitable, program, progress, projects, properties, Rani Gharbie, real, Real Estate, regional, regional director, responsible, returns, Richard Born, s, said, San Francisco, scale, school, Seattle, see, slated, space, spring, Square, stay, strategic, successful, Switzerland, team, Technology, The Pod Hotels, time, times, Times Square, to, today, Toronto, travelers, Travelwire News, university, US, virgin, We, WHO, working, years, York, York City

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

Qatar Airways: Investment in Air Italy fully compliant with US-Qatar Open Skies Agreement

April 11, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Following recent false accusations relating to Qatar Airways’ shareholding in Air Italy, such baseless statements and consistent inaccuracies need addressing as a matter of urgency.

Qatar Airways holds a 49 percent stake in Air Italy’s parent company, AQA. This minority investment is at the same level that Delta holds in both Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico, and that Etihad held in Alitalia.

Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy, and operations to the United States, are fully compliant with the U.S.-Qatar Open Skies Agreement, the January 2018 U.S.-Qatar Understandings, and a side letter that accompanied the discussions.

Unfounded claims that Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy violates the Understandings are entirely false.

As a factual matter, the investment preceded the January 2018 U.S.-Qatar Understandings.

· The investment was announced in a July 2016 press release and was approved in writing by the European Commission (DG Competition) in March 2017.

· The transaction was closed in September 2017.

· The discussions surrounding the Understandings took place in December 2017 and January 2018.

Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy was a matter of public knowledge (as were Qatar Airways’ investments in other airlines) at the time of the U.S.-Qatar discussions; airline investments were not raised as a point of concern during those talks. The Understandings do not mention or prohibit cross-border investments of any type.

Furthermore, Qatar Airways does not codeshare on any of Air Italy’s flights to the United States, and has no plans to do so. Qatar Airways is not operating any Fifth Freedom scheduled air services to the U.S.

The “Big 3” U.S. carriers have consistently demonstrated their hostility to new entrants into the U.S.-Europe market, and their attacks on Air Italy based on the identity of its minority shareholder are just another manifestation of this hostility. Air Italy, the carrier the “Big 3” cite as a major “threat” to their survival, has a fleet of just 15 aircraft and only serves one U.S. city – New York – with a daily service while other routes, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco are operated at a lower frequency.

The U.S.-Qatar Open Skies Agreement has brought enormous benefits to U.S. and Qatari consumers, businesses and communities. Qatar Airways’ services to the United States contribute to U.S. tourism and business. Qatar Airways is a long-term and loyal customer of Boeing, Gulfstream and General Electric, helping to secure tens of thousands of U.S. jobs through our continued investment in their products and is a valued partner to many other U.S. businesses.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, Angeles, announced, approved, Atlantic, attacks, Aviation News, aviation-website, based, benefits, big, Boeing, border, Breaking Travel News, Business, businesses, carrier, carriers, city, claims, closed, codeshare, commission, communities, company, competition, compliant, concern, consumers, continued, Corporate News, cross-border, customer, daily, daily service, December, Delta, discussions, electric, Etihad, Europe, European, European Commission, false, fleet, flights, following, Francisco, free, freedom, frequency, general, Gulfstream, held, Helping, identity, in, International Travel News, Investment, investments, Italy, Italy travel news, January, Jobs, just, knowledge, letter, Los Angeles, lower, loyal, major, march, Market, matter, mention, Miami, need, New, new york, News articles, only, open, Open Skies, operated, Operating, operations, parent company, partner, percent, Place, plans, Press, press release, products, public, Qatar, Qatar Airways, Qatar Travel News, Qatari, raised, recent, release, routes, s, San Francisco, scheduled, secure, September, service, services, shareholder, skies, stake, statements, states, survival, talks, term, the United States, thousands, threat, through, time, to, TO DO, tourism, Tourism Investment News, transaction, Travelwire News, Type, Understandings, United, United States, US, valued, virgin, Virgin Atlantic, were, World News, writing, York

BD Hotels plans rapid expansion, hires Head Of Acquisitions & Development

April 11, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

BD Hotels today announces the appointment of Rani Gharbie as the Head of Acquisitions & Development for The Pod Hotels, BD Hotel’s highly profitable micro-hotel concept. The Pod Hotels currently has five properties in the portfolio, three of which opened over the past two years (the brand’s flagship Pod Times Square opened in January 2018; Pod DC and Pod Brooklyn opened in 2017), with the brand recently announcing two more hotels in the direct pipeline (Pod Philly opening in fall 2019 and Pod LA slated for 2020). Now, The Pod Hotels hires Gharbie to replicate this successful business model in even more key markets including Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Nashville, Seattle, Montreal, Toronto, and Mexico City, amongst others. Gharbie formerly oversaw development and acquisitions for North America at Virgin Hotels where he actively contributed to grow the brand’s footprint in key markets.

The Pod Hotels addresses the rapidly increasing demand for affordable lifestyle hotels targeted at progressive minded and budget conscious travelers who are creative and ambitious and who maintain high expectations when it comes to authentic experiences, smart design and intuitive technology. With its functional guestrooms, vibrant communal space and flexible design, The Pod Hotels presents superior investment returns when compared to legacy hotel brands of similar positioning.

