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The purchase was approved by the airline board of directors headed by Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz. Saudi Arabia has for years said it plans to open up its aviation sector to competition and privatise Saudi Arabian Airlines, which remains the sole domestic carrier for now. . Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp (Reuters) |
More than 3,400 Japanese people have canceled tours to China since recent violent anti-Japan protests in that country, according to data from eight major travel agencies compiled Thursday.
JTB Corp., Japan's largest travel agency, said its cancellations totaled 590 as of Tuesday.
Tokyu Tourist Corp. said that although it had received reservations from about 4,000 people for trips to China in April and May, about 1,000 of them have canceled their orders.
New bookings of tours to China are also decreasing sharply. In the week through Wednesday, for example, Jalpak Co. received 60 percent fewer reservations than usual.
Tours to China have been in strong demand over the past few years as they no longer require visas while major airlines have increased flights to China.
JTB earlier forecast that a record 95,000 Japanese tourists would visit China during this year's long Golden Week holidays in Japan from late April to early May.
But in view of accelerating cancellations, the number of tourists to China appears likely to fall short of the projection.
Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and 11 Japanese domestic airlines have received cancellations of some 5,000 bookings of flights from Japan to China during the Golden Week period.
Source: Kyodo News International, TokyoKnight Ridder/Tribune Business News
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In an effort to increase business andmaintain a leadership position in the Alaska cruise market, the Vancouver PortAuthority, in partnership with the Vancouver International Airport Authority(YVR), has launched a new "U.S. Direct" strategic initiative for the start ofthe 2005 cruise season. The initiative streamlines passenger processing andimproves transit times through Vancouver. "U.S.
Direct strengthens our competitive position by making Vancouver amore attractive departure point for passengers travelling to Alaska anddemonstrates the value of working with our partners at YVR and governmentagencies," said Gordon Houston, President and CEO of the Vancouver PortAuthority. "This initiative would not have succeeded without the support ofCanada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection."
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Source: Big News Network |
The Bush administration is considering requiring foreign airlines to check the names of passengers on all flights over the United States against government watch lists.
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The proposal would most affect airlines in Mexico and Canada because the majority of the hundreds of flights each day come from those countries.
Currently, foreign airlines planning to land in the United States must submit passenger and crew lists to the government within 15 minutes of departure. The names are checked against lists of people considered terrorists or who otherwise could present a danger.
Airlines must do the same for crew members on flights over the United States. Now the Transportation Security Administration is considering requiring airlines to check the names of passengers, spokesman Mark Hatfield said.
The goal would be to add one more layer of protection against hijackings.
Cliff Mackay, president of the Air Transport Association of Canada, said Canadian and U.S. officials are discussing the idea.
One question, Mackay said, would be whether U.S. authorities would want passengers checked on east-west flights that might skirt U.S. airspace or only on those flights that significantly go into U.S. territory.
Source: LESLIE MILLER
Associated Press
Business traveler Sherry Lucas doesn't trust hotels' wake-up calls or their clock radios. The result: She wakes up every hour or two during nights she spends on the road, depriving her of much-needed rest.
"I never oversleep, because I haven't really gotten to sleep in the first place," says the New Jersey financial services consultant who spent about 85 nights in hotels last year.
Two new surveys confirm that road warriors are getting insufficient sleep. More than a third of adult travelers say they rarely get a good night's sleep while on the road, according to a survey by Radisson Hotels & Resorts and Select Comfort, a bed company.
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Holiday group Thomson has announced it will operate transatlantic flights from the summer of 2006 from Robin Hood Airport, near Doncaster. Passengers will be able to travel to the Caribbean, Florida and Mexico when the new routes begin. The first scheduled Thomsonfly flight is due to take off from the former RAF Finningley base on 28 April. | ||
The most expensive hotels in the world cater to a tough, albeit well-heeled,
crowd.
Rap stars, tycoons, royalty and CEOs know the difference between the sublime
and the merely impressive. What's more, if the champagne is not properly chilled,
the thread count on the sheets inadequate, the luggage not brought up with alacrity
or the morning coffee served anything less than piping hot, they may take their
Black cards and Gucci shoes elsewhere
At a certain level--and price point--a hotel room ceases to be simply  When a hotel charges four-figures per night, it is acutely aware of the |
company TravelWizard.com in California, compares it with the airlines, which
through different discount offers and affinity groups can often give the best
customers lower rates. "When we're thinking about what we can get the hotel
for, we never think in terms of rack rate since we almost never have to pay
it," he says.
