Best Holiday Lettings

Category: Holidays

  • Mega show World bill unveiled for Summerfest Abu Dhabi

    Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, organiser of SummerFest Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s seasonal destination extravaganza, has unveiled an action-packed line-up of 98 shows over 47 days during its flagship Show World family activation at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

    Free-to-attend for all SummerFest Abu Dhabi general ticket holders, Show World – some of the core attractions on the festival’s ADNEC hub – will feature seven blockbuster acts performing twice-daily shows during week-long runs. Show World can be open during the 52-day festival, which runs 27th June – 17th August and spans the Holy Month of Ramadan, Eid Al Fitr and the emirate’s traditional EidFest celebrations.

    Designed to entice, engage and excite, the Show World bill kicks off with two consecutive regional premieres of 90-minute live action shows so one can attract local and expatriate kids alike. Raising the Show World curtain is Cartoon Network’s LAZY TOWN SURVIVE STAGE – ROBOTICUS show, which get kids up and active throughout its June 27th- July 3rd run, with daily performances at 16:30 and 19:30.

    Show World’s second week sees much-loved BANANAS IN PYJAMAS duo, B1 and B2, take-over for his or her side-splitting Banana-rific production from July 4-8th – again performing in daily shows at 16:30 and 19:30. For the ultimate July 9th performances, to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan, timings change to 21:00 and 23:30.

    The evening performances continue into week three as Sesame Street’s IFTAH YA SIMSIM LIVE: TREASURE HUNT – featuring loveable Muppet favourites, Bader, Anees, Elmo, Khokha, Ka’aki and Gharghour known as Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover – embark on a mega dance and musical show from July 10-13th and 15-19th.

    Week four sees the foremost characters from four hit Cartoon Network shows – Ben 10 Omniverse, Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force and Ben 10 Ultimate Alien – perform the BEN 10 LIVE: TIME MACHINE in evening performance slots from July 20-21st and 23-27th.

    Local sensation, FREEJ, closes out the ultimate week of evening Ramadan shows from July 28th – 30th and August 1st – 4th. The all new locally-produced show features hilarious antics as hero character, Abood, goes on a fantasy adventure while taking care of one of the most grandmother’s pet canary – a bird that lives in a fish bowl. Meeting new friends and learning new lessons, ‘Abood’s Dream’ is a fun-filled, traditional family theatre experience with a native cultural twist.

    From August 5th and 7th-12th, SCOOBY-DOO LIVE! MUSICAL MYSTERIES picks up the Show World mantle with big musical numbers – including the cartoon’s classic theme song, ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You’ – in addition to original tracks ‘Round Every Corner’ and ‘We’re Mystery Inc.’ The August  5th  shows keep the 21:00 and 23:30 Ramadan timings, before returning to the sooner slots of 16:30 and 19:30 from August 7-12th.

    Rounding out the Show World line up, from August 14-17th, is BEN 10 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE – a live game show pitting the region’s biggest Ben 10 fans against one another in four rounds of intense competition. The made-for-TV special runs three-times-a-day at 16:00, 18:00 and 20:00.

    “This Show World line-up will ensure ADNEC is the freshest and coolest place to be this summer,” said Sultan Al Muhairi, Manager, SummerFest Abu Dhabi. “With such a lot of free-to-attend shows and the sort of varied line-up of international and homegrown stars, families would be spoilt for choice in the course of the festival. We are hoping it will become a main draw for visitors from around the GCC and beyond,” said Sultan Al Muhairi, Manager, SummerFest Abu Dhabi.

    In addition to the edutainment activities, world-class shows and exciting international performances at its ADNEC hub, the recent-look SummerFest Abu Dhabi, formerly referred to as Summer in Abu Dhabi, also features an exhilarating line-up of Arabic concerts, comedy nights, theatre productions and celebrity-driven sport activations rolling out at du Forum on Yas Island – the primary time Abu Dhabi’s entertainment district has got in at the emirate’s summer act.

    Meanwhile, guests booking at least three nights’ stay at any of 40 participating Abu Dhabi hotels during SummerFest Abu Dhabi, excluding Eid, also will get free entry tickets to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park and the award-winning Yas Waterworld – recently named the center East’s leading attraction by the realm Travel Awards. Hotel guests can even receive free WiFi and youngsters under 12 will eat free.

  • 1/3 of american citizens less prone to travel this Summer as a result of economic outlook

    Many people have fond memories of these summer vacations in their youth – hanging out on the beach with siblings, getting told by Dad to be quiet or he’ll pull the auto over, and just relishing the time with family and friends. But is it still a similar With most colleges now out for the year and Fourth of July round the corner, summer travel is decided to kick into high gear for this season. But actual plans for travel are mixed; while the share of american citizens indicating they plan on taking a minimum of one leisure trip this summer (64%) is up slightly from 2012 (60%), there are indications that more wish to accomplish that but feel held back.

    While just over two in five (43%) say that the economy has no impact on their travel plans, one-third of american citizens (34%) indicate that their outlook at the U.S. economy makes them less more likely to travel over the summer. It is down slightly from 2012, when 36% said they’d be less more likely to travel as a result of the economy.

