International Travel

Flydubai , Dubai’s first low-cost carrier will be expanding its route network by the end of its second year of operations in 2011.

Taiwan has launched a new tourist bus service in Puli, Central Taiwan to facilitate independent travellers to tour some of the major tourist attractions easily.

Travellers visiting Myanmar can now apply for the new arrival visas at Yangon (Rangoon) International Airport and Mandalay International Airport.

People residing in Northern Sri Lanka need not travel all the way to Colombo to submit their Indian visa applications as India has now opened a new visa application center in Jaffna.

Ramee Group of Hotels, Resorts & Apartments, a multi -national group that currently owns 32 properties in UAE, Bahrain, Oman and in India, has announced that it will be opening 6 new hotels in the Middle East over the next 3 years.

Chinese travellers going to Queensland can now catch direct flights instead of travelling through Sydney or Melbourne to reach Brisbane,

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is in the process of promoting itself as a leisure destination to the Indian market.

Royal Caribbean’s 2 freedom- class ships - Freedom of the Seas and the Liberty of the Seas will feature popular innovations from Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise liner in 2011.

Marriott International, one of the world’s largest hotel companies has signed management agreements for 7 additional hotels in China

Plaza Premium Lounge Management Limited, Airport Premium Services provider, is soon going to launch the green market lounge at Singapore Changi Airport on June 7th.

HotelsCombined.com, the hotel meta-search engine and Best Western International, world’s largest hotel chain have entered into partnership which will allow distribution of Best Western hotels via HotelsCombined.com.

Asia’s only African-themed safari resort, the Leofoo Resort Guanshi, has opened in Hsinchu County in North West Taiwan.

RCI, the global leader of exchange vacations has added 2 additional resorts to its network - The Viking Club resort in Egypt and The Jdoudna resort in Syria.

Club Méditerranée (Club Med), the leading upmarket resort brand has launched 40 luxury holiday villas to rent at Club Med La Plantation d’Albion, a premium resort in the island of Mauritius.

WTTC’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards that recognizes the highest achievements in sustainable tourism among tourism organizations, has announced this year’s winners at the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit

Dubai-based ‘Address Hotels and Resorts’ is planning to open a branch in Doha, though nothing has been finalized yet. Besides Doha,

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau has approved 37 new hotel investment projects on the island.

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) that recently released its tourist arrivals figures for the month of April 2010, the state witnessed 2,796,311 visitors.

The South African Department of Home Affairs is offering free event Visas to all those nationals wanting to witness FIFA event but finding difficulty to get visas to South Africa.

Aston International, the hotel management chain from Southeast Asia has signed a management deal with PT Robina Putra Perkasa for the running of ‘Favehotel Wahid Hasyim’ in Jalan Wahid Hasyim, Central Jakarta.

In a bid to increase the sales for Kingfisher ResortsExtraordinary Marketing Concepts (EMC) which manages sales, marketing and reservation is keen to appoint representation in India by early next year.

Marriott International, the second largest hotelier in the US, plans to open 25,000 - 30,000 additional rooms worldwide by 2010, out of which 1,500 will be in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

ccording to UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), the prestigious World Tourism Day (WTD) will be hosted by China this year under the theme-‘‘Tourism and Biodiversity’

SITA, world’s leading specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions, will soon set up a Global Command Centre in Singapore.

Travelport, one of the world's largest travel company has acquired Singapore-based Sprice private Ltd, that owns hotel and travel search engine called Sprice.com

Marriott International Inc, the worldwide operator and franchisor of hotels has big plans to expand its existing portfolio in China.

According to Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the lion city, Singapore received 9, 28,000 visitor arrivals in the month of March, registering 17.3 per cent growth,

Guests attending the prestigious IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) event in Colombo, Sri Lanka need not worry about the accommodation facilities as hotels in Colombo have reserved 400 free rooms

Japanese hotel chain JAL Hotels is all set to open 2 hotels under its luxury brand Nikko Hotels in Suzhou, China. The first hotel situated in a suburb of Suzhou will open by October

Emirates customers can now book the flights through their mobile phone browser as Emirates Airlines has launched Mobile Emirates.com

Air Arabia, Middle East and South Africa’s low cast carrier will operate 2 additional Sharjah-Goa flights every week starting from June, taking the total number of its services to 5.

International hotel operator Accor that has a chain of luxury hotels all across the world.

Carlson Hotels, one of the world's leading hotel companies has signed 4 new hotel management agreements in China to open key hotel properties there.

Hong kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways is offering attractive Singapore packages for all the travellers and also an amazing chance to witness CommunicAsia 2010, Singapore's biggest ICT exhibition

The Malaysia government has decided to restore the visa-free transit facility for Indian nationals from July 1st to benefit the travellers and also to boost tourist inflow from India.

American Express Business Travel, a global leader in business travel management has introduced ‘MobileXtend’, a mobile travel solution that will benefit travellers while on-trip.

Nepal-based Ace Hotels and Resorts will be setting up a brand new four-star hotel at Nagpokhari in Nepal.

Asia’s first river themed park ‘River Safari’ will be open to the public in early 2010.

Tune Hotels.com, a part of tune hotels plans to open at least 3 of its 15 hotels in Greater London before 2012 Summer Olympics kick starts from July 27th.

Malaysia has been ranked by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the 9th most travelled destination in the world last year.

Cosco Star, the Hong Kong- registered passenger-cargo ship, sailed for the first time between Xiamen and Taiwan’s Kaohsiung on May 9th, carrying 300 passengers.

Chaaya Blu Trincomalee, which was once a 70’s resort underwent a massive makeover and reopened on 15th May, with a refreshing retro-chic design.

Sri Lanka will soon get a house boat which will be manly used for the local and international leisure segment. The house boat which costs around Rs. 4.5 billion will be constructed by the Ceynor Foundation.

Chelsea Group, which runs hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai, has opened its new four star hotel in Al Barsha behind Mall of the Emirates.

Middle East’s leading hotel management firm Rotana will be opening the Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan hotel in Abu Dhabi on 1st June.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide plans to open W Taipei hotel in late 2010, marking the debut of W Hotels Worldwide in Taiwan.

Dubai’s 3 new metro stations - World Trade Centre Station, GGICO Station (Al Garhoud) and Noor Islamic Bank Station (Al Quoz) opened on May 15th.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways in a bid to attract more tourists including from India has now introduced online tourist visa service for its passengers.

Emirates Holidays, the official tour operator of Emirates Airlines has launched a new travel brochure- A World of Choice 2010-2011 .

Well-known businessman, Jim McGettigan who owns a chain of luxury hotels all over the world has unveiled the ‘