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  • IHG opens fourth Crowne Plaza in Oman

    IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is continuous to bolster its presence in Oman with the outlet of Crowne Plaza Duqm today. The brand new hotel will join IHG’s three existing Crowne Plaza hotels in Oman’s major cities – Muscat, Sohar and Salalah – in addition to InterContinental Muscat.

    The beachfront hotel is found near the rapidly expanding port and dry dock at Duqm.  With the launch of activity at Duqm Commercial Port earlier this month and the predicted opening of Duqm International Airport in 2014, the hotel is determined to capture the growing corporate travel market.

    Crowne Plaza Duqm’s 213 spacious rooms including 21 suites all offer direct sea views. Guests can benefit from the hotel’s outdoor pool area, fully equipped fitness centre and five restaurants and lounges. There’s plenty to do outside the hotel, too, attributable to its picturesque location on Duqm beachfront; explore beautiful natural beaches, wander down Duqm Corniche, or discover the geological rock gardens, all inside the nearby area.

    In addition to the hotel’s leisure facilities, Crowne Plaza Duqm offers state-of-the-art business and meeting facilities including a 780 m2 Event Centre, consisting of two ballrooms and one boardroom. The development Centre also comprises a business centre and 4 separate meeting rooms.

    Crowne Plaza Duqm presents a number of cuisines to fit every palate. Souq is the hotel’s all-day-dining restaurant, while Frontier will cater to the sports fan trying to compensate for the entire latest sporting action. Gastronomic delights await diners at Al Safi, which treats guests to a spectacular seafood dining experience. At Splash, the poolside snack bar, guests can enjoy a refreshing drink from the relaxation in their sun lounger.

    Ali Salih, General Manager of Crowne Plaza Duqm, commented: “Duqm is fast becoming a hotspot for travel and business within Oman.  With the hotel’s location at the beachfront combined with its premium business facilities we’re confident that Crowne Plaza Duqm is an enticing offering for business and leisure guests alike. We glance forward to a successful opening period.”

    Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Office, India, Middle East and Africa for IHG, added: “Thanks to its center around growing its travel tourism industry, Oman is still crucial marketplace for us inside the Middle East.  With the brand new opening of Crowne Plaza Duqm, we now operate hotels spanning from Muscat all the way down to Salalah.  We’re delighted to now be open in Duqm because it continues its exciting expansion.”

    IHG opened InterContinental Muscat in 1997, the city’s first five-star hotel.  The crowd also now operates four Crowne Plaza hotels in Duqm, Muscat, Sohar and Salalah, with InterContinental Muscat Hills and Holiday Inn Muscat Airport within the development pipeline.

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  • Egyptian chaos claims tourism minister

    Egyptian tourism minister Hisham Zazou has resigned his post because the political crisis within the country continues to worsen.

    Zazou was among a collection of 5 ministers who submitted what he called “justified” resignations to prime minister Hisham Kandil.

    Mass protests have seen thousands of Egyptians at the streets in recent days demanding president Mohammed Morsi step down.

    Protests prompted the military to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to unravel the deadly crisis sweeping the rustic.

    Large protests continued yesterday, with activists storming the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood – the gang from which the president hails – in Cairo.

    Communication and data technology minister Atef Helmy, environmental affairs minister Khaled Fahmy, utilities minister Abdel Qawy Khalifa and parliamentary and legal affairs minister Hatem Bagato have also stepped down from their posts.

    Reports earlier suggested they’ve been joined by foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.

    The Foreign Office said media reports suggest a number of those demonstrating in Tahrir Square and elsewhere are hostile and suspicious of any foreigners present.

    ”If you identify any nearby protests, leave the realm immediately,” it warned British visitors.

  • News: Three killed in Boston Marathon explosions

    Officials within the Us of a have launched an investigation following two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

    FBI investigators launched a “potential terrorist inquiry” as three people were left dead with upward of 100 more injured.

    At least 17 persons are critically wounded with injuries including several amputations.

    In a televised address following the incident, president Barack Obama vowed to bring those behind the attack to justice.

    “We will discover who did this.

    “We will discover why they did this,” he said.

    “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the whole weight of justice.”

    The first explosion came at about 14:50 local time at the north side of Boylston Street.