    These are a number of the findings from a Harris Poll of two,276 U.S. adults (aged 18 and older) surveyed online from March 13-18, 2013 by Harris Interactive. (Full findings and knowledge tables available here)

    Nearly two-thirds (64%) of american citizens plan on taking at the least one leisure trip from May through October, up from 60% in 2012. Compared, the 17% of usa citizens anticipating a number of work trips within that very same timespan is down slightly from 2010 and 2012 (19% each) and considerably from 2009 (23%).

    Men are much more likely than women to anticipate at the least one leisure trip (68% men, 61%), and are greater than twice as prone to anticipate a number of work journeys (24%-11%).

    Additionally, those living in households with children under 18 are significantly much more likely than those without to be anticipating both a number of leisure trips (69%-62%) and a number of work journeys (26%-14%).

    Vacationers (those expecting to take a number of leisure trips over the summer) anticipate spending a standard of $1,665 for summer leisure travel overall; business travelers anticipate spending $2,231 on average.

    Beachy Keen
    When asked which kind of destination they plan on visiting during their leisure travel this summer, the top percentage of vacationers (38%) say they’ll be hitting a beach location, followed by downtown/center of a city (27%), countryside/rural (23%) and national/state park (23%). Roughly two in ten are planning a theme park trip (21%), mountain location excursion (19%), suburban/at the fringe of an enormous or small city (19%), or a leisure/discovery vacation (17%), while one in ten plan on taking a cruise (10%) or visiting a world location (9%).

    Younger vacationers (Echo Boomers and Gen Xers) are much more likely than their older counterparts (Baby Boomers and Matures) to be planning either a beach vacation (45% Echo Boomers, 47% Gen Xers, 32% Baby Boomers, 27% Matures) or a theme park trip (31%, 25%, 14% and six%, respectively).
    Men appear more interested in the outside, as they’re much more likely than women to be planning a visit to a countrywide or state park (28% men, 17% women) or a mountain location (24% men, 14% women).

    Those in households with children under 18 are much more likely than those without to be planning beach (47% with, 34% without), theme park (35% with, 13% without) and cruise (15% with, 7% without) vacations, while those without usually tend to be planning trips to suburban destinations (21% without, 14% with).
    Urbanites are significantly much more likely than either their suburban or rural counterparts to be planning international leisure travel for the summer (15% urban, 8% suburban, 4% rural).

  • Air ticket sales by U.S. travel agencies still run flat in 2013 vs. 2012

    ARC, the financial settlement link between airlines and travel sellers, reported today that the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies stayed relatively flat at -0.58 percent year-over-year within the five months of 2013 in comparison with an identical period last year, totaling $39.0 billion vs. $39.3 billion in 2012 and $36.7 billion in 2011. Sales for May 2013 were down slightly at -0.27 percent to eight.1 billion in comparison to May 2012 at $8.2 billion.

    Ticket transactions for the 1st five months of 2013 also remained flat at -0.67 percent over a similar period in 2012 at 64.2 million. Year-to-date passenger segments decreased 2.0 percent to 147.3 million in comparison with 150.3 million within the five months of 2012 and 149.6 million in 2011.

  • Celebrate the king of fruits at Trinidad and Tobago’s Mango Festival

    The dual-island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago is thought for its superb cuisine and spectacular street food, but on July 4 and seven, the nation of foodies pays homage to the king of tropical fruit.

    Sweet, juicy and flexible, delicious mangoes of each size and sort would be the focus of Trinidad and Tobago’s fourth annual Mango Festival so that you can be hung on July 7.

    Featuring a mango market, mango products, grafting demonstrations, exhibitions, children’s activities, games, mango-eating competitions, and other entertainment, Trinidad and Tobago’s Mango Festival offers mangophiles every imaginable mango-made delight, from soaps and preserves to candles and gift paper.

    A highlight of the festival is the mango market where numerous the locally-grown fruit, including the sinfully sweet Julie, considered the queen of mangoes, which was developed in Trinidad, and other varieties with whimsical names similar to Rose, Hog, Calabash, Douxdoux, La Brea Gyul, Turpentine, and Graham – a seedling of the Julie mango – can be bought.

    Preceding the festival would be the island’s second Mango Conference on July 4, that’s also being hosted under the auspices of the Network of Rural Women Producers (NRWP) of Trinidad and Tobago.

    Highlighting the contribution of rural communities and agri-entrepreneurs to national economic development, Trinidad and Tobago’s Mango Festival also promotes economic opportunities in the course of the sustainable use of the mango, and educates participants at the many benefits of the much-loved fruit.

    Known because the “king of fruit” through the world, mangoes were dropped at the West Indies by Portuguese traders. In some cultures, the mango tree is an emblem of affection, and the fruit is legendary to be bursting with flavor in addition to protective nutrients including vitamin C and beta carotene.

