Turin: 2006 Olympic host city blends traditional charm and modern edge

TURIN, Italy ---- Turin has everything you'd expect to love about an Italian city near the Alps: moonlit piazzas, baroque churches, fairy-tale castles. They're stunning, of course, but the city's originality comes from the cool, contemporary touches that don't strike you at first glance.

One minute, you might find yourself admiring a stately 18th-century building. Look closer, and you see the cheeky piece of modern art that adorns it: a giant silver "body piercing" stuck right through the cornerstone. That's Turin ---- traditional and trendy.

The city, getting ready now to host the 2006 Winter Olympics, has always been masterful at reinventing itself. It was the seat of the Savoy kings, the first capital of a unified Italy, home to the factories of the Fiat auto empire and, now, a thriving center for contemporary art and design.

Like Pittsburgh, Turin (Torino in Italian) is trying to shed a reputation for sputtering smokestacks. Many of the factories have moved away to find cheaper labor, and Fiat has fallen on hard times. The Olympics are part of efforts to find a new future.

Considering it's the birthplace of Italian industry, today Turin seems surprisingly pristine. It has green parks, clean, wide boulevards and snow-covered mountains in the distance that boast a network of ski resorts called the Via Lattea, or "Milky Way" ---- more than 200 interconnected pistes that extend into France.

Olympic visitors will want to set aside at least two full days for the city's highlights, and more to see the Savoy castles and nature parks of the surrounding Piedmont region. Piedmont, famed for hazelnuts and the white truffles that are harvested each autumn, shares the Alps with neighboring France and Switzerland and is crossed by Italy's longest river, the Po.

At night, Turin is a perfect place to unwind after a long day in the spectator stands.

A typical winter evening might start out in one of the cafes, sipping a Martini vermouth or, for caffeine-lovers, a bicerin ---- Turin's signature bitter blend of coffee, milk and chocolate. The city is famous for its cafe culture.

The bars come in all types, from hip to cozy, but visitors should definitely try one of the historical cafes on or around the 17th-century Piazza San Carlo, which is sometimes compared to Paris' elegant Place Vendome. (Now, like much of the city, the square is a huge construction site. Workers are putting in underground parking.)

On the piazza, Caffe Torino is somewhat expensive, but the gilt-and-marble decor can't be beat, the waiters wear tuxedos and there's a mouthwatering spread of appetizers that come free with a drink at the bar.

Evening is the best time for a passeggiata, or stroll. Thanks to an initiative to bring in lighting installations by contemporary artists, the city is magical at night. These aren't your typical Christmas decorations ---- they utterly transform Turin.

Don't miss Via Po, a street of white buildings with arcade passageways. At night, a solar system of lights glitters overhead, with a fanciful array of floating planets, stars and moons designed by the Italian artist Giulio Paolini.

A Frenchman, Daniel Buren, designed a sea of small lanterns to float above a city square at Piazza Palazzo di Citta. Down the street, you can find the "body piercing" that was hooked to the corner of a historical building in 1996 by Corrado Levi and a group of young architects known by the name Cliostraadt.

When it's time to eat, enjoy: The region boasts some of Italy's best cuisine. Foodies say that most of the truly great culinary experiences are had in Turin's surroundings, but the city has some gems. Tre Galline in the Quadrilatero neighborhood has a whimsical trompe l'oeil decor and an endless tasting menu for $45. (Don't pass up the panna cotta on the dessert tray.)

In any restaurant with traditional fare, carnivores will want to try bollito misto, a plate of mixed boiled meats. Piedmont also gave the world Barolo, Barbaresco and Asti Spumante wines.

Anyone still on their feet after all the food and drink can check out the dance clubs at Docks Dora, a converted site of former warehouses.

For many visitors, the letdown of the city is not being able to see the Shroud of Turin, which is rarely put on exhibit. The Duomo cathedral displays a photographic reproduction of the linen strip that some believe was Jesus' burial cloth, but it may be better to plan another travel stop instead.

Fiat's old Lingotto plant is one interesting choice ---- it's part of the city's attempts to give new life to abandoned industrial areas. The factory was reinvented by the maverick contemporary architect Renzo Piano, who topped it off with a distinctive glass bubble and turned it into a postindustrial mall, concert hall, conference center and art gallery that houses treasures collected by Giovanni Agnelli, the late Fiat magnate.

