Travel Bug

Africa’s top destinations and leading travel operators are preparing to battle it out on Wednesday July 7th as the World Travel Awards comes to South Africa.

Taking place at the Sandton Conventon Centre, Johannesburg, the World Travel Awards Africa and Indian Ocean Ceremony offers participants a chance to win one of the most sought-after prizes in the travel and tourism industry.

The awards - described by the Wall Street Journal as the ‘Oscars’ of the global travel and tourism industry - have helped improve quality, value and customer service over the past 17 years.

Nominations include some of the most respected and successful travel names and resorts in the business - including South African Airways, Plettenberg Bay, Camps Bay Retreat, African Pride Hotels, Pen Travel South Africa, Marrakech Tourism, African Safari Club, Singita Game Reserves, Sonesta Nile Cruises, Kruger Park, Sharm El Sheikh and Victoria Falls.

The evening, attended by the region’s major company CEO’s, tourist board chiefs, association leaders and Government Ministers is set to be a spectacular affair.

Celebrities include Miss World contestants and well known entertainers such as smash hit African hip-hop dance group, The Clinch Crew, soon to appear in Las Vegas at a show produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson. Read the rest of this entry »

Johannesburg’s delightful Misty Hills Hotel showed off its glamourous credentials by playing host to a VIP reception of 32 Miss World finalists.

The beauty queens, who in South Africa for the World Cup to cheer on their respective teams, took a couple of days out of their hectic schedule to unwind in the hotel’s spectacular surroundings.

Just 25 kilometres away from the City of Gold, the Misty Hills Country Hotel Johannesburg is positioned within easy reach of Johannesburg International Airport whilst also enjoying an idyllic rural setting in the heart of the beautiful Kromdraai Valley – a UNESCO World Heritage site known as The Cradle of Humankind.

The hotel prides itself on its unique blend of traditional South African stone architecture and warm hospitality, coupled with luxury facilities.

It boasts 215 accommodations, with each room ornately decorated with brightly coloured African fabrics, artworks and handmade furniture.

The beauty queens also dined at the adjacent Carnivore Restaurant, which is world-renowned for its exquisite, charcoal-grilled delicacies that are roasted on converted Masai tribal spears in a large circular open fire. Read the rest of this entry »

British Airways has struck a £3.7 billion deal with the trustees of the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) and Airways Pension Scheme (APS) in an attempt to redress spiraling deficits at the airline.

As part of the deal neither of the final pension schemes will close, with the British flag-carrier agreeing to maintain its annual contribution of £330 million (plus annual increases in line with inflation expectations averaging three per cent) until at least 2023.

The airline completed consultation with its trade unions in March this year and will now submit the full recovery plan to the UK Pensions Regulator by June 30th, 2010.

Commenting on the developments British Airways chief financial officer, Keith Williams, said: “The trustees understand the airline is unable to increase its contributions in the current financial climate but we have agreed a recovery plan that avoids closing the pension schemes, gives NAPS members choice over their future pension accruals, and increases the prudence of the assumptions employed in managing the scheme.

“The Pensions Regulator’s initial response to the overall package has been positive and we look forward to receiving their confirmation that they have no objections once they have time to analyse the plan fully.” Read the rest of this entry »

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has outlined plans to invest some $30 million in selling Australia as tourism destination to Chinese travellers.

As part of a wider trade agreement with its increasingly influential neighbour, Mr Rudd explained the deal will see the federal government spend the cash over the next two years.

A bilateral forum on boosting two-way tourism will also be held in Cairns “in the near future”.

“China is expected to emerge as Australia’s number one source market for international visitors in the next few years,” Mr Rudd said in a statement.

The views of the Australian prime minister are in line with those expressed at the Asia Luxury Travel Market, with delegates last week acknowledging China as the dominate force in the region.

As part of the plans, Tourism Australia’s “There’s Nothing like Australia” advertising campaign will be rolled out in China in early August. Read the rest of this entry »

Sacrificial remains of humans and animals, believed to be at least 2,700 years old, have been found in central China’s Luoyang city (map), Chinese archaeologists say.

The bones are part of a recently discovered burial complex covering nearly a quarter acre (945 square meters) and containing 14 tombs, a water channel, and 59 pits from the Western Zhou dynasty. (Related: “Ancient Mass Sacrifice, Riches Discovered in China Tomb.”)

During the Western Zhou period (1100 B.C. to 771 B.C.), the sacrifices of animals—and sometimes humans—to ancestors or deities were a routine part of Chinese culture. The sacrifices were often made to bless houses, said David Sena, a China historian at the University of Texas at Austin.

“In general, there’s been a tendency to describe Western Zhou as a more humanistic period, when the practice of human sacrifices”—which were commonplace during the preceding Shang Dynasty—”were waning,” Sena said.

“But I think the archaeological evidence shows quite clearly that human sacrifices persisted throughout the Zhou period as well.” Read the rest of this entry »