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  • New leadership for Dusit in Middle East

    Leading Asian hospitality group Dusit International has appointed Thierry Douin as its regional vice chairman for the center East & Africa.

    Douin will act because the figurehead for Dusit International within the region, overseeing the company’s expansion efforts, driving operational performance and supervising the outlet of recent hotels from his base within the Dubai Regional Office.

    A passionate and experienced hotelier, Douin have been inside the industry for greater than 35 years.

    He has managed luxury hotels in lots of parts of the arena, including in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Jakarta and Caracas for numerous groups, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and most recently, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts.

    Douin, a French national, is a graduate of the Hotel & Catering School in Granville, France and is an authorized Hotel Administrator and licensed Food and Beverage Executive with the yankee Hotel and Motel Association.

    Over the process his career, he has attended various executive programs together with the posh Brand Management Program at ESSEC Business School, the Asian International Executive Program at INSEAD Business School and the final Manager’s Program on the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University.

    “This is an exhilarating and demanding time to enroll in the corporate, whilst it’s all in favour of expansion and growth,” said Douin on his appointment.

    “I hope my experience will strengthen the team and that i watch for capitalising at the great legacy of the Dusit brand within the MEA region, where it’s been in operation for greater than a decade.”

  • News: Royal Caribbean increases UK ports of call in 2014

    British guests can be spoilt for choice with the scoop that three recently revitalised Royal Caribbean International ships will set sail from the united kingdom throughout the summer of 2014. With a number of popular itineraries the 2014 European sailings could be open for booking from 20 March 2013.

    The cruise line’s extensive ship investment programme has seen over $300 million spent on enhancing the facilities and guest experiences onboard ships around the fleet – and Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas will sail from UK shores next summer.

    Both Independence of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas will share the Port of Southampton for his or her second consecutive seasons from May 2014 until late October 2014. Sister-ship Brilliance of the Seas will return to her home port of Harwich after a debut season in summer 2013.

    Jo Rzymowska, associate vp and general manager, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises – UK and Ireland, commented:
    “We are delighted to announce our 2014 sailings from Southampton and Harwich on our newly revitalised ships. Our guests can continue to enjoy our innovative facilities and activities onboard including mountain climbing, ice skating and surfing, plus our great entertainment. We wish to continue to provide our guests unforgettable experiences which could only be found on Royal Caribbean International.”

    The 3,634-guest Independence of the Seas, based in Southampton since 2008, continues to receive rave reviews from UK holidaymakers, most recently within the 2013 Cruise Critic UK Cruisers’ Choice Awards, where it was honoured within the best food, entertainment, families, fitness and repair categories.

    Independence of the Seas will feature quite a number itineraries in 2014, including shorter sailings corresponding to a 3-night and 4-night cruise to Le Havre for Paris, and Zeebrugge for Bruges. Independence of the Seas will even showcase a six night cruise to France and Spain, an eight-night cruise to Norway, various 14-night Mediterranean cruises, plus 11 and 12-night Canary Islands cruises.

    From May 2014, Adventure of the Seas from Southampton will return to a sequence of 7 to 16 night cruises round the Mediterranean and northerly Europe, plus shorter sailings, including a four-night trip to Belgium and France.

    Brilliance of the Seas, sailing from Harwich, will visit Northern Europe on 12-night Norwegian Fjords and Iceland cruises and the Baltic Sea on 12-night Scandinavia & Russia cruises.

    To promote the 2014 UK deployment, Royal Caribbean International will launch a brand new European and Mediterranean brochure, featuring popular Spanish / Italian, Mediterranean and Canary Island breaks. The recent brochure, full of cruise options for summer 2014, is split into sections devoted to different holiday choices akin to mini cruises, traditional 14-night summer holidays, Mediterranean and northerly European itineraries. Agents may even find pages for brief cruise options designed for first time cruisers to sample at-sea holidays.

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  • News: Qantas introduces iPads on flights to Honolulu

    Qantas’ Boeing 767 services from Sydney to Honolulu are actually fitted with refreshed interiors and inflight entertainment technology, Q Streaming.
    Q Streaming utilises onboard WiFi during the aircraft to stream entertainment programs direct to iPads in every seat supplied by Qantas.
    The implementation of Q Streaming on board flights to Honolulu follows the successful introduction of the technology on B767 services around the Qantas domestic network – forming a part of the broader B767 refresh program.

