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  • News: Hawaiian Airlines to start service to China in 2014

    Hawaiian Airlines today announced it plans to launch non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, China in April 2014, pending approvals by U.S. and Chinese regulatory agencies. 

    The new service, Hawaiian’s tenth new international destination since November 2010, will allow visitors from China’s capital city to access Hawaiian’s extensive network, serving the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. mainland.

    “A scheduled flight between China and Hawai’i has long been an aspiration of Hawaiian and the travel industry in our state, and because the barriers to visitor travel from China to america slowly come down, we believe there’ll be significant demand for a Hawai’i vacation and Hawaiian Airlines,” said Mark Dunkerley , Hawaiian Airlines’ president and CEO. “With our network of flights between the islands and from Hawai’i to 11 cities within the U.S. mainland, Hawaiian is in an exceptional position to give the multi-stop itinerary that many visitors from China prefer.”
    “I desire to congratulate Hawaiian Airlines for its continued expansion into the Pacific Rim,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie . “Hawai’i is the anchor of the Asia Pacific region and this non-stop service to Beijing will give China greater access to Hawai’i, to be able to become one in all China’s fundamental visitor destinations. Both China’s and Hawai’i’s economies may be the direct beneficiaries.  i’ve every confidence this non-stop service by Hawaiian Airlines will enhance the cultural understanding that already exists between China and Hawai’i.”

    The Hawai’i Tourism Authority estimates the recent service will generate $81 million in annual visitor expenditures and $8.47 million in tax revenue for Hawai’i.

    “This new non-stop service might be useful to noticeably grow visitor arrivals and expenditures from our highest spending visitor market,” said Mike McCartney , president and CEO of the HTA. “The China market continues to grow year-over-year, and we anticipate further growth in 2013, targeting double-digit increases in arrivals (+25% to 144,910 visitors) and expenditures (+27% to $348 million).”

    The new service can be launched from Honolulu on April 16, 2014 and could operate 3 times each week using a 294-seat A330 aircraft. It is going to be the one non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, which has a population of greater than 20 million.

    Subject to government approvals, Hawaiian’s Flight HA 887 will depart Honolulu International Airport at 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, cross the international dateline, and land at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:30 p.m. day after today.

    Hawaiian’s Flight HA 888 will depart Beijing at 9:30 p.m. every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, cross the international dateline, and arrive in Honolulu at 1:05 p.m. an analogous day.

    Travelers on Hawaiian Airlines enjoy an inflight experience not offered by every other airline. From the instant travelers board their Hawaiian Airlines flight, the airline’s renown ’ Mea Ho ‘okipa’ (translation: i’m host) onboard hospitality engages customers through the flight with its warm and friendly celebration of the culture, people and Aloha Spirit of the Hawaiian Islands.

    Manila Service Discontinued
    Hawaiian Airlines also today announced it could discontinue its underperforming non-stop Manila service this summer.

    Hawaiian Airlines flight HA 455 will make its final trip from Honolulu to Manila on July 31, and HA 456 will make its final return from Manila to Honolulu on Aug. 1, 2013. The service, which operates four times a week, was inaugurated in April 2008.

    The airline’s reservations department will make arrangements with other airlines serving Manila to deal with customers who’ve ticketed reservations after Aug. 1, and can be contacting affected passengers with new accommodations.

    The airline will continue to simply accept reservations for travel ahead of the discontinuation date, provided all travel is finished by Aug. 1, 2013.
    “High fuel prices and coffee fares have plagued this actual route and while we’ve got made several efforts to enhance the industrial performance of our Manila service, including adjusting our flight schedule to optimize connections and upgrading to newer A330 aircraft, we’ve concluded that the route is probably not a commercial success,” explained Peter Ingram , Hawaiian’s chief commercial officer.

  • UNESCO commends Canadian governments

    In its review of Canada’s Nomination of Pimachiowin Aki for World Heritage Status, the sector Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) deferred final decisions until the subsequent World Heritage Committee meeting.  UNESCO pointed to “fundamental issues” within the evaluation process that prevented them from recognising the price of “the indissoluble bonds that exist in some places between culture and nature.”  It further resolved to, “examine options for changes to the standards and/or Advisory Body evaluation processes to handle the problems raised by the nomination.”

    UNESCO commended the Governments of Canada, Manitoba, Ontario and the five aboriginal nations who drafted their nomination.  It praised their, “exemplary efforts to develop a nomination protect, maintain and restore the numerous cultural and natural assets and values related to Pimachiowin Aki.”
    Pimachiowin Aki, an aboriginal territory whose name means, “The Land Which provides Life” in Ojibwe, encompasses 33,400 square kilometers (12,895 square miles) of Ashinaabek aboriginal territory in northern Canada in the North American Boreal Shield, the biggest of Canada’s terrestrial eco-zones.  Five aboriginal nations: Bloodvein River First Nation, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation, Pikangikum First Nation, and Poplar River First Nation have occupied the land for greater than 6,000 years.

    At this meeting, the nomination drew praise from other nations in the course of the world who acknowledged the exceptionality of the location, particularly with regard to its think about the interrelationship between culture and nature, and expressed regret on the current inability of the method to adequately recognise the worth of that relationship.