Children will appreciate the mummies and artifacts at the Egyptian Museum, which has one of the world's most extensive collections. Parco del Valentino, a green stretch along the river's edge, has great paths for Rollerblading and biking, and Via Garibaldi will please teenagers with its inexpensive shops and people-watching potential. In between the stores are lovely baroque churches. Thanks to the Savoys, the city boasts some of Europe's best architecture in that style.

The most unusual building in Turin's skyline is the Mole Antonelliana, which was originally conceived as a synagogue and is emblazoned on Italy's 2-cent euro coins. A faux Greek temple perches atop the square base; on top of that, there's a needle reaching into the sky.

Inside is an excellent, interactive cinema museum and a futuristic elevator that sweeps visitors up to the best panoramic view of the mountains and the city.

Right now, what stands out are all the pre-Olympic construction cranes piercing the sky ---- a sign Turin is reinventing itself yet again.

If You Go ...

GETTING AROUND: The city's first subway line is still under construction. Buses and trams are generally efficient, but the best way to explore the accessible city center is to bundle up and walk. Even if it's raining, the city has 11 miles of arcades to protect visitors from the elements.

WHAT TO EAT: Beyond the fine wines, Piedmont is home to gianduiotto, a blend of chocolate and hazelnuts savored around the world under the name Nutella. Less sugary regional specialties include white truffles and strong cheeses such as Gorgonzola.

WHERE TO STAY: During the Olympics, even mountain-lovers may have to stay in Turin because of the shortage of shelter in the hills.

Olympic organizers say they have booked all the three- to five-star hotels, so try the cheaper places first. The figure-skating arena is about 20 minutes by bus from the city center, for example, while skiing events are tougher to reach. The main mountain parking lot and train drop-off site is in Oulx, 45 miles away. Organizers say the best choice is to take a train from the city center. Traffic will be strictly limited on the narrow Alpine roads.

OLYMPIC TICKETS: In the European Union, tickets can be purchased through the Turin Olympics Web site, www.torino2006.org. A list of ticket agents for countries outside the EU is also available. The U.S. agent is at www.cosport.com/ or (877) 457-4647.

SKIING: Local skiing lasts into April. Visit www.vialattea.it/ and www.montagnedoc.it/ for information.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For transit, tours and accommodations in Turin, visit www.turismotorino.org/. For information about the Piedmont region, www.regione.piemonte.it/lingue/english/index.htm.

Taj group to roll out 10 more indiOne hotels

Hospitality industry has more room for budget hotels


Following the success of its first budget hotel, indiOne, in Bangalore, the Taj Group of hotels is setting up 10 hotels across key destinations in the country.

The ‘smart basics hotels’, as the company has named this venture, is operated under Roots Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which also owns the Taj Group.

The new properties, covering seven states will come up in 2005-06. The investment for setting up a hotel is around Rs 10 crore. Raymond Bickson, managing director of IHCL said, “After the success of our venture in Bangalore, we are now rolling out 10 hotels in the first phase across the country.” Launched in June last year, IndiOne Bangalore has achieved an average occupancy of over 85 per cent.

According to Ajoy Mishra, vice-president of marketing, Taj group, “The returns on smart basics hotels are quite attractive considering that operating and capital costs are quite low.”

The revenue mix for the Taj group could see a shift with budget hotels expected to contribute significantly in the long term. Currently, the luxury division accounts for the largest pie to the group’s turnover.

IndiOne will be coming up at Pune, Nasik, Mysore, Hardwar, Panaji, Bhubhaneshwar, Varanasi, Trivandrum, Jamshedpur and Durgapur with 100 rooms in two years. The second phase would consist of 200 room hotels. The unique proposition of the upoming hotels is that all of them will be identical in terms of structure, design and interiors.

The Taj group, which has been following an asset light strategy, will also adopt a similar business model for its indiOne budget hotels. As per the strategy, it will only manage the property, while investment in terms of land and constructing the hotel will be done by a third party.

However, the 100-room property in Bangalore was entirely funded by the group. “We will drive this business through a mix of our investment and through management contracts,” said a Taj group executive.

A single room at indiOne hotel is priced at Rs 900, while a double room is available at Rs 950.

Accor partners InterGlobe on Indian economy hotels

Indian travel company InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific said on Tuesday they had formed a joint venture to set up economy hotels in South Asia.

