DOHA: Qatar Airways celebrates a successful year of strong network expansion, new aircraft deliveries and the unique achievement as the only airline to win the Skytrax Award for the World’s Best Airline for a fifth time. [huge_it_slider id=”496″] Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “2019 was another year of great achievement for Qatar Airways. There have been many highlights during the last 12 months, in particular receiving the highly prized ‘Best Airline in the World’ award from Skytrax at this year’s Paris Air Show. To have won the accolade for a record fifth time…
Author: holidayweekly
LONDON: Iconic British department store Harrods wants to open its first store outside the UK as early as next year. The chosen location is Shanghai’s Pudong district, where the airport is also located and which is known as the home of wealthy millennials. With this move, Harrods aims to serve China’s emerging middle class and specifically target the spending-minded, quality-conscious millennials. [huge_it_slider id=”493″] Harrods has already been investing in China for ten years with events and pop-up stores, but at this time is looking for a more long-term presence in the country as desired by its customers. This was announced…
COLOMBO: SriLankan Airlines Group has appointed leading businessman Ashok Pathirage as the new chairman of the group. Pathirage is also the founder and chairman and managing director of Softlogic Holdings, a diversified conglomerate comprising more than 50 companies with over 10,000 employees with an annual turnover of more than LKR75 billion ($409.7 million). He is also chairman and managing director of a number of reputed companies including Asiri Hospital Holdings, Softlogic Capital, Softlogic Life Insurance and Odel, all of which are public companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Pathirage is also chairman of NDB Capital Holdings Limited and deputy…
TOKOYO: Visiting a bucket list destination is getting slightly more expensive as the Japanese island of Miyajima has voted to charge tourists more money to visit. The island, also known as Itsukushima, is a short ferry ride away from Hiroshima and a popular day trip site for visitors to the area. It is known for its orange torii gate, a popular photo spot due to the fact that it appears semi-sunken at high tide, and for the 12th-century Itsukushima Shrine. Taro Matsumoto is the newly elected mayor of Hatsukaichi city, which is in Hiroshima prefecture. He ran on a successful…
MUSCAT: National carrier Oman Air was recently recognised as the nation’s ‘2019 Most Trusted Full Service Airline Brand’. The award was based on a survey conducted by Apex Media, a leading publishing house in the sultanate. Winners were determined by over 700,000 eligible survey entries. “This award is special to everyone at Oman Air”, said Abdulaziz Al Raisi, Oman Air CEO. “I am thankful to all our employees, who have earned the trust of our guests, and to everyone who voted for Oman Air. This award inspires us to work harder than ever in 2020 to maintain the trust of…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in collaboration with United National Development Program (UNDP) on 26 December 2019 organized a follow up consultative workshop to take the process further and finalize National Tourism Strategy. The process started a few months back and with the support of NTCB and its Thematic Working Group members the Strategy is going to be finalized soon. In the workshop members of National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB), private sector tourism experts and members of thematic Working Groups actively participated to share their recommendations and suggestions. Chairman NTCB and SAPM Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari inaugurated the workshop…
KARACHI: Last week Beach Luxury Hotel & Event Crafters jointly hosted a two-day ‘Chinese cultural and food festival’ offering Chinese dining on one platform, hosting 30+ food stalls, live music, fun-filled activities and much more! With an amazing vibe and a lot of finger-licking Chinese food varieties, the event was attended by well-known celebrities, socialites and public. The festival delivered diverse tastes and featured well-known Chinese eateries as well as those that offer a variety of food, including Chinese cuisine. Some of the participating stalls were: Tiffin n Co, Mr Veg, Lal Qila, Chop Soye, Kowloon, Dip n dough, Cafe…
MOSCOW: Irkut Corporation, a Russian aircraft manufacturer, has conducted the maiden flight of the fourth MC-21-300 flight test aircraft at the airfield of Irkutsk Aviation Plant, an affiliate of Irkut Corporation (a UAC member). The duration of flight was one hour and 40 minutes at an altitude of 3,000 meters at a speed of up to 500 km per hour. The plane was piloted by the crew of Roman Taskaev and Oleg Mutovin test pilots, Heroes of Russia. According to the crew report, the task was performed completely; the flight was in normal mode. The testing results of the first…
MUSCAT: Restaurants and cafés in Oman that are managed through franchise contracts and located in designated tourist areas must now pay a fee to the ministry, a report said. The fee will be calculated on the basis of the amount spent in these establishments by customers who come there. The new ruling will come into effect as of January 1, 2020, said a report in Times of Oman. “According to the Ministerial Resolution No. 56/2019, some provisions of the executive regulations have been amended. Restaurants and cafes will have to pay tourist fees that amount to four per cent of…
PESHAWAR: Mohammad Atif Khan, Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has said that the provincial government has approved projects worth Rs30 billion for the development of schemes for the tourism, culture, sports and youth affairs sectors in the merged districts. He was addressing an event organised in connection with the economic empowerment of the youth of the merged districts on Tuesday. The minister holds the portfolios of tourism, sports, culture and youth affairs in the KP cabinet. Khan told those residents of Swat, Chitral and Hazara who rent their homes to tourists that they would be given a grant of Rs1 million…