But one doesn't need to be a billionaire or a talk show host to get the star
treatment. In Las Vegas, for example, at The Mansion at The MGM Grand, a subsidiary
of Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Mirage, most guests may never know that the official
rack rate starts at $5,000 per night because rooms are almost exclusively reserved
for the casino's highest rollers, who stay for free.
Yet, it is possible to be an ordinary mortal and still get a great room for
less. Thanks to affinity cards, corporate discounts, airline miles and other
programs, there are many ways to shave hundreds of dollars per night off the
cost of even the most expensive rooms. Of course, not every hotel offers such
discounts. But, depending on who you are, you or your personal assistant may
be able to work out a more favorable rate. One thing that doesn't change, thank
goodness--even if the price does come down--is the quality of the service.
Marriott International Inc. reports first quarter net income of $145 million, up 27 percent from the same quarter last year.
Revenues rose 13 percent. Lodging operation income surged 34 percent.
"The favorable demand momentum that we saw building in 2004 has continued into 2005," CEO J.W. Marriott Jr. said. "Demand for our hotels is strong in most markets around the world."
First quarter at a glance:
Synthetic fuel operations contributed approximately $18 million in the first quarter versus $11 million a year earlier.
Same-store revpars -- revenues per available room -- rose 9.2 percent from the same quarter last year, driven mostly by rate increases. Marriott now expects 8 percent to 10 percent growth this year.
Marriott (NYSE: MAR) hotels under development or awaiting conversion: 350 hotels and more than 55,000 rooms
Universal Parks & Resorts, the Orlando-based theme-park unit of media titan NBC Universal, is competing against other companies worldwide to help launch a multibillion-dollar casino resort in Singapore.
Parks & Resorts Chairman Tom Williams confirmed this week that Universal has put in a bid for a project on the island of Sentosa. "It's five minutes from the mainland," said Williams, and would include hotels and a theme park that would be owned by the island-nation.
Williams said that, if it's successful in winning rights to at least part of the massive project, Universal would derive revenue from royalties on licensing rather than any ownership stake. The company already has a licensing arrangement with a theme park in Spain.
The company also owns 24 percent of a park in Japan and had worked for more than three years on a proposal for a tourist park in Shanghai, China, before that project was scuttled last year.
Williams said the Chinese government actually pulled the plug on the Shanghai project as part of a redirection of resources in the past year, as the country undergoes an unprecedented building boom. A shortage of steel, concrete and energy played a role in China's State Council decision to allow an approval deadline to lapse last July, Williams said.
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In recent years, Singapore has been known more for its tightly controlled society, with its ban on chewing gum and regimented lifestyles. But the atmosphere has relaxed a bit recently, Pizam said.
"The younger generation wants to go in that direction," he said.
Singapore already has state-controlled lotteries, horse racing and soccer matches that generate gambling receipts. But casinos could draw public opposition in a nation where films are censored and drug dealers are executed.
Manufacturers have been leaving Singapore for lower-cost countries such as China and India, and Singapore's leaders now are looking to make up for that loss by tripling tourism revenue, to $18 billion, by 2015.
Source: By Jerry W. Jackson, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
About 1,000 Japanese, including atomic-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, plan to travel to New York, which hosts a major conference on a nuclear nonproliferation treaty from early May, to make their case against nuclear arms.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organizations is planning to send in concert with several other civic groups around 90 people, including 30 A-bomb survivors.
Source: (Kyodo News)
Source: http://www.reuters.co.uk/ |
From portable potty turf to disposable kitty litter boxes and pet passports, the growing number of travelling pets - estimated at 20 million last year - has spawned an industry dedicated to making the lives of road-weary animals a little easier. The pet travel craze has prompted hotels to offer pet-friendly perks like menus, daycare and playgrounds, the way hotels became kid-friendly a generation ago, Oehler said. Ever since Midwest Airlines introduced a frequent flier pet programme in January, pet travel at the company is up 25 per cent, said Susan Kerwin-Hagen, a Midwest marketing manager. Owner-accompanied pets get a free round-trip ticket after their third domestic round-trip flight. Pets pay a flat fee of $US150 per round-trip to Midwest destinations throughout the United States, a price in line with other airlines. United Airlines also offers pet miles, where for a limited time, Mileage Plus members can earn 1200 bonus miles when travelling with pets. The new airline programmes were good news for Chuck Bessant, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado and takes frequent trips with his three small show dogs. Rules vary on how many pets are allowed in each cabin, and in cargo pets are charged based on their weight. "We are typically treated as if we are carrying a leaky quart of Ebola-tainted blood on a plane," said Bessant, who transports his Australian terriers in the popular Sherpa brand carrier. Experts point to several factors leading to the pet travel boom, among them childless couples who take pets on vacation the same way parents bring the kids. In 2004, pet travel rose 33 per cent to 20 million - 80 per cent of them dogs, according to a survey by the association. Among the other companies capitalizing on pet travel accessories are JoBananas Club, the makers of disposable kitty litter boxes. WalkyDog USA makes a spillproof water device and a hands-free dog carrying pouch. Petco Animal Supplies and PetsMart are also taking note, expanding their offering of travel-related products. A travel centre on Petco's website lists products like the Outward Hound Pet booster seat and pet ramps for sport utility vehicles. And the products keep getting more advanced. Hochman, the owner of PetaPotty, is making an odour-free version of his portable turf, called Smell-U-Lator. "Every month my business is growing and it's not just travelling families buying the product," Hochman said. "Doggie day-care centres and even dog psychics are using it."