The new firm, InterGlobe Hotels, a 60:40 venture between InterGlobe and France’s Accor, will develop about 25 “Ibis” economy hotels across India and South Asia over the next 10 to 12 years with an investment of more than $195 million.
Accor, which also owns the Sofitel hotel chain, will position Ibis hotels as a value-for-money offering, a statement said.
Hotels are already being built in two Indian cities, and as many as six other locations were being evaluated. “We are excited about establishing our presence in the world’s fastest-growing travel market and look to introduce our other major brands — Sofitel, Novotel, and Mercure — when the appropriate projects become available,” said Michael Issenberg, managing director of Accor Asia Pacific.
Ibis will compete with “no-frills” indione, recently launched by the country’s biggest chain, Indian Hotels Ltd and Fortune from
ITC Hotels Ltd, the third-biggest group, besides hundreds of smaller regional players.
— Reuters

Accor partners InterGlobe on Indian economy hotels

Indian travel company InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific said on Tuesday they had formed a joint venture to set up economy hotels in South Asia.

The new firm, InterGlobe Hotels, a 60:40 venture between InterGlobe and France’s Accor, will develop about 25 “Ibis” economy hotels across India and South Asia over the next 10 to 12 years with an investment of more than $195 million.
Accor, which also owns the Sofitel hotel chain, will position Ibis hotels as a value-for-money offering, a statement said.
Hotels are already being built in two Indian cities, and as many as six other locations were being evaluated. “We are excited about establishing our presence in the world’s fastest-growing travel market and look to introduce our other major brands — Sofitel, Novotel, and Mercure — when the appropriate projects become available,” said Michael Issenberg, managing director of Accor Asia Pacific.
Ibis will compete with “no-frills” indione, recently launched by the country’s biggest chain, Indian Hotels Ltd and Fortune from
ITC Hotels Ltd, the third-biggest group, besides hundreds of smaller regional players.
— Reuters

Air fare increase sticks this time

Northwest Airlines, which last week hiked fares $5 for trips under 1,000 miles and $10 for longer ones like Hawaii flights, still had those fares in effect on most routes Tuesday night, after other airlines mostly matched the hikes.

For years, various big five airlines have announced fare increases just before a weekend, only to rescind them the following Monday or Tuesday after competitors declined to match. Often it was Northwest, with less direct competition from discount carriers than the other legacy airlines, which held out, forcing the others to return to lower fares.
This time, Northwest said soaring jet fuel prices made the increases necessary, and rival carriers agreed. Northwest did make exceptions to its own policy on routes where it does have direct competition from discount airlines.

In another sign of changing times for air fares, Delta Air Lines this week has ended traditional "bereavement fares." Some other airlines are also phasing these out but the other big five carriers have not done so.
The National Business Travel Association says published domestic fares over the past two months have averaged 7 percent cheaper than the same time last year, a savings of $20 per average one-way ticket.

NBTA said fare complexity overall appears actually to have increased since Delta Air Lines announced a simplified fare structure.


© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc. Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Airlines fear $60-a-barrel oil price

Airline executives, burdened by huge losses despite fair hikes and capacity cuts, fear oil prices may reach $60 a barrel, USA Today reports.One consultant said his airline clients are running worst-case financial simulations to anticipate the effects.Jet fuel accounts for major portion of airlines' operating expenses and oil prices have been rising all year, currently hovering at over $55 a barrel. Recent decisions by large airlines to raise fares by as much as $20 for a round trip won't cover the added costs in fuel prices, said consultant David Swierenga of Vienna, Va.He said continuation of jet-fuel costs at current levels will add $600 million to airlines' operating costs for the January-March quarter, 11 percent higher than what had been budgeted.Despite an expected increase in passengers, Swierenga now expects the industry to lose as much as $2.5 billion this year, driving cumulative losses since 2000 to $33 billion.Most carriers are defenseless against increases in fuel prices because they lack the cash or financial credibility to lock in a future price by contract, the report said.

Big News NetworkTuesday 8th March, 2005 (UPI)

IATA: Air travel safer than ever

Air travel safety reached record levels in 2004, the International Air Transport Association reported Monday.The Geneva-based IATA said while air traffic increased by 15 percent from 2003 to 2004, the number of accidents only increased by four, from 99 accidents to 103, or 4 percent. Over 1.8 billion people traveled safely in 2004.
Tragically, however, 428 people lost their lives in commercial aircraft accidents. To put that into perspective, that is a similar number to 1945 when the industry carried only 9 million passengers, IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said. He said his group is committed to reducing the accident rate by another 25 percent by 2006.

Big News NetworkTuesday 8th March, 2005 (UPI)

Britons pay more for same holidays, says watchdog

British holidaymakers are paying over the odds for breaks that cost up to a third less elsewhere in Europe, according to a consumer watchdog report.