    The B767 fleet’s cabin interiors were refreshed with a recent design that comes with leather seat covers in Business and a brand new appear and feel within the Economy cabin. Other enhancements include new carpet, lighting, curtains and cabin dividers.

    Executive Manager of International Customer Experience Alison Webster said the airline was excited to increase Q Streaming to customers travelling on refreshed B767 flights to Honolulu.

    “Q Streaming was very popular with Qantas customers at the domestic network and we’re now pleased to provide it to our customers travelling to Honolulu.”

    “We know on average customers spend about 80 per cent of an extended haul flight using in-flight entertainment, so providing customers travelling to Honolulu with the choice to select what they watch and when, will add a brand new dimension to their on board experience.”
    “The entertainment options were carefully selected following real-time customer feedback which helps us to repeatedly improve the decisions we provide.

    “We continue to explore how to evolve the technology and inside the near future customers may also have the opportunity to exploit their very own device to stream our inflight entertainment content.”

    The technology streams over 200 hours of flicks, television and music on to an iPad in every seat. This will likely gradually expand over the following couple of months to check the vast range of TV and music content offered on our flagship in-seat entertainment systems – including as much as 50 movies, 500 TV programs and 1000 CDs.

    Qantas could also be working to feature interactive games, a ramification of travel and business related apps in addition to digital newspapers and magazines.
    The refurbishment of 15 B767 aircraft with new interiors and individual in-flight entertainment began in October 2012 and is scheduled for completion on the end of April.

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  • China’s new national tourism strategy set to extend outbound tourism

    The Outline for National Tourism and Leisure (2013-2020)’, recently issued by the govt of China, sets the bottom for the redefinition of tourism development and management inside the country, including a sturdy support for outbound tourism in addition to a focal point on a better distribution of the industrial, socio-cultural and environmental benefits of tourism.

    The Outline for National Tourism and Leisure (2013-2020), issued by the State Council of China, makes a speciality of promoting the taking of paid annual leave days and boosting the healthy development of the tourism sector in China, particularly by ensuring the coordination of various sectors.

    Where previously cultural norms have stopped many in China from taking an annual leave, the description, which enhances existing Regulations for Paid Annual Leave for workers, encourages government agencies, social organizations, enterprises and public institutions to advertise using leave days, giving moreover Chinese workers more freedom and suppleness at the issue of where and when to travel.

    “The successful implementation of the hot Chinese national tourism strategy would definitely impulse both domestic and outbound tourism in China and we particularly welcome the verdict to advertise travelling at different times of the year” said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. “This document calls on a lot of sectors to strategically consider their actions in view of the advance of tourism; it’s another proof that China fully understands that sustainable tourism growth requires cross-cutting policies at a countrywide level”, he added.

    The Outline, advocated for a very long time by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), comes four years after the tourism sector in China was acknowledged as a ‘pillar’ industry of recent services and among the many major social and economic sectors at the government´s agenda.

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  • News: Air Astana and Turkish Airlines to set up codeshare agreement

    Air Astana and Turkish Airlines have completed step one towards a large-ranging co-operation, including a codeshare agreement on routes operated by both carriers between Kazakhstan and Turkey. The Letter of Intent was signed at an event in Istanbul by Peter Foster, President of Air Astana, and Temel Kotil, PhD, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines.

    Codesharing on flights between Istanbul – Almaty and Istanbul – Astana may even include a different prorate agreement to destinations beyond their respective hubs in Almaty, Astana and Istanbul. The agreements are intended to take effect as of May 2013.

    “The strength of the extensive and rapidly growing network of Turkish Airlines from its hub at Istanbul Ataturk Airport will let us offer a much broader range of destinations to our customers. Our passengers will enjoy increased travel flexibility and improved connectivity profiting from the combined frequencies that we’ll offer throughout the codeshare. Our passengers will benefit from the codeshare services of the 2 airlines respectively rated Best Airline of Europe and Best Airline Central Asia and India by Skytrax,” said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana.

    “We are extremely delighted to sign the Letter of Intent with Air Astana, as we aim to enhance our partnership to maximise the travel opportunities offered to passengers during the extensive networks of both airlines. Air Astana continues expanding successfully, offering services at highest standards with a tender fleet. Together we’re going to offer better connectivity for our customers at the two airlines` networks. We believe this partnership with Air Astana will bring benefit for either side, not just in commercial aspects in rapidly growing Kazakhstan but in addition in technical and coaching areas.” said Temel Kotil, PhD, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines.

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