Best Holiday Lettings

Category: News

  • Focus: Breaking Travel News interview: Abdin Nasralla, president, Arab Council for Hotels & Resorts

    Abdin Nasralla, project consultant for Meydan Group, was named president of the primary Arab Council of Hotels & Resorts.

    Here Breaking Travel News sits right down to discuss the ambitions of the project before its launch later this year.

    Breaking Travel News: Could you bring our readers up-to-date with the role of the Arabic Council for Hotels & Resorts  What are its principal ambitions

    Abdin Nasralla: The Arab Council for Hotels & Resorts aims to advertise Arab hospitality, create an Arab hospitality standard with a rating system and create a closed network membership for hotels to share statistics, purchasing power, reservation systems and human resources programmes.

    The body also seeks to advertise the Arab world as a destination, drive cross tourism between countries, encourage new tourism investment opportunities and support Arab countries of their look for in international recognition.

    BTN: When will the body begin operations  How will its success be measured

    AN: The Arab Council for Hotels & Resorts have been announced and is currently in setup phase.

    We aim to finalise the appointment of the board of directors shortly. Given the magnitude of the project and the wide scope – covering 22 countries, including thousands of hotels and millions of employees – we’re moving as quickly as possible. Because the saying goes ‘measure twice; cut once’.

    We are putting an effective effort to be fully operational in a couple of months.

    AN: Our success could be measured by the collection of member hotels and chains which participate;  we’re confident that management companies will seek this membership without hesitation; to exploit the offerings and market advancement.

    BTN: Do you’re feeling the support offered by the governments of the center East to the tourism sector is a major factor in its continued growth.

    AN: Absolutely; tourism plays a very important role within the Arab world.

    We contribute significantly to employment, supply chain, and foreign direct investment as an industry.

    Tourism must stay supported by the governments to look growth inside the coming years.

    BTN: Which destinations within the Middle East do you spot having the best impact on tourism over the subsequent decade

    AN: The following decade might be interesting to look at; tourism will play an increasingly important role within the Arab economies.

    We see Dubai and Abu-Dhabi within the forefront of the race; North Africa will certainly see good years ahead due to the continued projects and the stunning beaches.

    Saudi might be a winner and a frontrunner in family internal tourism. The Levant area is likewise promising given the political situation stabilises.

    BTN: What challenges do you spot for tourism within the Middle East within the post Arab Spring environment

    AN: The major challenge is stability within the region, together with innovation within the available products and maintaining a healthy room rate.

    These are our main concerns for the fast term.

    We hope to create workshops and seminars so as to address these challenges.

    Interview: Chris O’Toole

  • News: Emirates and Qantas inaugurate partnership

    Emirates and Qantas have marked the official start in their historic partnership, with the primary Qantas flights departing from Sydney and Melbourne to London via the international hub of Dubai.

    The partnership marks a brand new era for Qantas and Emirates, and for global aviation, because the two carriers collaborate to deliver the only network, lounges, frequent flyer benefits and travel experiences.

    “The strength of this partnership stems from the very fact the Emirates and Qantas brands are a good match. Emirates customers using a Qantas lounge or taking a Qantas flight will experience a degree of service this is on par with what they expect from Emirates,” said Tim Clark, president, Emirates Airline. 

    “Our two airlines offer the biggest joint fleet of Airbus A380s and passengers may be welcomed through Concourse A, the world’s first, purpose built A380 concourse, at Dubai International Airport, that’s the geographical centrepiece of the partnership,” added Clark.

    “A major benefit is the variety of goods we’re offering frequent flyers. Customers of either airline can leverage a lot of their privileges after they fly at the joint network, including earning points, redeeming flights and accessing lounges.”

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    Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, said the partnership would make long haul travel more seamless – and faster – for millions of Australians.

    “From today, our customers from Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney have one-stop access to 65 destinations inside the Middle East, North Africa, the united kingdom and Europe via the joint Qantas and Emirates network.

    “By travelling through Dubai, Qantas customers can connect with the extensive Emirates network into Europe and the united kingdom and fly on to their destination,” said Joyce.

    “Before today, the Qantas network offered five one-stop codeshare destinations into Europe and the united kingdom with our partners. From today, we provide access to 32 destinations in Europe at the combined Qantas and Emirates network.

    “The new network will cut average journey times by greater than two hours from Melbourne and Sydney to the end 10 destinations in Europe,” added Joyce.

    Combined the 2 airlines will offer 98 flights per week between Australia and Dubai.

    Customers have already responded very strongly to the partnership, with over 212,086 sectors booked thus far at the joint network.

    Qantas has seen a six-fold increase in bookings to Europe at the joint network inside the first nine weeks of sales in comparison to an identical period last year.

    The collection of Emirates customers booked to travel on Qantas’ domestic network is nearly seven times higher than under Qantas’ previous partnership arrangement inside the same nine week period.

    More information at the deal are available here.

  • Choice Hotels moves to new headquarters

    Choice Hotels International is completing its move to its new global headquarters at 1 Choice Hotels Circle in Rockville, Maryland at Rockville Town Square.

    The company’s greater than 400 headquarter employees will begin work here on April 8, 2013.

    This move is solely 13 miles from the alternative Hotels current headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

    However, it represents a sea of change for the lodging giant which franchises hotel brands which have become household names world wide, including Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality and Econo Lodge in addition to newer upscale brands Cambria Suites and Ascend Hotel Collection.

    That change is reflected inside the new workplace which offers a layout designed to encourage collaboration and creativity.

    Open work areas, high technology and connectivity, and several other non-conventional meeting spaces were conceived at the undeniable fact that great ideas come from everywhere, not only behind a desk or around a table.

  • News: US Department of Transportation fines Alitalia for inaccurate information

    The Usa Department of Transportation has fined the Italian air carrier Alitalia $125,000 for providing inaccurate information on its website regarding its policy on compensation to passengers on delayed and cancelled flights.

    While Alitalia’s website displayed a replica of the carrier’s General Conditions of Carriage as required by department rules, and specifically adopted rules required by the ecu Union regarding compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, the carrier claimed a right to refuse such compensation, citing provisions in its tariff that exempted travel from the usa from the terms of the GCC.

    The consent order finds that the inconsistent statements of policy inside the tariff and the GCC were an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of U . s . law.

    The order directs the carrier to revise its tariff and GCC to mirror the carrier’s actual policy regarding compensation in cases of delayed or cancelled flights to or from america and orders the carrier to cease and desist from further violations of the law prohibiting airlines from accomplishing unfair and deceptive practices.

    Following a complaint from two Alitalia passengers whose flights were cancelled, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office investigated the carrier’s refusal to pay cash compensation to the passengers.

  • House swap holiday homes

    Swapping your house with a someone for a holiday is growing in popularity. When this concept first came about, many people could not get their heads round it and it was often only a very few select group of people that would actually try it. Following on from Britain entering the recession, people needed to find different ways to have a holiday that cost very little money. House swapping seemed like the perfect answer with often no money having to exchange hands.
    There are now many websites dedicated to this idea, allowing people to list their homes and areas in which they would be interested doing a swap in. Many people obviously have reservations about this concept, but there are is some very helpful information online which can help you get ready for a house swap. If you are lucky enough to have a home that is separate from your family home then you may want to look in to letting this out as holiday accommodation instead to possibly make an additional income instead of it being stood empty for 70% of the year.