Best Holiday Lettings

Category: Holidays

  • UNWTO call on tourists to aid reduce illicit trafficking

    In the presence of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the arena Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have agreed to launch a brand new public awareness campaign calling on tourists to assist reduce demand for illicit goods and services associated with transnational organized crime.

    Preparations for the campaign were set in motion in the course of the Spring Meeting of the executive Executive Board of the United Nations in Madrid. A Cooperation Agreement was signed between UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, and UNODC Executive Director, Yury Fedotov inside the presence of United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

    The joint campaign, to be launched later this year, aims to elevate awareness among international tourists concerning the sorts of illicit goods and services to which they can be exposed during their travels and which directly or indirectly fund organized crime groups. Travellers can play a key role in reducing demand for these products through ethical consumer choices. The campaign will encourage tourists to make informed decisions and help reduce demand for trafficking in persons, cultural artefacts, wildlife, fauna and flora together with ivory products, in addition to counterfeit goods, and illicit drugs.

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended this innovative joint initiative between the 2 partner UN Agencies: “The illegal trade in goods and services often funds unscrupulous people fascinated with human trafficking, the illicit ivory trade and other areas that cause immense suffering and destruction. Well-informed tourists could make an actual difference in turning the tide against these criminal acts.”

    Organized criminal networks generate money wherever there’s demand and travellers are usually exposed to things that are illicitly sold. With greater than 1 billion tourists now crossing international borders every year, there’s a growing opportunity to name on tourists to behave and decrease demand for these illicit products which in lots of cases are providing a funding source for organized crime. The campaign drives the message that while some products could seem harmless, the demand created and their sale can, in reality, have devastating effects at the lives of innocent people, on wildlife or on cultural property. The billions of bucks generated through such trade also fund criminal groups who use this money to branch out into other illicit and unethical lines of commercial.

    “Although the infrastructure of tourism – from accommodation establishments to transportation networks – could be misused by traffickers to victimize the vulnerable, tourism has the capability and is firmly committed to reclaim this same infrastructure and use it within the fight against trafficking” said UNWTO’s Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. “Through coordinated efforts, we will be certain that awareness travels – that tourism authorities, travel companies and tourists join us in this fight” he added.

    According to the manager Director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov: “This new awareness-raising campaign might help build awareness about organized crime and the devastating effect it has on people and communities worldwide. Tourists are usually exposed to the traffickers of humans and unethical products. By making informed choices, tourists may help sever the financial arteries that fuel these sorts of illicit trade”.

    The campaign will seek to have interaction the tourism industry including hotel chains, travel agencies and airlines to lend support in raising awareness among tourists and help contribute to limiting these illicit markets.

    The initiative supplements UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. The Code calls upon tourists to act in a responsible and respectful manner towards the visited destination, urging them to not commit any criminal acts and to refrain from all trafficking in illicit drugs, arms, antiques, protected species, products and substances which can be dangerous or prohibited by national regulations.

  • Holiday Villas for Privacy

    One of the main benefits of hiring out a villa is the high level of privacy. A holiday villa can also give you a lot more freedom over what you do. For example a typical all inclusive holiday in a large complex may have set meal times, a limited choice of food, entertainment that finished too early, and swimming pools with a shortage of sun loungers.

    A holiday with your family in a villa can be rather memorable. You have the freedom to explore, cook your own meals, choose the entertainment you want to do, and if you’re in a busy village or town, you can have a lot more control over what you want to do.

    Having your own pool is a real incentive to go on a villa holiday, and there are plenty of bargains out there to find, especially if you opt for private villas. Just make sure you read their rules and regulations, because they may limit your possibilities somewhat.

  • Starwood Hotels concludes month-long immersion in Dubai

    Marking the realization of Starwood’s month-long relocation to Dubai, Frits van Paasschen, President & CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has shared highlights and insights from the company’s immersion within the Middle East.

    Throughout the month of March, van Paasschen and members of Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team met with 3,000 associates, conducted nearly 50 owner meetings and visited all 14 Starwood hotels in Dubai, that’s the company’s second largest hotel market behind only Ny city. The team also took benefit of Dubai’s strategic location to travel to 19 cities across 12 countries, meeting with government officials and potential development partners in fast-growing markets, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and India. Through the five-week relocation, the team travelled 61,000 kilometres (38,000 miles) – the equivalent of circling the globe one and half times.

    Over the process the month, greater than 200 of Starwood’s senior leaders and General Managers travelled to Dubai because the company ran day-to-day operations almost 7,000 miles and an eight-hour time zone difference clear of the company’s global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

    During the relocation, Starwood executives also met with greater than 150 corporate and leisure customers who drive business to hotels globally. The center East is an increasingly important outbound travel market, and regional membership in Starwood Preferred Guest, the company’s loyalty program, has increased 140% during the last five years.

    “It is tough to overstate the potential of our business on this region of the sector. By bringing our executives here and spending time with our partners and native teams, we’re uniquely positioned to use this once-in-a-lifetime growth opportunity,” said van Paasschen. “I haven’t any doubt that our time spent here will drive future hotel contracts within the region, accelerate Starwood’s position because the most global high-end hotel company and additional define our culture.”

