BRASILIA: Brazil’s visa waiver policy announced in March is generating positive results for the tourism and hospitality industry of the country. A study done by Amadeus Group shows a significant increase in the number of reservations made in the United States, as well as in Canada, Japan and Australia, the three countries benefiting from the new policy. Amadeus is one of the 10 largest technology companies in the world and one of the three largest in the travel segment. In the United States, the increase was 53% in the number of trips confirmed for June and 97% in July compared…
Author: holidayweekly
BEIJING: China’s government has formulated an emergency work plan to repair dilapidated sections of the Great Wall in the next five years, according to the municipal cultural heritage authorities China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration has vowed to strengthen the protection of the Great Wall. The protection and restoration work should ensure that the Great Wall relics remain where they originally existed and maintain their original look. The work plan has set 2,772 meters of the Great Wall and 17 towers as the priority for “emergency repair” over the next three years. Beijing boasts a total length of 520.77 km of…
PESHAWAR: Chairman National Tourism Board (NTB) Zulfi Bukhari on Saturday said that establishment of tourism zone would prove a milestone in the development of tourism sector and attracting more tourists and visitors to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is establishing tourism zone to promote sector across the province. It would be followed by Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan to get the desired results of digital and sustainable development in the tourism sector,” Zulfi Bukhari said while speaking as chief guest at the 4th Tech Valley Conference 2019 in Abbottabad. Senator Azam Swati, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Khalid Maqbool…
LAHORE: The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) took another initiative to promote tourism by holding a paintings and photography exhibition in the hall of its head office under the theme of “Visual Narration of Punjab” for the promotion of young artists and photographers to display their artwork to the general public. Talking to the media on the occasion of inauguration of the exhibition, Minister for Tourism Raja Yassir Hamayun said that the present government is taking every possible measure for the promotion of tourism in Punjab. He said the Chakwal Jeep Rally which was recently held to help promote…
SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC), has received its first Airbus (A321neo Long Range). The aircraft flew nonstop from Airbus’s facility in Hamburg to Sharjah International Airport. Air Arabia is the first Middle Eastern airline to operate the A321neo LR and this delivery is the first of six aircraft that will join Air Arabia’s fleet that comprises of 53 A320 Family aircraft serving more than 155 routes across the globe from four hubs in the UAE, (Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah), Morocco and Egypt. The addition of the A321neo LR will…
Etihad Airways has announced a new deal with Amadeus to transform its global load control system. The partnership will be launched worldwide to support Etihad Airways’ ongoing mission to improve operational capabilities and efficiencies. Etihad Airways will use Amadeus Altéa Departure Control Flight Management to improve productivity with increased automation and integration, in order to better manage capacity and reduce costs. These new capabilities will be key at the new Midfield terminal in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to have an annual capacity of 30 million passengers when opened to the public. The solution will enable the airline’s centralised load…
SHANGHAI: Air China has been named partner airline of ITB China 2019, marking the first time that China’s national flag carrier will hold this title. ITB China, which is set to take place from May 15 to 17 in Shanghai, is a B2B exclusive tradeshow and convention designed to be the primary event for the Chinese travel industry. The airline is a member of the world’s largest airline network Star Alliance and operates 445 routes, including 111 international routes, 16 regional routes and 318 domestic routes. Under the heading “Full process aviation experience” Jun Xue, deputy general manager, Sales, Air…
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Airlines is ready to issue the first compensation to the families who lost their beloved ones in the deadly air crash, killing all 157 people on board on March 10, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam told on Wednesday, April. GebreMariam said the airline is making the first compensation payments to the families of the victims and is contacting insurance companies for further compensation plans. The airlines also keeps following up on the DNA identification process, sending DNA samples it has collected to the UK for further analysis, he added. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has asked…
SINGSPORE: Facial recognition technology has made major advancements in recent years, and it’s finding new applications everywhere, from law enforcement to domestic intelligence to retail. It is also gaining traction in the cruise sector; the near-instantaneous speed and high accuracy of facial recognition are advantageous for cruise terminals, where customs officials have to verify the identity of thousands of people each day during boarding and disembarkation. Over the past two years, technology company IDEMIA has worked with Royal Caribbean and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to test biometric identity verification for CBP’s processes at terminals in Miami, Florida and Cape…
DUBAI: Etihad Airways Group Chief Financial Officer Mr. Mark Powers has stepped down after roughly a year in the job as the Abu Dhabi state-owned carrier overhauls its business after years of heavy losses. Powers, who joined in January 2018, resigned for personal reasons and has decided to return to the United States, Etihad said in a statement confirming the news. He has been replaced in the interim by senior Etihad finance executive Adam Boukadida, the airline said on Tuesday. Etihad said it was searching for a permanent replacement. Etihad did not say when Powers left the airline. Boukadida has…