The passing away of Mr. Asghar Ahmed on October 1, 1999 was the demise of an institution; an institution built on sincerity, knowledge and on high professionalism. Seniors still recall how in his person as well as in his publication Mr. Asghar was a pillar institution of Pakistan’s tourist industry and, of course, the Industry also gave him the level of friendship and respect which have been earned by very few media persons in Pakistan. For his unique qualities of head and heart, he was invited to all forums of the industry and his counsel was sought and received respectfully…
Author: holidayweekly
MINGORA: The international archaeologists from the universities of Italy and United Kingdom have launched a comprehensive three different researches with the scientific agreement between the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan (ISMEO) and the KP Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, with the aim to understand the use of technology, material, types and techniques in ceramics, ornamental stone beads, glass beads, bangles and other material used by the ancient people from Achaemenids to Kushanas living in the ancient valley of Swat. Professor Ivana Angelini from the Department of Cultural Heritage in the University of Padova, Italy, along with another scholar Cinzia Bettineschi…
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s Post -Hajj operation of transporting pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan successfully concluded with an overall flight punctuality of more than 90 per cent. The last Post Hajj flight reached Karachi on Wednesday in the early morning, said a statement. PIA transported more than 68,500 Hujjaj through 240 Hajj and Regular scheduled flights from Jeddah and Madinah to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Sialkot, Multan and Faisalabad stations. It included 158 regular and 82 special flights, nearly 28,868 Hujjaj through Hajj flights and 39,653 Hujjaj through regular scheduled flights to Pakistan. Chairman & CEO PIA, Saqib…
DUBAI: Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform, was named the Best Technology Partner to the travel and hospitality industry in the Middle East for the second consecutive year at Arabian Travel Awards, which was recently held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Deira, Dubai. During the ceremony, the company also scooped the Best Travel Technology Provider award, a category formerly known as Best Global Distribution System, which Travelport also won in 2017. Arabian Travel Awards is an annual event designed to support, promote and develop the Middle East Travel and Hospitality industry by identifying and rewarding excellence, and inspiring its…
LAHORE: The Government of Punjab has decided to explore new avenues for tourism in the province. The Government also plans to venture into projects in collaboration with private sector, said Senior Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan. He was presiding over the party’s 100-day plan review meeting in Lahore. Punjab Tourism Minister Raja Yasir Humayun, Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Husain Durrani, Punjab tourism department secretary and other senior officials of departments concerned also attended the meeting. The minister underscored that apart from Murree, several untapped tourism avenues are available in the province such as Khushab, Taxila, Kotli Satiaan and Rohtaas where…
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines, The National Flag Carrier of Pakistan, has recently finalized on changing their hosting solution to Hitit Computer Services with state of the art features for an enhanced reservation experience. “We, at Travelport, welcome the National Carrier and extend our services to cater to PIA distribution, reservation & ticketing requirements.”said Mr. Shaheen Premani, COO TSL (Pvt.) Ltd. Through Travelport GDS platform, all IATA agents shall have the capability to make reservations and issue the tickets for their customers. In order to ensure a smooth transition and ease the training of our agency users, training videos have been…
MADRID: UNWTO announced a competition, focused on the search for innovative startups capable of transforming the way people travel and experience tourism, while adhering closely to the principles of sustainability (economic, social, environmental). The first edition of the UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition, organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in partnership with Globalia, the leading tourism group in Spain and Latin America, is the world’s first and largest initiative devoted to identifying new companies that will lead the transformation of the tourism sector and fostering innovation ecosystems through tourism. The semi-finalists have been invited to present their projects in the…
NEW DELHI: First ever Indian Travel Mart was organized in New Delhi from 16th to 18th September 2018. Earlier it was announced that PM Modi will inaugurate the event, however the event was inaugurated by Mr. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways and Coal in the presence of Union Tourism Minister, K J Alphons and the Tourism Minister of Morocco, Mohamed Sajid. Inaugurating the event, Goyal wished the best to the Tourism Ministry to reach the ambitious goal of US$100 billion FTA receipts/year within 5 years. He said that unless the infrastructure is improved, India can’t come up as a…
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has introduced a new ‘social messaging’ plan which provides all passengers with free access to iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp onboard. Saudia is the first airline in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia regions to introduce a complimentary social media messaging plan onboard flights. On May 5 this year, Saudia initially introduced the free Whatsapp plan onboard domestic flights, which expanded to include all international flights less than a month later, on May 31. As of today, more than 500,000 guests have logged on and experienced the free Whatsapp plan. Four months later, the…
DOHA: Qatar Airways reported on Tuesday a $69 million loss for the financial year ending March 31, citing a regional political dispute that has seen it banned from four Arab countries. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain have banned Qatar Airways since June 2017 as part of a dispute they have with the government of Qatar. “This turbulent year has inevitably had an impact on our financial results,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a statement. Adding “the most challenging year in its 20-year history”. The airline, which restated its year-earlier profit to 2.8 billion riyals,…