Holiday Which? discovered that the international travel firm Tui, the owner of Thomson UK, charges Britons £237 more than their Dutch counterparts for an identical week's holiday in the Canaries.
The price difference is so great that UK holidaymakers would save money buying the package holiday in Holland and then catching a cheap flight to Amsterdam.
Tui insisted that the prices were set independently in each country "according to the local market conditions". However the findings raise concerns that holiday prices are inflated in Britain.
Which? chose Tui because the company owns travel agents and tour operators across Europe.
The company's British brochure advertises a week at a Tui-owned hotel in Gran Canaria for £760 in September. The same holiday, at the Riu Palace Maspalomas, costs £523 for Tui's Dutch customers and £575 for Germans.
Which? found the holidays had the same departure date, flight time, hotel and standard of room. The German package included free rail tickets to and from the airport.
Bob Tolliday, of Holiday Which?, said: "If Tui can offer these prices to holidaymakers in Germany and Holland, they should be able to offer them to the British as well."
The travel industry has repeatedly denied allegations that packages cost more in Britain, he said.
"They argue that you can't compare one company with another. But here we have the same company from start to finish. This is an indication that perhaps British customers are expected to pay more because they can."
A spokesman for Tui UK said the prices reflected market conditions and local demand in each country.
"Tui in each country operates as a separate company," he said. "The travel market is different in each country." The price could be higher in Britain because demand was greater, or because British holidaymakers were prepared to pay more, he said.
"The travel industry is hugely diverse. You can't draw conclusions from one example."
• No-frills airlines are far more popular among passengers than some of the bigger scheduled carriers, Holiday Which? suggests.
A survey of customer satisfaction among nearly 27,000 readers ranked Singapore Airlines top, with an 82 per cent approval rating. Virgin Atlantic scored 60 per cent, well ahead of its rival British Airways at 31 per cent.
EasyJet (51 per cent), Flybe (48 per cent), Monarch Scheduled (46 per cent) and Bmi baby (42 per cent) all did much better than several established scheduled carriers including Air Canada, United Airlines, American Airlines and Lufthansa.
Towards the bottom of the table were the traditional holiday airlines Thomas Cook (15 per cent), First Choice (12 per cent) and My Travel (12 per cent).

By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Telegraph)

Lightning makes space travel safe

LIGHTNING plays an unexpected, key role in clearing Earth's radiation and making space travel safe for humans and orbiters, NASA said yesterday."Lightning is the responsible wave, interacts with particles and ... literally rains into our atmosphere and gets washed out," NASA research scientist Jim Green said at Goddard Space Flight Centre, outside Washington.
In 1958, US space probes mapped two radiation belts encircling Earth. Ever since, scientists have been trying to figure out why there are two belts, not one, and what forms a "slot" between them.
"Lightning is the culprit," Mr Green said.
"It's clearing out the slot region or creating this safe zone and [lets] NASA ... use this region for a variety of spacecraft to orbit and not suffer the high doses of radiation that occur in other belts."

NASA wants to know how Earth's twin radiation belts are formed, so they can apply that knowledge to interplanetary travel, because the radiation in those belts could hit an astronaut with a dose of radiation akin to that of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.
"Everything in space is trying to kill us when we get into a spacecraft and go anywhere, everything is also trying to kill the spacecraft," Mr Green said.
So, the new data will help NASA and communications companies place satellites.
"As we launch more spacecraft, pagers and direct TV, what orbits do we put them in?" Mr Green said.
Radiation constantly batters Earth, from solar flares, explosions deep within our own galaxy and other planets. At some times of year, the bombardment can fill the slot between Earth's radiation belts.
Lightning clears out that path and restores order to the Earth's radiation belts in weeks - depending on the time of year, Mr Green said.
NASA's IMAGE satellite, which travels over both poles, mapped the belts and compared them with lightning strikes weather satellites recorded. The time lightning takes to clear out the slot depends on the number of strikes, dependent on the time of year.
When deluged with radiation during a Southern Hemisphere summer, the smaller number of lightning strikes over the oceans means the slot or safe zone between Earth's dual magnetic rings takes longer to clear.