    Seconds later another explosion struck the crows approximately 100 metres further back along the course.

    British prime minister David Cameron offered his condolences: “The scenes from Boston are shocking and horrific – my thoughts are with all folks that were affected.”

    London Marathon

    Meanwhile officials within the UK said security across the London Marathon will be reviewed after the incident in Boston.

    However, the development will go ahead, after sports minister Hugh Robertson said he was “absolutely confident” it is usually kept safe.

    London had “enormous experience” of delivering major events and the united kingdom had the very best security professionals on the earth, he told the BBC.

    He also said he was “horrified” by the Boston blasts.

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  • Improvements to Heathrow Airport

    For 60 years, Heathrow has been the main UK airport connecting people across the globe and today has the title of the world’s busiest airport. Over the last 12 years, £11 billion has been invested to improve existing terminals and facilities for passengers, creating jobs and supporting economic growth in the UK. In order to improve the transportation of luggage within the airport, £900 million pounds has been spent on an integrated baggage system, allowing travellers to become re-united with their luggage quicker on arrival and making sure luggage continues its journey onto the correct plane for transit passengers.

    The architecturally stunning Terminal 2 with its spacious concourses was opened in 2014. Over the past few years, improvements have been made to the check-in areas of Terminal 3 with the creation of new self-service kiosks and investment has also been made to the search and security area. Travellers using Terminal 4 will notice improvements to the facade, allowing more light into the terminal, with the addition of floor-to-ceiling windows. Work is still to be completed on improvements to the passport control areas. In 2008, Terminal 5 was opened to the public. With its large, glass panels overlooking the runways, passengers can enjoy spectacular views of the airport, whilst waiting for their own flight to depart.

  • Only 6 London hotels awarded new 5-star rating by Forbes

    Forbes Travel Guide launches in London bringing its star-rating system to the pinnacle hotels and spas around the Capital.

    Only six London hotels were awarded with a coveted five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide. These are: 45 Park Lane; Claridge’s; The Dorchester; The Lanesborough London; Four Seasons Hotel at Park Lane and The Savoy. Plus two London hotel spas were awarded a five-star rating: The Spa at Four Seasons and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, London.

    Which means numerous London’s luxury hotels are notable by their failure to achieve a five-star rating.

    “Forbes announcement is probably going to ruffle about a feathers amongst London hoteliers. Forbes is respected for its unique proposition of service based ratings that many shoppers will welcome, however it could be interesting to determine if Forbes Rating System is embraced by the hospitality industry.

    We have first hand experience with all these brands and know they invest significantly of their internal communications and colleague development programmes for service excellence. We wait to determine what impact this may have on staff development and the extent of service we will be able to expect from hotels.” Gregg Hone, Director electricjelly and Evolve Founder

    We caught up with Jayne E. Griswold, Executive Vp, Forbes Travel Guide, and asked here questions:

    What makes the six London 5* hotels different

    “The properties who’ve achieved the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star award have exceeded guests’ expectations at every turn. Their staff are fully engaged within the guest experience and feature rigorously studied what their guests are searhing for and invested deeply in training their teams to comprehend and deliver against their guest’s expectations.”

    What impact do you are expecting this announcement may have at the other ‘5-star properties’ {consistent with other ratings providers} around the capital

    “Our hope is that by announcing the Forbes Travel Guide Star Ratings in London that it’ll establish a degree set against the common guest experience. Our practice is to guage all properties equally and to conduct a rigorous 2 night/3 day inspection that covers approximately 500 service standards plus an extra set of facility-based standards. Our hope is that the consequences may be met with respectful understanding of our detailed and rigorous process.”

    The Forbes Travel Guide star-rating system have been a highest quality inside the global hotel industry since 1958 and is different as it is heavily fascinated with service – taking the guess exercise session of hotel bookings for the discerning traveller. Professional anonymous inspectors evaluate each hotel against greater than 550 service criteria alongside the same old of the building and its facilities to create the ratings system.

    From launch, travellers would be ready to access full free reviews of the head London hotels via Startle.com. Forbes also offers to partner with the hotels in the course of the Global Star Rating Program to aid them understand the rating they’ve received and identify areas for improvement within the next evaluation to boost their guests experience and subsequently their rating.

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