    Last month Starwood announced that it’ll increase its Middle East and Africa (MEA) portfolio by greater than 60 percent with nearly 50 new hotels set to open over a better five years, adding greater than 14,000 guest rooms to the region and creating thousands of local employment opportunities. With 82 operating hotels and over 20 hotels expected to open by the tip of 2015, Starwood is heading in the right direction to arrive a milestone 100 hotels across MEA.

    “With 80 percent of Starwood’s pipeline coming from rapidly growing markets, it’s important for us to stay on the forefront of latest travel demands and changing travel patterns,” said Simon Turner, President of worldwide Development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “The Middle East is experiencing rapid economic growth, a growing middle class and ever greater global connectivity, and the Dubai relocation may help us expand all of our brands across this crucial region.”

    The company also announced a comprehensive renovation strategy for its Le Méridien brand, for which Starwood and its ownership groups will invest greater than $200 million within the renovations of 13 hotels and resorts within the MEA region over the following 3 years.

    Following the company’s successful relocation to China in June 2011, this second leadership move reflects Starwood’s innovative management method to cultivating a more global culture by understanding, appreciating and leveraging different societal and associate perspectives and approaches to business and hospitality.

  • China – the hot number 1 tourism source market on this planet

    China’s expenditure on travel abroad reached US$102 billion in 2012, making it the primary tourism source market on earth when it comes to spending. Other emerging markets in addition to most conventional tourism source markets also showed positive ends in 2012.

    Over the past decade China was, and still is, by far the fastest-growing tourism source market on this planet. Owing to rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes and relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel, the quantity of international trips by Chinese travelers has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012. Expenditure by Chinese tourists abroad has also increased almost eightfold since 2000. Boosted by an appreciating Chinese currency, Chinese travelers spent a record US$102 billion in international tourism in 2012, a 40% jump from 2011 when it amounted to US$73 billion.

    With this sustained growth, China has become the most important spender in international tourism globally in 2012. In 2005, China ranked seventh in international tourism expenditure, and has since successively overtaken Italy, Japan, France, and the uk. With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place, surpassing both top spender Germany and second largest spender Usa (both with reference to US$84 billion in 2012).

    Some of the opposite emerging markets have also increased their share of worldwide tourism spending during the last decade. Many of the world’s top 10 source markets by expenditure, the Russian Federation saw a rise of 32% in 2012, to US$43 billion, bringing it from the 7th to 5th place within the ranking of international tourism spending. Worth mentioning beyond the pinnacle 10 is Brazil, with an expenditure of US$22 billion in 2012, moving to 12th place up from 29th place in 2005.

    “Emerging economies continue to guide growth in tourism demand,” said UNWTO Secretary General, Taleb Rifai. “The impressive growth of tourism expenditure from China and Russia reflects the entry into the tourism market of a growing middle class from these countries, surely continue to vary the map of worldwide tourism,” he added.

    Although the very best growth rates in expenditure abroad came from emerging economies, key traditional source markets, usually growing at a slower pace, also posted positive results. Spending on travel abroad from Germany and america grew by 6% each. Spending from the united kingdom (US$52 billion) grew by 4% and the rustic retained its 4th place within the list of major source markets. Expenditure by Canada grew by 7%, while both Australia and Japan grew by 3%. Then again, France (-6%) and Italy (-1%) were the only real markets inside the top 10 to record a decline in international tourism spending.

    Full data on international tourism expenditure and receipts could be published within the forthcoming issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, to be released end of April.

  • Dedicated website for Turkish literature launches

    A new dedicated website has just launched for Turkish literature on the 2013 London Book Fair, where will probably be this year’s Market Focus country.

    www.lbf2013marketfocusturkey.com is the indispensable guide to Turkey’s Market Focus programme on the London Book Fair 2013, where there’ll be plenty of enjoyable and informative events on Turkish literature, poetry and language and engaging exhibitions of publications and standard crafts. This website for Turkish literature and Turkey as Market Focus country on the London Book Fair 2013 contains full details of events, biographies of participating authors and what you could anticipate finding on the Turkey stand.

    The website also gives information on:

    Ø  Other Turkish literary events within the UK. an entire programme of events putting Turkish literature under the spotlight is being held on the Yunus Emre Cultural Centre, in Maple Street W1, the British Library, LSE and other locations around London in addition to in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Liverpool until May accompanying the focal point on Turkey on the 2013 London Book Fair.

    *  Turkish literature and authors. The web site provides a comprehensive introduction to Turkish literature with downloadable books, an A-Z of participant authors and panellists and plenty of background information.

    *  Turkish publishing industry. There’s information on a lot of Turkish publishers and literary agencies at the side of their contact details.

    *  Turkish book market. A downloadable guide to the Turkish book industry gives useful statistics and details of book fairs in Turkey, grants, in addition publishing, translation, bookselling and writers associations.

    *  Book catalogues. Produced specially for the London Book Fair, downloadable book catalogues give detailed information on publications and their authors in quite a number fields, including children’s books, contemporary art and literature, in addition to catalogues detailing illustrators and publishers of Turkish books.