This story is from our news.com.au network
Source: The Daily Telegraph

Bargain cruises are far from plain sailing with a British passport

BEING British frequently poses a significant disadvantage to bargain-conscious cruise ship passengers. The cruise market is the only sector of the travel trade which has continued to expand in the last decade, and cruise sales in the UK outstrip all other European countries, making it second only to the United States in volume.
Yet visit the most popular cruise discount website, Vacationstogo.com and you will find a US list and a UK list, the first four times the length of the second. And this is not dependent on the ports. On 2 May, the Cunard ship QE2 sails from Southampton on a 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean. It is being offered at 60 per cent off. Fancy it? Well forget it, unless you hold an American passport. For though the ship flies the Red Ensign and begins this cruise in the UK, the reduction is not available to the British.
But Cunard (now, like the majority of cruise lines, owned by the megalithic Carnival Corporation) is not the only discriminatory company on the high seas. P&O-affiliated Princess Line will schmooze Americans for a ten-day trip around northern Europe, from Southampton to Amsterdam, leaving on 22 May with 55 per cent discounts - as long as you aren’t British.
If you are, the charming chap at Vacations To Go will tell you how sorry he is, but that the cruise line does not permit these discounts to be sold in the UK. Why? "You had better take that up with them."
I have tried. Both Cunard and Princess, after a lengthy pause, finally replied to the effect that their brochures were tailor-made for each country, and price differences reflected air fares and other considerations. But there are no air fares included in the Vacations to Go package. It is a cruise-only price. What possible difference should a passport make to that?
Perhaps Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Costa, Oceania and the many other cruise lines who favour US customers above all, would like to reply

Gillian Glover (The Scotsman)

Budget Travel takes over Portlaoise Travel Group

Tour operator Budget Travel has reached an agreement with the Portlaoise Travel Group which will see all six shops of the Group becoming Budget Travel shops from today.The deal is expected to bring as many as 10,000 new packages to Budget Travel holidays a year and will increase the number of Budget Travel shops nationwide to 38.Budget Travel has also confirmed today that despite a row about commission with travel agents, the firm has increased the number of holidays sold by 18% since January 1 compared to same period in 2004.

World tourism growth seen slowing this year

LISBON (Reuters) — World travel and tourism is expected to grow 5.1% this year, slowing from a rebound of 6.8% the year before, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said on Monday.
The world
travel and tourism economy is forecast to expand to $7.8 trillion in 2005 as it returns to more normal growth rates, the London-based trade association said.
Asia represented one of the greatest world growth markets, especially because of the rapidly growing numbers of Chinese and Indian tourists, said WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten.
"The pendulum is definitely swinging to Asia," he told a news conference on Portugal's travel and tourism.

The travel and tourism economy, which comprises direct and indirect revenues from the sector, declined 2.7% in 2002 because of the September 2001 attacks on the United States, according to Rick Miller, the WTTC's executive vice president.

It expanded 3.4% in 2003, with the SARS epidemic hampering growth, he said.
"There was a really healthy rebound last year and we are just getting back to a normal rate," he said in a telephone interview from New York.

The major growth markets forecast for 2004 include China, the United States, France, Germany and Spain, Miller said.
Expansion in the 25-nation European Union (EU) is estimated at 4% this year, the same as in 2004.
World growth was expected at 4% annually through 2015, while EU expansion was estimated at 3.2%.

HONG KONG TO BUILD 35 HOTELS IN FIVE YEARS

HONG KONG, March 4 Asia Pulse - Hong Kong will build 35 hotels in five years, Hong Kong's Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen told the Legislative Council here.
According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board's (HKTB) "Hotel SupplySituation as at September 2004," 35 hotels will be completed in the coming five years with a total of 14,973 rooms.

He went on to say that HKTB classifies the hotels in Hong Kong into "high tariff A," "high tariff B" and "medium tariff" based ontheir facilities, location, staff to room ratio, achieved room rate and business mix. More than half of the new hotels will be expected to be medium tariff ones, he said.
All along, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has been business-friendly to facilitate the development of the hotel industry, he noted.

Source : Moneyplans.net

Dubai economy hotels record good business in 2004

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has held this year’s first meeting of Dubai’s Economy Hotel Group representing one, two and three star properties and standard hotels at the DTCM Head Office recently.

Chaired by the DTCM Manager Licensing and Classification, Mr. Khalid bin Touq, the meeting discussed a wide range of hospitality industry-related issues concerning the Dubai Municipality, Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Department of Civil Aviation.

The DTCM officials briefed the participants about the continuing efforts to better the Dubai experience for the visitors and enhance quality levels of service and standards in the hospitality industry.

The panel members reported ‘very good business’ in the year 2004 and anticipate even better business this year with occupancy rates remaining high after the DSF-2005.

A Task Force comprising four representatives from the Economy Hotel Group has been formed to meet with representatives of other hotel establishments and come up with 2005 Group Objectives.