People are constantly bringing their pets with them," said Gregg Oehler, publisher of New York Dog Magazine. "I get calls every day from advertisers who have travel as part of their pet product mix."
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Source: PTI |
NEW YORK The once-friendly skies of the nation's major airlines have gotten a little reserved, even irascible of late. And six months from now, the atmosphere at 30,000 feet could deteriorate even further.
Air travel has been undergoing a steady metamorphosis since 9/11, with carriers shrinking legroom, pulling free meals, and even eliminating complimentary pillows. And thanks to high oil prices and intense competition from upstarts like Jet Blue and Southwest, the process is only accelerating.
"It's good news for the airlines that they've been able to accomplish what they have in terms of cost-cutting," says Kevin Mitchell, president of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel executives. "But the long-term trend is still declining yields, so it's not a pretty picture."
Since deregulation in 1978, the nation's major airlines have thrived in a boom-and-bust cycle, economizing during recessions only to rake in money once economic indicators started looking up again. But in this last economic upturn, the majors continued to lose money. Because of high fuel prices, they're on track to lose an estimated $5.5 billion this year.
That means, as Dave Swierenga of AeroEcon Consulting puts it, "They have not filled up their barns, they haven't prepared themselves to weather the next downturn."
As the economy slows, it's going to become even more difficult for them to borrow money. Without good credit, the legacy carriers will find it difficult to buy the new planes needed to meet growing passenger demand. And because they're not rebuilding their fleets with more efficient planes, they also won't be able to bring their costs down as fast as they need to in order to keep up with the low-cost carriers.
"I see that as a serious threat to the future of the industry, at least when you're talking about the next 10 years or so," says Mr. Swierenga.
But Swierenga isn't ready to write off the majors yet. He contends that they've proved to be "vigorous competitors" by pioneering such cost-saving innovations as check-in kiosks. Some majors are also picking up on the cost-saving strategies employed by the low-cost carriers.
For instance, JetBlue and Southwest fly primarily point to point, in other words, direct from one destination to another. As soon as their planes land, they clean them and fill them back up again. The legacy carriers operate in what's called the hub-and-spoke system. They bring in as many planes from different locations as possible into a central hub location and give them an hour or more to unload so people can make connections. That's good for the consumer who doesn't have to wait around too long to catch a connecting flight, and it gives the airlines a much bigger network and geographic reach. But the downside is that it's inefficient: The planes sit on the tarmac unused, and crews have longer waits between flights.
The legacy carriers premised their hub-and-spoke systems on the notion that business passengers would pay a premium for the convenience of more connecting flights. Some, like Delta, are now scheduling their flights to use their aircraft and personnel more efficiently.
That brings up yet another issue for the large, older carriers - changing expectations. For decades they've focused their advertising on their great service and frequent-flier benefits. Now, the low-cost carriers are touting low prices rather than perks. As the big carriers have had to cut back, service is suffering and passengers can't help noticing, says Clint Oster, an aviation economist at Indiana University in Bloomington.
"You have some nervous and unhappy people on the front lines for the legacy carriers," says Professor Oster. "If your carrier is bankrupt, you've probably already given back wages and benefits and so many people have been laid off that those who are left are the more senior, those who remember the good old days. So it's not too surprising that you see some discontent."
At the same time, more people are flying JetBlue and SouthWest and realizing that in addition to offering lower fares, the low-cost carriers also have cheerful employees and great on-time performance, to say nothing of the free TV on JetBlue.
Indeed, for the first time, five of the top six carriers rated by the annual Airline Quality Rating survey were low-cost carriers.