As Head of Acquisitions & Development working closely with BD Hotels owners Richard Born and Ira Drukier, Gharbie will be responsible for identifying potential investment opportunities and bringing together strategic partners and investors to fund future projects in numerous markets. He will leverage BD Hotels’ expertise in hotel development, investment and operations to expand The Pod Hotels brand across the country and eventually globally.

“Rani joins us at a pivotal time as we scale The Pod Hotels portfolio exponentially in North America” said Richard Born, Owner of BD Hotels. “He will undoubtedly be a tremendous asset as he brings over 20 years of experience in hotel acquisitions, development and operation.”

“I’m looking forward to expanding the profitable model Richard and Ira created to key markets nationwide,” said Gharbie. “I see great growth potential for the brand as there is an increased desire from today’s travelers to stay at smart, innovative brands like The Pod Hotels.”

Prior to joining Virgin Hotels, Gharbie was the Managing Director and Founder at Cedar Funds, a New York City based development and investment firm with a focus on progressive hotel and real estate assets, as well as regional Director of Development with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). In addition, Gharbie is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia’s Masters in Real Estate Development program, where he teaches the spring course Private Equity Development, Hotel Focus. He holds a Masters Degree from the program, an MBA from the HEC Business School in Montreal, a Bachelor degree in Hotel Management from the Glion Hotel School in Switzerland, and a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University in New York.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: American Travel News, and, announces, appointment, assets, Austin, authentic, Bachelor, based, Boston, brand, brands, Breaking Travel News, bringing, Brooklyn, budget, Business, business model, certificate, Chicago, city, columbia, compared, concept, Cornell, Corporate News, country, course, created, creative, currently, D.C., demand, design, development, development program, direct, director, equity, estate, even, expand, expanding, expansion, expectations, experience, experiences, expertise, fall, firm, flagship, Forward, founder, Francisco, free, fund, funds, future, globally, Group, grow, Growth, guestrooms, head, high, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel brands, hotel development, hotel management, hotel school, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, IHG, in, including, increased, increasing, increasing demand, innovative, InterContinental, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Investment, investment opportunities, investments, investors, IT, January, joining, joins, key, key markets, LA, legacy, Lifestyle, like, looking, M, maintain, management, Managing, managing director, markets, Masters, MBA, Mexico, Mexico City, Miami, model, Montreal, Nationwide, New, new york, New York City, News articles, North, North America, numerous, opened, opening, operation, operations, opportunities, over, owner, owners, partners, past, People in Travel, pipeline, plans, Pod, Pod Hotels, portfolio, potential, private, Professor, profitable, program, projects, properties, Rani Gharbie, real, Real Estate, regional, regional director, Resort News, responsible, returns, s, said, San Francisco, scale, school, Seattle, see, slated, space, spring, Square, stay, strategic, successful, Switzerland, Technology, The Pod Hotels, time, times, Times Square, to, today, Toronto, tourism, travelers, Travelwire News, university, US, virgin, We, WHO, working, years, York, York City

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Search




Recent Articles

  • Curacao is Calling with Enticing Escapes
  • Frankfurt Airport: 2023 Summer Flight Schedule with New Destinations and Increased Seating Capacities
  • Minister Bartlett Welcomes Resurgence of Villas Sub-Sector
  • Tourism Seychelles Principal Secretary shares industry successes at 10th Arab Aviation Summit
  • Speed Networking Events Generate Over $650 Million in Revenue for Small Businesses Supplying Tourism Sector, says Bartlett
  • Enjoying the Suite Life at Sandals Resorts
  • Farmers Reap $108 Million in Revenue in first Two Months of 2023 through Revolutionary ALEX Platform
  • SAUDIA Signs an Agreement with Boeing to Order 49 Boeing 787 Dreamliners
  • Recovery Continues: Fraport’s 2022 Fiscal Year Marked by Strong Demand
  • Fraport Traffic Figures – February 2023: Passenger Growth Remains Strong

Subscribe to daily email update

RSS eTN Articles

  • Strong Earthquake Strikes Argentina
  • New Manager at Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
  • Top 10 US Areas Most Keen for a Luxury Vacation
  • Palladium Hotel Group Opens Its Seasonal Hotels in Europe
  • Hilton Lake Como Unveils ‘New Look’ Rooftop Restaurant & Bar
  • Croatia’s Maslina Resort Opens for 2023 Season
  • Lufthansa: New A380 Superjumbo Flights to Boston and New York
  • Egypt and Marriott Power Hotel Development in Africa
  • Warning: Your Life could be in danger when visiting Uganda
  • Rome Pantheon Complex Use Now Charging

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016

Content

and Breaking Travel News Business CEO experience first free hotel Hotels in including Industry International International Travel News IT minister most New News articles only over People s said sandals The World through time to TO BE tourism Tours Transportation News Travel Travel & Tourism Organizations News Travel Destination News Travelwire News up We were WHO World World News year years

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in