    “The Governments of Manitoba, Ontario, and the five First Nations of Pimachiowin Aki are to be commended for seeing the worth in forging a brand new path in accordance with recognising not only the worth of the land and the indigenous cultures, however the unique relationship between both,” Mathew Jacobson, boreal conservation officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts. “It is our belief that ultimately this nomination process will result not just within the inscription of Pimachiowin Aki as a worldwide Heritage Site but additionally in a better evaluation process it is more open to and respectful of the values of all aboriginal people.”

    This decision was made at a gathering of the area Heritage Committee meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The area Heritage List is maintained by UNESCO, which seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation all over the world of cultural and natural heritage that’s considered to be of remarkable value to humanity.

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  • News: Samsung and PureHD deliver in-eoom entertainment to Radisson Blu

    Samsung Electronics America, a display market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, and PureHD, a number one provider of digital high-definition television solutions, today announced the launch of the primary Samsung North American IPTV and interactive services enabled hotel, the Radisson Blu Mall of America, which celebrated its grand opening on March 15.

    Samsung and PureHD outfitted the hotel’s 517 guest rooms with Samsung’s 40” Class 790 Series and 46” Class 590 Series Hospitality LED TVs and Samsung LYNK™ SINC, a sturdy, secure and price effective content management solution. These technology advancements enable Radisson Blu to raise guests’ in-room entertainment experience, keeping consistent with the vision for its newest property.

    Enhanced In-Room Entertainment Experience

    In each Radisson Blu Mall of America guest room, interactive hotel content is seamlessly integrated through an absolutely converged IP infrastructure into nearly 70 channels of crystal clear high-definition programming delivered by PureHD from Verimatrix to the most recent Samsung smart HDTV models. This empowers the hotel to take control in their guest room televisions and deliver a branded message with customized information it truly is controlled and managed by the hotel staff, as opposed to a 3rd party company. It also provides hotel staff with a very easy and value effective solution for managing and updating interactive content, which include room service, local attractions and hotel amenities, and enables them to push instantaneous updates of knowledge and content to guests during their stay.

    “Hotel guests today have high expectations in terms of the in-room entertainment experience,” said Jonas Tanenbaum, vp sales and marketing, Hospitality TV at Samsung Electronics America, Inc. “With the primary US implementation of Samsung LYNK™ SINC we’re furthering our commitment to delivering the industry-leading entertainment technologies that cater to guest needs, in addition to providing the solutions that assist in making managing these technologies easier and cheaper for our hotelier customers.”

    Seamless, Efficient and Secure Content Management

    “PureHD is pleased to join this giant leap forward with Samsung at the ability for hoteliers to manipulate and manage their interactive television environments,” said Thomas Pullen, president of PureHD. “For this hotel to move live it took an unprecedented collaboration between Samsung, Carlson-Rezidor and PureHD and that i commend the teams in this great success. PureHD serves the primary Radisson Blu hotel in North America, the Chicago Aqua property with over 60 HD channels and we’re pleased to continue to supply the Radisson Blu brand with a state-of-the-art high-definition television experience.”

    Samsung’s full range of edge-lit and direct-lit hospitality LED TVs combine superior picture quality and enhanced energy efficiency in a graceful form factor. Its hospitality TV lineup includes a breadth of LED TVs, including ten different models that differ in size from 22 to 55 inches so one can meet the desires of almost any space, from a normal room to a collection.

  • DoubleTree by Hilton expands in Australia

    Hilton Worldwide has announced it’ll introduce its fastest growing full-service brand, DoubleTree by Hilton, to Australia when it re-brands four Northern Territory hotels on May 1st.

    The country’s first three DoubleTree by Hilton hotels: DoubleTree by Hilton Darwin, DoubleTree by Hilton Esplanade Darwin, DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs will open alongside Hilton Darwin within the Territory.

    “We are delighted in order to introduce the DoubleTree by Hilton brand to the Australian market and so as to add another Hilton Hotel & Resort within the region’s most important areas of growth,” said Ashley Spencer, vp, operations, Australasia, Hilton Worldwide.

    “We had been trying to enter into the Northern Territory for a while and are committed to creating these properties the leading full-service hotels available in the market.”

    The Northern Territory hotels are each located at the doorstep of a few of the foremost incredible tourism experiences Australia has to provide, in addition to being in prime locations for business travellers within the mining and resources sectors.

    Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and the gateway to legendary outback destinations equivalent to the Kakadu National Park and the Katharine Gorge.

    With a multicultural population of just 129,000, Darwin is famed for its laid-back lifestyle, markets and festivals, Asian cuisine and enormous natural harbour – bigger than Sydney’s.

    Alice Springs is found within the ‘red centre’ of the vast Australian continent and is the departure town for visiting Australia’s famous red rock Uluru, a five-hour drive from town centre.

    “The launch of DoubleTree by Hilton in Australia – our 30th country and sixth continent – marks the start of an awfully exciting expansion for our brand,” said John Greenleaf, global head, DoubleTree by Hilton.

    “We are thrilled to open not one, but three hotels in Australia’s extraordinary Northern Territory and watch for introducing Australian travellers to the very best level of caring service synonymous with DoubleTree by Hilton – epitomised by our warm chocolate chip cookie welcome for each guest at check-in.”

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  • News: Booking.com mobile bookings triple

    Mobile devices are taking the on-line accommodation market by storm with a reported increase inside the selection of customers using mobile devices to book accommodations. Booking.com has seen the whole transaction value of mobile hotel bookings rise from $1 billion in 2011 to over $3 billion in 2012.