"The big problem for the legacy carriers is still trying to get their overall costs in line, without sacrificing the quality," says Richard Gritta, an aviation economist at the University of Portland in Oregon. "That's really, really tough when you're inefficient to start with and then you throw in the price of oil, which has pushed $60 a barrel."
In addition, more people are flying now than pre-9/11, but they are also paying far less to do so. According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), the lobbying arm for the nation's largest carriers, passenger revenues used to make up between 0.95 and 1 percent of gross domestic product. This year, they accounted for 0.7 percent. This means that $29.3 billion that used to be spent on airlines, no longer is.
The result is that the nation's aviation system will look very different in five years.
"I see convergence. The low-cost carriers are becoming more like network carriers, and network carriers are becoming more like low-cost carriers," says John Heimlich, an economist at the ATA. "Something that's the best of both worlds is emerging. The real question is how many of each do we end up with?"
| Two national business travel organizations are joining privacy groups in opposing a federal plan to embed radio frequency identification chips in passports. |
| The Business Travel Coalition and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives say the chips could jeopardize the safety of Americans in foreign countries. The groups suggest the plan would risk the identities of those traveling abroad and could result in physical harm. The chips would be able to be read by anyone with a powerful reader from up to 60 feet away in airports or hotels, said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Pennsylvania-based Business Travel Coalition, which represents large buyers of business travel services such as DaimlerChrysler and Black and Decker. "You don’t have to read the information as much as you need to identify the person is an American," Mitchell said. "We’re really creating a market by putting this in place. You’re giving a whole new opportunity to the bad guys, whether it’s grabbing U.S. passports and selling them for a couple grand or kidnapping the CEO of Cigna. This is not a stable, dynamic kind of environment. The technology continues to improve and you’re giving an incentive to bad guys to find work-arounds or to find stronger readers." The Virginia-based Association of Corporate Travel Executives calls the chips electronic identification "bugs." "More of a computer chip than an actual transmitter, the device may be capable of identifying the presence of U.S. citizens in crowds, in hotel lobbies, on trains, or even on the street to those in possession of a fairly unsophisticated receiver," the group said in a statement. "The signal can be detected up to dozens of feet to tens of yards. It may also be capable of transmitting personal data, such as your name, passport number, and photograph." A spokeswoman said the U.S. State Department is in the midst of several tests to reduce the risk of skimming, or the unauthorized reading of the chips. "They’re going to involve incorporating technology into the passport book cover that will address the risk of skimming when the passport book is mostly closed," said Kelly Shannon, adding international standards require that chip readers read no farther than 10 centimeters, or about 4 inches away. Shannon said 62 million valid passports are in the hands of American citizens. Last year, the State Department issued 8.8 million. Mitchell said 15 percent to 20 percent of all U.S. originating traffic is headed to international destinations. In government tests last summer, the readers, initially developed to track inventory in department stores and warehouses, could be described "as no more than breadboard prototypes," Shannon said. "There were situations where communications between the chip and reader could be detected from a distance considerably more than 10 centimeters," she said, adding the communication was detected but no data could be intercepted. "Now we see readers that are encased and tweaked for better specifications such as the 10 centimeter read rate," Shannon said. "We’re seeing obviously this is not going to be an issue." Mitchell said his research shows radio frequency identification chips were used first during World War II to tell German and American aircraft apart. "It had nothing to do with understanding what the message is or signals were, just a different type of signal, an encrypted one that could with confidence tell us that’s German aircraft," Mitchell said. "That’s the same way this could be hijacked today." |
Source: John Yantis, Tribune
Nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu, convicted for revealing Israel's secret nuclear program, has been banned for another year from traveling outside Israel.
Israeli interior ministry officials said the travel ban on Vanunu has been extended until April 19, 2006, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Vanunu served 18 years in jail, most of it in solitary confinement. He was released in April 2004 under strict conditions.
Israel insists Vanunu still poses a security threat, the BBC said.
Vanunu has said his disclosure about Israel's nuclear secrets was aimed at averting a nuclear holocaust in the region. Many Israelis view him as a traitor, the report said.
Source: Big News Network
Two industry leaders, Abacus and Hi-tek, are now pursuing ambitious programmes to offer both travel agencies and tourists across Vietnam new travel information services from next year. After operating for 10 years in Vietnam, Abacus Distribution Systems is studying the feasibility of its plan to help travel agents transition to internet protocol-based systems, as well as implementing a national IP solutions strategy by late 2006.
Abacus Distribution Systems managing director, Nguyen Thuong Thuyet, said the company would also unveil its HotelSmart product this quarter that lists hotels in 55 cities across Asia Pacific to allow travel agents to search and book rooms for clients. Thuyet said the product was capable of turning ticket brokers into travel consultant.
