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  • COMO Hotels and Resorts to open new property inside the Maldives

    Maalifushi by COMO’ would be the Thaa Atoll’s first luxury resort – a secluded island retreat with a uniquely private location.

    COMO Hotels and Resorts has announced it might open an exclusive new property within the Maldives this October. Maalifushi by COMO, an eight-hectare private island within the southerly Thaa Atoll, may be the company’s second resort within the Maldives. Its sister property, Cocoa Island by COMO, located further north inside the South Malé atoll, opened in 2002.

    The 66-room property would be the first luxury resort at the unspoilt Thaa Atoll where it’ll offer away-from-it-all seclusion and an abundant underwater experience. The island’s pristine white sands and bright turquoise lagoons are neighboured by a string of uninhabited islands – perfect dashes of powdery sand and lolling palm trees – including another island belonging to the resort which might be booked for castaway picnics and romantic private dining.

    On the foremost resort island, tropical vegetation featuring exotic birdlife provides lush curtains for personal rooms, suites and villas, in addition to Maalifushi’s ‘Madi’ restaurant, ‘Thila’ pool and lounge bar. Overwater accommodation, including various exclusive luxury suites and villas with private pools, in addition to ‘Tai’ restaurant, are available at the west of the island, all offering uninterrupted views around the ocean.  Interiors during the resort are by Japanese designer Koichiro Ikebuchi; they may bear the hallmarks of COMO’s signature, pared-back style, with locally sourced materials, natural light and open vistas taking centre stage.

    Underwater, the Thaa Atoll boasts quite a number unspoiled corals, attracting a complete host of colorful reef fish and sea creatures. Opportunities to identify magnificent Hammerhead and Whale Sharks also offer a unprecedented environment for dive enthusiasts.

    Other key highlights of Maalifushi by COMO will include:

    *  Three expansive, two-bedroom overwater COMO Villas
    *  ‘Madi’ restaurant featuring all-day international, Maldivian and healthful COMO Shambhala Cuisine
    *  Overwater ‘Tai’ restaurant and bar serving Japanese-inspired cuisine incorporating fresh, locally-sourced fish and seafood
    *  COMO Shambhala Retreat spa with gym, eight overwater treatment rooms and yoga pavilion
    *  On-island Dive Centre and guided diving excursions including a Marine Biologist and PADI instructors
    *  Activities and excursions including dolphin cruises, fishing, snorkeling and sailing

    Maalifushi by COMO might be reached by a 50-minute seaplane ride from the Maldives’s main airport at Malé.

  • Travelport unveils investment plan to reinforce Egypt’s travel industry

    Travelport – the leading provider of critical transaction processing solutions and information for the worldwide travel industry – gathered industry leaders in Cairo recently to unveil its latest investment plans, because it pointed to predicted recovery within the country’s tourism sector.

    According to a study co-sponsored by Travelport and conducted by market research company Pho-CusWright, the travel industry in Egypt is decided to begin recovering within the near future, with the tourism sector predicted to grow from $5.1bn in 2012 to $5.9bn in 2014.

    As such, Travelport has emphasised its concentrate on Egypt as a strategic investment region by unveiling a powerful business strategy for the rustic in line with Travelport’s four pillars of investment – Unrivalled Content, Intelligent Search, Empowered Selling Experience and Open Platform.

    Specifically, within the next 18 months Travelport will:

    *  Introduce more than a few new products to Egypt’s travel trade. Travelport has today announced the forthcoming release of 2 products – Document Producer Plus, a product that enables subscribers to supply numerous documents from a PNR, and Rapid Reprice, Travelport’s unique revenue management tool. Because the start of 2013, Travelport has also launched plenty of other new solutions in Egypt, including Agentivity, Travelport’s business intelligence suite, and Travelport Merchandising Platform – pioneering technology for airline distribution.
    *  Continue to improve customer support delivery – Travelport already offers excellent service to customers in Egypt through a dedicated 24/7 Helpdesk, on-site training and dedicated account managers. Later this year, Travelport can even start offering a ‘floor walker’ service to new customers to insure smooth migration to Travelport systems.
    *  Specialise in mobile and online technologies. In keeping with the Travelport co-sponsored research, Egypt has probably the most highest mobile web penetration on the earth, with estimated 71m mobiles phones for a population of 81m (in 2012). Travelport will therefore continue to take a position in mobile and online technologies to enhance existing products which includes Travelport Mobile Agent, which enables Travelport-connected agents to achieve access to Galileo desktop from their smartphone, and Travelport View Trip Mobile, the itinerary management tool.

