Category: Holidays

  • FIFA World Cup: Brazil plays catch up previous to 2014

    Headlines within the recent increase to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil next year were decidedly mixed of late.

    While the 2022 competition in Qatar had raised more ire among sports fans all over the world, Brazilian authorities cannot was impressed with images of violence marring the preparations.

    Most recently police were forced to apply tear gas and smoke grenades to wreck up clashes between fans waiting to shop for tickets for the inaugural match in a stadium built for the realm Cup.

    Fans had queued overnight at a ticket office within the north-eastern state of Bahia, but fighting broke out once it opened. Officials on the Arena Fonte Nova stadium, which cost over $300 million ($50 million greater than budgeted), had didn’t separate queues of fans, resulting in unrest.

    Perhaps more seriously, the inauguration date of rebuilt Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro have been repeatedly delayed.

    The stadium, set to host the ultimate next year, was originally attributable to reopen in December 2012, but its first match is now scheduled for April 27th.

    Embarrassingly, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes was also recently forced to near the João Havelange stadium, which was getting used to host major football matches in preference to the Maracana and was scheduled to host the athletics for the 2016 Olympic Games, after it engineers warned of structural deficiencies.

    Elsewhere, the president of Corinthians, the Brazilian club in command of building the Itaquera stadium in Sao Paulo, recently admitted its construction may be stopped for loss of cash.

    Unless additional cash is located there’s a risk of the stadium failing to be ready on time for the contest.

    That stadium is because of host the hole match of FIFA 2014.

    With these problems piling up, FIFA was remarkably sanguine, not less than in front of the cameras.

    “It is all an issue of trust and confidence,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter told reporters last month after a gathering of the realm Cup organising committee. “They would be ready as it is the area Cup and nobody can afford to not be ready for the area Cup.”

    However, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke recently visited Recife to envision on preparations on the Arena Pernambuco, which remains incomplete despite promises it might be ready by the top 2012.

    One further infrastructure worry is the progress in upgrading the national airport network.

    Many guests will see flights as essential in the sort of large country, where there isn’t a established rail network.

    But, of 13 terminals being upgraded, ten are unlikely to be completed by June 2014, a central authority-backed Institute for Applied Economic Research report said earlier this spring.

    image[1] align=’right’ border=’0′ style=’padding-left:10px;’ alt=” border=0 >
    The recently completed Arena Fonte Nova

    Tourism

    So, many challenges. But what does all this mean for the international traveller Briefly, not likely greatly.

    While the sporting infrastructure is clearly vital to the success of the tournament, the personal sector has quietly been caring for the preparations essential to welcome the 600,000 international visitors expected inside the country for the development.

    Some 200 hotels are currently under construction, while another 170 hotels are slated to open in the next three years in Brazil, in step with consultancy Lodging Econometrics, with many designed for the sports tourism market.

    Many more also are taking an extended view, catering to an emerging middle class, with investors looking to avoid the pitfalls seen after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when many hotels saw a pointy drop in occupancy after the development and not recovered. 

    Hilton and Grand Hyatt are both opening new properties in Rio, but budget-conscience offerings from as Novotel, Ibis, Holiday Inn, Super 8 and Tryp also are in development.

    Among probably the most exciting projects is the classic Copacabana Palace, which enters its 90th year in 2013. Having recently completed a $20 million renovation, the valuables now offers a lighter, airier atmosphere, with completely redesigned rooms.

    Moreover, while the issues may create headline, other stadium projects are proceeding rapidly.

    In the most recent update FIFA released photos the recently completed Arena Fonte Nova.

    Despite the ticketing teething problems, the Salvador stadium joins the Castelao and the Mineirao in readiness for the FIFA Confederations Cup test event later this year.

    The clock will be ticking, by Brazil has an excessive amount of to lose if it runs out of time.

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  • WAYN reveals dream destinations for travellers

    WAYN has revealed the tip seven dream destinations on earth as chosen by its 21 million users worldwide.

    The destinations will fight it out for pole position in a user vote this month.

    The seven global hot spots are Indonesia, Fiji, South Africa, Dubai, India, Brazil and Turkey. 

    The nominated destinations (both cities and countries) were selected by employing a mix of market research data and tracking user engagement on WAYN.com.

    “Most recently, India saw a rise choice of interest, both for business and leisure travels in destinations reminiscent of Delhi, Punjab, Uttrakhand and Kashmir,” said Jerome Touze, co-founding father of WAYN.com.

    He added: ‘’Brazil was also voted favourite destinations in Latin America, with 40% of respondents from a panel of 38,000 users saying it’d be their first choice in South America.

    “It can be interesting to determine which destination will achieve the head spot in terms of our user vote but being nominated within the top seven is already a good recognition of the work these destinations are doing.’’

    Dubai is in a really strong position with over ten million tourists having travelled there in 2012, its highest ever annual visitor figure.

    The department of tourism and commerce marketing revealed a 9.3 per cent increase inside the variety of visitors to the Emirate in 2012.

    WAYN’s 21 million users may have the possibility to vote for his or her favourite destination within the next two weeks, out of the seven listed, with prizes up for grabs for people who vote.

    Additionally, each nominee will receive US$70,000 of selling promotion globally, out of a US$500,000 marketing contribution from Where Are You Now

    Touze said ‘I’m extremely desirous about this campaign.