He said currently many domestic travel agents were unable Thuyet said Vietnamese people were also increasing travelling overseas The US-based Hi-Tek is also eyeing the outbound travel business to provide Hi-tek eventually plans to upgrade the site to enable users to book online Project manager Nguyen Thanh Tung said the website currently offered “The hotels would not face risks in this business,” said The travel data providers also planned to offer internet-based services |
The Holiday Inn Phoenix-Mesa has a new owner, and soon it will have a new look.
A Southern California-based investment group, which owns several hotels with brand names ranging from Doubletrees to Hiltons, bought the 246-room Holiday Inn at 1600 S. Country Club Drive and a Doubletree in Carson, Calif. for a combined $26.1 million.
Look for a major makeover of the Mesa hotel that will touch everything from the front entrance to the banquet room, said Michael Udayan, general manager. He said plans are being finalized and work should begin in a few weeks and finish before the year end of the year.Nearly a year ago, another Mesa inn, the former Mesa Sheraton, got a $7 million makeover and a new name -- the Marriott Phoenix Mesa -- after new owners bought it the place.
| "It's really exciting news," Udayan said. "You won't recognize the building when it's done." The sale of the Holiday Inn marks former owner Sunstone Hotel Investors' exit from the East Valley -- and Arizona. In December, Sunstone sold the San Marcos Golf Resort and Conference In the past, the group has owned and sold shed several smaller local It's not a snub of the Valley, said Bryan Giglia, Sunstone's director "We are migrating our portfolio to full-service, upper-upscale hotels Sunstone may buy back into the East Valley market at some point. "We are constantly looking at hotels. We have looked in Scottsdale," Giglia said, however, there are no pending deals for a local property. Udayan didn't divulge a tab for the planned "multimillion-dollar" Upcoming plans include changing the hotel's front entrance, complete When a hotel changes hands, it usually leads to significant investment |
| 4 passengers hurt; ship was traveling from Bahamas to N.Y. |
CHARLESTON, S.C. - A huge wave damaged a cruise ship returning from the Bahamas over the weekend, smashing windows, flooding more than 60 cabins and injuring four passengers.
“The ship was hit by a freak wave that caused two windows to break in two different cabins,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement. It said 62 cabins flooded and four passengers had cuts and bruises.
The ship’s hull was damaged but the vessel was not taking on water, said Keith Moore of the Coast Guard Group Charleston.
“All the passengers had donned personal flotation devices as a precaution,” Moore told The (Charleston) Post and Courier.
The cruise line said passengers whose cabins were flooded were being flown home from Charleston and the safety of the ship “was in no way compromised by this incident.”
The ship left New York last Sunday with 2,500 passengers aboard. It was expected to arrive in New York on Monday.
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| Aiming high |
New York, April 16 (Reuters): Large US airlines, haemorrhaging from competition at home, are looking at routes halfway around the world to stop the bleeding.
As the industry struggles with its worst crisis in years, US carriers are focusing on Asia — mainly China and India — to make up for ballooning losses on the domestic front.
American Airlines and Continental Airlines earlier this year won federal approval to begin direct flights to China. They join ranks with United Airlines and Northwest Airlines — the only two US carriers that have served China for the last two decades.
The US airline industry has lost more than $36 billion since 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, as growing domestic competition has pushed fares lower amid rising fuel prices.
US carriers, which lost $10 billion in 2004 alone, are battling for new flights to China as they aim to tap rising demand for travel to the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Agreements between the United States and China that limit the number of flights between the two countries give carriers the advantage of knowing who their rivals are, while also keeping the level of competition in check, Continental Airlines spokesman Dave Messing said.
On the flip side, the tight regulations limit carriers’ access to those routes.
“Whatever any US airline can get of this fast-growing Asian market is great and will help substantially, but there isn’t enough of it to stave off imminent bankruptcies or liquidation,” Morningstar analyst Chris Lozier said. “And the regulations mean that it will be a period of years before certain carriers will benefit at all."
Lozier is one of several analysts to express concern about some large companies, particularly US Airways, which is in Chapter 11 protection, and Delta Air Lines, which has been teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
One airline analyst, who requested anonymity, said the new, profitable routes to India and China would “just not help those two carriers fast enough”"
China, whose increasingly affluent populace is taking to the skies for business and leisure, is emerging as a strong travel market. As many as 100 million Chinese could be flying abroad every year by 2020, up from 20 million in 2003, according to the World Tourism Organisation.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/
