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TRAVEL NEWS
London smoking hotel
A Middle Eastern group Arab Investments has signalled plans to develop the UK's first hotel that is focused on the smoking culture. The 36-room Wellesley hotel will feature separate cigar and smoking terraces, powerful smoke extractor fans, and a room service menu that includes cigars to puff on while in the bath. 14FEB12
Borneo rail line opens
The North Borneo Railway has officially been relaunched after a soft opening in July last year. The line was closed seven years ago for railway track upgrades, as part of a joint venture between the Sutera Harbour and the Sabah State Railway Department.
The 80 passenger steam train features five newly refurbished colonial style train carriages and runs from Kota Kinabalu to Papar every Wednesday and Saturday. 13FEB11
New Disney ship
Disney Cruise Line has taken delivery of its latest and fourth vessel 'Disney Fantasy' from the German Meyer Werft shipyard. The sister ship to Disney Dream will make its inaugural trans-Atlantic positioning voyage to Port Canaveral on 16th February, prior to its maiden paying passenger cruise on 31st March. Enroute it will stop in New York City where it will be christened on 1st March. The 4000-passenger ship will operate a series of Caribbean and Bahama itineraries from its Florida base. 12FEB12
All Blacks aircraft
Air New Zealand has rolled out its rugby-focused All Black livery on one of its smallest aircraft - a Beech 1900D. The aircraft joins a number of other All Black aircraft in the fleet, with plans to roll out a further two Beech aircraft in the Kiwi colours during 2012. NZ also recently went to the other extreme, unveiling a new 777 also in the black livery. 12JAN12
Athletics Australia names their airline
QANTAS was yesterday announced as the official airline for Athletics Australia. The 12 month partnership will see QANTAS as the naming rights sponsor of the upcoming Australian Athletics Tour and the Melbourne Track Classic as athletes compete against each other in a bid to ensure a place within the Australian team for the London 2012 Olympics which takes place 27 Jul-12 Aug. The tour includes events in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne which will be covered by the Nine Network as well as live streamed by Telstra Bigpond. 11JAN12
Busiest airport ratings
Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport has been ranked as the 29th busiest airport in the world by CAPA - Centre for Aviation, with 900,737 movements. The only Australian hub to make it into the top 30 global airports was more than 1 million visitors behind number 1 ranked gateway, Beijing Capital International Airport. 11JAN12
Christchurch recovery
Occupancy numbers are bouncing back for many Christchurch hotels despite further earthquakes last month, but ongoing success is far from assured as aftershocks continue to shake the region. After struggling with occupancy rates following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in February last year, many Christchurch hotels are again nearing capacity as visitors return to the troubled city. But with efforts to encourage tourists back to the region well underway, such as a new events calendar and reduced accommodation rates, Christchurch is confident it will make a strong recovery in tourism terms this year. 10JAN12
New program for 2013
Silversea Cruises has unveiled its range of worldwide voyages for 2013. The new program sees the cruise line's six ships offer more than 200 voyages, visiting more than 450 destinations over seven continents with 32 new ports of call. Highlights include the 115-day Silver Whisper world cruise which sails from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, calling at 52 destinations in 28 countries along the way. 06JAN12.
Increase in travel to UK
British interest in visiting Australia is bouncing back, a new report by European travel search website Skyscanner has revealed. The Travel Trends Report 2012, compiled from data generated by the site’s users between January 2009 and November 2011, showed a 25% increase in travel searches for Australia among British users.
They have attributed the growth to recent television and online marketing campaigns carried out in the UK by Tourism Australia in conjunction with QANTAS, Singapore Airlines and Emirates.
The interest was reciprocated, with an 86% increase in UK travel searches by Aussies over the same period, the sixth highest increase. Growth attributed partly to the Royal Wedding which held particular appeal for visitors from Commonwealth countries.
Growing interest levels were expected to continue into 2012, the report revealed, with more Australians searching for travel to London over the Olympic period than those from any other country, followed by Italy and the US.
Meanwhile, New Zealand also proved popular with British travellers in 2011 with 35% growth in travel searches, buoyed by the Rugby World Cup. Visitors from the UK and Ireland for the event totalled 19,100 making them the second largest fan base after Australia. 05JAN12
Emirates increases flights
Emirates will continue its South East Asian expansion with the start of daily non-stop services to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from June 4, set to become its 124th destination. Emirates president Tim Clark predicted that the route would prove popular with tourists and business travellers alike, particularly from the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The new service will become the airline’s eighth route to be launched in 2012, following the start of services to Dublin on January 9, Lusaka and Harare on February 1, Dallas on February 2 and Seattle on March 1. 04JAN12
Earlybird cruise sale
Royal Caribbean is offering earlybird discounts on more than 50 cruises as part of its January sale which runs until February 29. Prices start from $895 per person for a seven-night Tasmanian Explorer cruise. The cruise line will base three ships in Australian waters in the 2012-13 season. 03JAN12