    “Travelport has an extended history in Egypt spanning over two decades, and this remains a strategic investment region for us,” said Tarek Bassiouny, General Manager, Egypt, Travelport. “In the new years, Travelport has made a major investment in Egypt when it comes to products, services, and our team – and we remain positive in regards to the way forward for the local travel industry.

    “Travelport will therefore continue to speculate in Egypt through a superb product stagey in 2013/14, continuing to handle the evolving needs of our customers. Our team in Egypt is very motivated and committed, and we’re here to support the local industry now and for future years.”

  • The World’s Best Airline 2015

    This month at the Paris Air Show it was announced that Qatar Airlines was the overall winner of the prestigious World Airlines Award as voted by passengers. Over a period of nine months from the previous September, passengers have the chance to complete online surveys and comment on a vast array of categories which include online booking, arrival services, friendliness of cabin staff, cabin cleanliness, the quality of on-board meals and staff language skills. Second place and third place were awarded to Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airlines respectively. British Airways came in at number 20.

    Looking at on-board facilities on a Qatar Airways aircraft, it is not surprising that they won the award. First class cabin seats have enough room to fully recline and there are large screen monitors to keep each passenger entertained. Economy class on Qatar Airlines offers more leg room for passengers than on other airlines and each seat comes with a power outlet, personal telephone and USB port. First class passengers also have access to a luxurious separate bar and lounge area too.

  • News: Silversea appoints new sales manager for Scotland, Northern Ireland and North East

    Silversea, the leading cruise operator renowned for its ultra-luxurious ships and exotic destinations, has announced a brand new appointment to its UK sales team. Amanda Middler, who has 11 years experience in sales has joined the Silversea team as Regional Sales Manager with responsibility for Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North East of britain, and may report back to Priti Mehta, Head of Sales UK & Ireland.

    Amanda joins from IHG Hotel Group, where for two years she was Position Cluster Sales Manager and successfully built strong relationships in the travel sector. Earlier than that Middler also worked for Monarch Airlines as Base Operations Manager and MyTravel Airways as Passenger Services Superintendent.

    Mike Bonner, Silversea’s General Manager for UK and Ireland, said: “We are excited to welcome Amanda to our sales team and believe her expertise might actually help us to develop and expand sales initiatives in these regions. Her addition to the team reinforces our commitment to providing an enhanced and highly personalised level of service to our travel agent partners.”

  • News: HRS and GetThere conform to strategic distribution collaboration

    HRS, the global leading hotel portal for corporate customers, has entered right into a distribution agreement with GetThere, a world technology company serving corporations and brand of Sabre.

    The 250,000 hotels affiliated to HRS could be available by the tip of April to GetThere’s global corporate customers it doesn’t matter what global distribution system they use. HRS offers detailed and positive hotel information in 32 languages in addition to flexible and customer friendly booking conditions.

    “Working with GetThere complements our systematic multi-channel strategy and should mean all GetThere corporate customers can get pleasure from our wide hotel portfolio instantly. From the hotel’s perspective, the relationship to GetThere, will allow another global distribution channel with extended coverage particularly within the huge US market, where Sabre is the undisputed market leader within the managed corporate segment. A win-win situation for all parties,” says HRS Chief Executive Officer Tobias Ragge.

    HRS and GetThere believe hoteliers will benefit as their properties will now have even greater exposure via GetThere’s thousands of corporate customers, including a majority of the Fortune 200, in 95 countries. Every month 5 million unique users visit the company travel reservation system to go looking and book a business journey. In 2012 GetThere managed greater than $9.5 billion in business travel spend.

    “HRS has any such vast and unique range of hotels that we all know can be of significant value to our customers,” says Suzanne Neufang, President of GetThere. “We watch for working with HRS to bring the handiest choice of hotels to corporations worldwide.”