    In Trinidad and Tobago, mango trees are planted as component of re-forestation programs due to the their extensive root systems that hold the soil and stop erosion. The fruits also are an outstanding source of food for birds and other animals.

    The fourth annual Trinidad and Tobago Mango Festival would be hung on Sunday, July 7, 2013, on the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Field Station, Mount Hope, Trinidad.

  • ‘Azzam returns’: Abu Dhabi sets sail on 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race campaign

    Volvo Ocean Race entrant, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, and its history making Azzam (determination) Volvo 70 race yacht, will return to top level competition within the UK this August with a fortnight of educating and competitive sailing, culminating with the defence of its Rolex Fastnet Race title.

    Having made history because the first Arabian contender within the global, nine month 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race, the team – lead by skipper Ian Walker, a British double Olympic medallist – gets its 2014/15 race campaign in full sail on the flagship Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week sailing festival (3-10th August), with crew selection on the programme’s core.

    Taking at the three Big Boat Races during Cowes Week, the team – so one can be based in Gosport at the UK South Coast – will trial key under-30 crew members in race conditions, before taking up the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race (11-13th August), which it won in record time in 2011.

    “It is exciting to be getting Azzam able to sail again. You become quite attached to a yacht whilst you spend rather a lot time sailing it all over. Cowes Week has always been certainly one of my favourite regattas since i used to be a child. It will become a chunk scary sailing one of these big, fast boat within the confines of the Solent but i suspect the large Boat Races can be spectacular,” said Walker, a two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran.

    “The Fastnet is an iconic race. It was great to interrupt the monohull race record in 2011 but we are able to need some success to defend it against a couple of larger, faster boats in 2013. The Volvo 70s need windy, reaching conditions to actually come into their very own.  Crew trials and coaching in a competitive race environment is the #1 goal for the summer.”

    We can be taking a look at a number of new crew members for the way forward for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. 1 / 4 of the crew needs to be under 30 for a higher race, so their appointment may be key to our success.”

    The Big Boat Races, with a view to likely include a race round the Isle of Wight, a 40 mile passage race, and a race across the Solent marks off England’s South Coast, will officially mark Azzam’s return to competition since completing the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway, Ireland last July.

    The Rolex Fastnet Race, the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s iconic 608-mile race across the Fastnet Rock in order to see the most important entrant in its 89-year-history, would be the final summer test for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with Azzam going up on the market shortly after.

    The race begins Cowes at the Isle of Wight on the Royal Yacht Squadron. Leaving The Solent during the Needles Channel, the race follows England’s southern coastline down the English Channel, before rounding Land’s End. After crossing the Celtic Sea, the race rounds the Fastnet Rock off Ireland’s southwest coast before returning round the Scilly Islands and finishing at Plymouth. The monohull race record set by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in 2011 is 42 hours and 39 minutes.
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    Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), which owns the team and is behind the highly anticipated New Year 2015 UAE capital Volvo Ocean Race stopover, the third at the global route after Brazil, says Azzam’s return to action marks a fitting begin to its next campaign.

    “Having started our first Volvo Ocean Race campaign at Cowes in 2011, it’s fitting that we have got gone full circle to begin our next title push here again. It gives us a compelling platform to talk to the sailing world and with a hugely successful Abu Dhabi stopover under our belts, in addition to a far more mature watersports offering, we’re in an ideal position to let the sailing world know what destination Abu Dhabi can offer, both as a Volvo Ocean Race host city and as a near year round watersports destination of distinction,” said Faisal Al Sheikh, Director Events Bureau, TCA Abu Dhabi.

    Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing is because of announce its full 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race crew line-up within the first quarter of 2014, when it’s going to also receive its new one-design Volvo 65 race yacht. At the least one UAE national would be included within the reduced eight man crew line-up, with more Emiratis involved at the shore team.

    Abu Dhabi city, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, will host the third 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race stopover from mid-December 2014 until 3rd January 2015.

    Abu Dhabi will welcome the fleet from Recife, Brazil after probably the most longest and potentially most-gruelling legs inside the 40-year race history (9,707 nautical miles). The Abu Dhabi In-Port Race, which was won by home favourites Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing within the last edition, will occur on January 2nd 2015, with the fleet departing for Sanya, China the next day. 

    TCA Abu Dhabi, which brought the ‘Everest of Sailing’ to the Arabian Gulf for the 1st time in 2012 and is behind its return, is pushing forward a package-strong and tourism-driven Abu Dhabi stopover, including a fan-friendly Destination Village activation at the Corniche breakwater and multiple concert and entertainment offerings, with the intention to leverage the highly sought-after New Year dates.

    TCA Abu Dhabi is yet again working closely with a lot of governmental bodies to successfully deliver the stopover, including Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club – the Official Host Yacht Club and key partner within the roll-out of the stopover and junior sailing initiatives; the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club – Technical Headquarters, a good way to be home to the team areas and international television broadcast compound, and the development Security Committee, Ministry of Interior, Critical Infrastructure & Coastal Protection Authority, Department of Transport, SEHA, Abu Dhabi Customs, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Abu Dhabi Airports Company.