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A pilot who has a flourishing Mile High Club tourism business in Australia said his enterprise started as a joke. American Chuck McElwee said he was loading a mattress onto his light aircraft to transport a patient to a country hospital when he jokingly told a curious onlooker that he was starting a mile high club. Continue reading

LONDON—Hotel performance in Japan understandably has suffered following the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, but the country’s hotel industry is making a comeback, according to data from STR Global’s Japan Hotel Review. Continue reading

TUI has been ordered to make significant alterations to its price panels in Thomson and First Choice brochures after the advertising watchdog ruled it had misled customers about free child places. The Advertising Standards Authority said TUI needed to make it clearer that the free places were limited and not available on every holiday. Continue reading

The low-cost airline said the additional jobs would be created this year as it opens new bases across Europe, including one in Manchester. It will also base aircraft for the first time in Billund in Denmark, Wroclaw in Poland, Palma in Spain and Paphos in Cyprus. The Dublin-based carrier said it will be looking to recruit additional pilots, cabin crew, engineers and sales and marketing personnel, boosting its payroll by 10% to nearly 8,000 in total. Continue reading

The cabin crew of a British Airways flight to London from Miami accidentally activated an emergency announcement that said the plane was going to crash and passengers should prepare for a water landing. As passengers began to panic, a flight attendant apologised over the intercom and said the message was played by mistake. Continue reading

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Media City, part of The Rezidor Hotel Group, has further enhanced its commitment to Responsible Business, announcing its recent Green Key certification, a globally recognized eco-label. Continue reading

International tourist arrivals grew by over 4 percent in 2011 to 980 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. With growth expected to continue in 2012, at a somewhat slower rate, international tourist arrivals are on track to reach the milestone one billion mark later this year. Continue reading

Premier Inn has announced it is set to open a new hotel and restaurant development in Camborne, bringing a total of 41 new jobs to the area. The new Table Table restaurant, named Trevithick Inn and Premier Inn hotel will be opening on Treswithian Road in January 2012 - injecting a total investment of £5.9 million into the local economy. Continue reading

following a sharp drop in bookings, with the loss of 23 jobs in the UK and 31 in France. Around 20 employees at the Gloucester-based business, part of the Take Me Too Group, were told the operator was calling in the administrators last Friday. A handful of staff had already been made redundant earlier in the week. Continue reading

Two new reports from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration are aimed at helping hospitality managers improve their sales and revenue. One report focuses on restaurant distribution strategies, and the other compares the financial outcomes for hotels that have various corporate cultures and strategic approaches. Both reports are available at no charge from the CHR. CHR also invites hotel practitioners to participate in a new interactive blog on the CHR site, with a goal of sharing ideas and improving success in addressing issues created by social media. Continue reading

The sinking of the Costa Concordia, which has claimed at least six lives, will go down as the most costly maritime disaster. It is expected to cost the insurance industry about $750m and parent Carnival will have to pay a $40m excess. Continue reading

LOS ANGELES, California - Green Globe Certification today announced the accreditation of Ms. Cecilia Valdes Canales, member of Deloitte France. This accreditation means that Deloitte France is authorized to conduct verification assessments for Green Globe worldwide. Continue reading

PictureSlovenia.com, in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board and partners, continues the global photography competition, through which it wants to increase the visibility of Slovenia in the world and encourage visitors, fans, and friends of Slovenia to get involved in the presentation of Slovenia. The contest ends May 22, 2012. Publication of winners: June 4, 2012. Continue reading

A former Qantas group chief economist says people who weigh more should pay more to fly on planes. Writing for Business Day in Fairfax newspapers, Tony Webber, now managing director of Webber Quantitative Consulting and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Business School, claims fuel burnt by planes depends on many things 'but the most important is the weight of the aircraft. The more a plane weighs, the more fuel it must burn'. Continue reading

n the last days of December, the Finnish Turku symbolically handed over the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) title to Maribor and Guimarães during a solemn event. Maribor will solemnly open the European Capital of Culture on January 14 at Leon Štukelj square, followed by Guimarães a week later on January 21. Continue reading

Reed Travel Exhibitions Chairman of World Travel Market (WTM), Fiona Jeffery, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Queen Elizabeth’s II New Year’s Honors list. Continue reading

Happy New Year from HotelierTV 2012 Continue reading

HOTELIER TV Magazin: Dorint wieder in Hamburg - Preis für Hotelnachwuchs - Internorga-Zukunftspreis - Green Hospitality - Accor Azubi Award - Wellness-Konzepte Continue reading

NEW YORK, New York - ECPAT-USA announced that Wyndham Worldwide has become the latest major hospitality company to take a stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code). While The Code has been signed by more than 1,000 travel industry members worldwide, Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, is only the fifth US company to sign. Continue reading

An attack which killed a British man on holiday in Sri Lanka is being treated as an isolated incident. Sri Lankan tour operators are awaiting more information after the death of Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh, 32, from Manchester on Christmas Day in the tourist resort of Tangalle. Continue reading

The Hilton Concord Hotel, located in the East Bay of San Francisco, is incorporating environmental and sustainable systems into its multi-million dollar hotel renovation anticipated to be fully completed in early 2012. The hotel is owned and operated by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the largest U.S.-based global management company. “Reinvesting in a leading hotel such as the Hilton Concord ideally positions the Company to take full advantage of the anticipated recovery in the lodging segment,” said Jim Abrahamson, CEO of Interstate. Continue reading

Hoteliers are grappling with the global economic slowdown as corporate houses tighten their purse strings, forcing them not to hike tariffs this year. Excess capacity has also cast a shadow over the hospitality industry and hotels in major metros failed to cash in during the peak season. Sanjeev Sekhar, GM, Marine Plaza said, “There has been no change in our tariff rates and it remains the same as last year. But our occupancy levels are at around 80-90 per cent.” Continue reading

Three of Thailand’s best-known hotels will change their names as the bells ring in the New Year 2012. Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok will become Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok, Sofitel Centara Grand Resort&Villas Hua Hin will become Centara Grand Beach Resort&Villas Hua Hin, and Novotel Hat Yai Centara will become Centara Hotel Hat Yai. Continue reading

As the world continues to work through one of the most paralyzing periods of economic crisis, one economic sector is actually gaining wide-scale appreciation for its ability to generate employment, revenues, and investment and unity: the global tourism sector. Fueling growth of the sector is the growing hunger for travel within, and to, the BRICS nations (Brasil, Russia, China, India, South Africa). Continue reading