    “We are in a singular position whereby now we have data on over 21 million users in over 193 countries who communicate regularly with each other about their trip plans – where on the earth they would like to move and what they need to do after they get there…

    “Going forward, we intend to roll out more leading award recognitions for the travel and tourism industry, so watch this space!”

    WAYN has developed an exclusive microsite for the campaign, which works live today.

    The nominated destinations will receive exposure on WAYN, media coverage and extra market research insight for his or her destinations.

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  • Newyork.com is poised to be the final visit destination

    NewYork.com is the most recent and supreme resource for anything Big apple. Whether a resident, commuter or visitor, NewYork.com promises to be “a safe and seamless user experience, taking the guess-work and headache out of researching, planning and buying tickets to hundreds of venues and attractions, booking hotels, and discovering dining options,” consistent with Brett Reizen. Reizen is the president and CEO of Entertainment Benefits Group (EBG), the parent company operating NewYork.com and the consummate authority inside the field of travel and entertainment ticketing.

    NewYork.com aims to be probably the most comprehensive and reliable personal guide to Long island. It boasts one stop buying travel, hotels, Broadway shows, attractions, events, tours and lots more and plenty more.  If someone loves Manhattan or is a primary-time visitor, whether traveling for business or pleasure, NewYork.com has robust product offerings at the side of friendly, informative content. The goal of the positioning is to be essentially the mostsome of the most trusted online destination for visitors to source information and book everything Manhattan multi function place.

    Whether a brand new York neophyte or a native, there’s always more to find within the most enjoyable-filled and various destinations on the earth – and NewYork.com directs people to everything from local hangouts to celebrity hot spots, historical haunts to legendary museums, trendy specialty boutiques to the most important shops, food trucks to fine dining spots.

    Additional features of the location include interactive communication from patrons which include reviews of attractions and blogs, live customer support support three hundred and sixty five days a year, and the power for consumers to depend on essentially the mostsome of the most trustworthy resources available. “Our company sells greater than 4 million admission tickets and thousands of hotel rooms annually and we’re confident the hot site will quickly become the #1 destination website for brand new York,” said Reizen. This successful formula was proven by EBG in other highly visited cities with similar sites including BestofOrlando.com and BestofVegas.com.

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  • Russia’s poor image abroad holds back inbound tourism

    Russia’s poor image overseas is holding back its inbound tourism industry’s ability to draw visitors from america and western Europe, reveals new research at WTM Vision Conference – Moscow today.

    Inbound tourism arrivals in 2012 showed solid growth to arrive 26 million, in accordance with Euromonitor International. However, the research company’s Senior Research Analyst Mantas Kaluina will tell WTM Vision Conference – Moscow delegates Russia continues to be reliant on visitors from neighbouring countries and the industry must work on tourism flows from the usa and Western Europe.

    Visa bureaucracy, security, infrastructure and the standard of tourism services contributed to Russia’s poor image overseas, he added.

    The Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan accounted for just about half all visitors, sending around six million, three million and two million respectively. Looking forward to 2017, Euromonitor international expects little change, with a similar three accounting for eight million, six million and 4 million arrivals.

    Germany is its strongest western European market, however the figures for 2012 to 2017 fall well in need of 1000000 for every year. Visitor numbers from China, however, will exceed a million by 2017.

    Russia’s outbound market was up 9% in 2012, driven by the expansion of the center classes. The preferred destinations are local – Ukraine, Finland, Kazakhstan.

    By 2017, nearly 40% of Russian households can have a disposable income greater than US$25,000 (£16,500, 771,415 Russian Rubbles) reveals the research. Russia will account for an extra eight million overseas trips by 2017, the most important increase except China.

    For many Russian, international travel is a brand new possibility. Around half all package holidays sold to Russians in 2012 costs between $600 and $1500, with Turkey, Greece and Egypt dominating the market.

    Online may also drive the expansion of outbound travel, with total sales growing by greater than 10% a year until 2017. Air tickets are the most important category for sales, followed by hotels, while social media continues to grow in importance.

    Euromonitor International’s predicts the worldwide travel industry will grow by 4% between 2012 and 2017.

    Reed Travel Exhibitions Director World Travel Market Simon Press said:  “The predicted growth in Russian outbound traffic is excellent news for the worldwide industry, however the report shows greater support may well be given to its inbound industry, especially to draw tourists form the huge markets of the U.S. and western Europe.”

    Moscow was the host city for the 1st of 5 WTM Vision Conference of 2013. Next is Beijing (8 April), followed by Sao Paulo (24 April), Dubai (7 May) and Rimini (17 October).

    WTM Vision Conference – Moscow is organised in association with Tour Business.

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  • Eiffel Tower evacuated after bomb scare

    The Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated following an anonymous tip threatening to explode the attraction, in line with reports.

    An estimated 1,400 people, including tourists and employees were on site when anti-terrorism police decided to clear the attraction on Saturday evening.

    Police and bomb squads were deployed to the scene but no suspicious devices has been found.

    The 324-meter tower is without doubt one of the most efficient tourist sites on the earth, attracting millions of holiday makers each year. In 2011, 4,000 people were cleared from the tower using a threat.