Separately, the DoT has also granted antitrust immunity to fellow oneworld members Finnair and Royal Jordanian.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, described the transatlantic decision as “fantastic news”.
He said: “This is a great day for all three airlines and the oneworld alliance. We’ve waited 14 years to bring the benefits of the trans-Atlantic joint business to our customers and level the playing field with the other two global alliances.”

“As we have argued all along, the EU-U.S. market is highly competitive and Heathrow’s liberalization in 2008 opened it up even further. We are delighted that the U.S. and EU authorities have recognized this.”

However Virgin Atlantic’s Sir Richard Branson branded the DoT’s decision a “monster monopoly,” saying that the US regulator “has decided to put the interests of BA and AA before those of the flying public.”

The alliance is viewed within BA as being more important to its future than its pending merger with Spain’s Iberia, with chairman Martin Broughton last year saying that it is worth “hundreds of millions” of pounds to the British flag carrier.

The airlines are expected to launch a joint trans-Atlantic business this Autumn, co-operating on flights between the EU and the US, Canada and Mexico.

As part of the DoT’s approval, however, the airlines will be forced to give up four pairs of slots at London’s Heathrow airport to allow greater competition.

The decision by the DoT follows a similar decision from the European Commission a week ago.

Though the show remains a long way off the record-breaking $88.7 billion of bookings announced at Farnborough in 2008, sales are well above the $7 billion placed at last summer’s sister airshow in Paris.

Airbus enjoyed the bulk of today’s bookings, including Thai Airways making a commitment to buy seven A330-300s worth around $1.5 billion, as well as sales to Berlin-based Germania, which signed a contract for five Airbus A319s.

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda has purchased of six long-range A330-200s, worth $1.1 billion at catalogue prices, to expand its new premium service “to more international destinations in a profitable and efficient way.”

Boeing’s sales included Air Austral ordering two long-range 777-200s, worth $501 million at catalog prices. Qatar Airways had ordered two 777-200LRs for the same price.

Qatar also revealed that it was taking earlier delivery of Boeing’s 787 jetliner to meet increased demand.

“Air travel demand is continuing to rise in the Middle East and it is becoming clear that international demand is returning as the global economy shows signs of recovery,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

Bombardier picked up an order for seven Q400 turboprop airliners from Qantas Airways, worth $218 million at list prices.

New leasing company Air Lease Corp. has so far signed the biggest deals, dividing orders for 115 planes worth $8.6 billion between Boeing, Airbus and French-Italian regional turboprop manufacturer ATR.

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 38 countries have signed up for Farnborough, with delegations from Egypt, Taiwan and Morocco attending for the first time. Organizers also cited stronger interest from major players China and Russia.

Different star hotels have different accommodation conditions: general building condition, rooms and a number of additional services. The first hotel information is usually performed by its stars.

One-star hotels are mostly an extinct type. It is rather cheap to stay in such a hotel, but you shouldn’t expect any services there. Fridge, TV, and even a toilet are common, one on a floor or a block of rooms. The only accessories are a towel and a small piece of soap.

Two-star hotel proposes the same range of services that differs from one-star only by the presence of a café, suggesting the possibility of breakfast.

The hotel with three stars offers the most comfortable conditions for a relatively modest fee. Each room should have the radio, air conditioning, bathroom (or shower) and toilet. Rooms are cleaned every day; linen is changed at least once in three days. Room interior can include carpets and plants, as well as stationery sets, electric kettle with packets of coffee, etc. Three-star hotel often has a business center with Internet-connected computers, currency exchange, beauty salon, restaurant or cafe, parking. You can also book tickets on certain types of transport there.

Most travel agencies use professional slang in hotel descriptions. So it often happens people do not completely understand what conditions of nourishment, accommodation and services they are offered. Beautiful pictures from brochures become the main argument of hotel choice due to this situation. As a result, a vacation or business trip can be ruined. It is better for you to clear up all hotels criteria, their types and other thing to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Hotels, such as hotel in the Costa del Sol, camping, bungalow and cottages are the most widespread for tourists nowadays. Thus many hotels are located in recreation areas, near water, close to tourist sights or shopping centers and propose wide range of services. The territory of a guest house is picturesque places without heavy traffic. Camping is generally used only in summer. It includes usually small houses with separate wings for food and has very inexpensive price. Boatels are for tourists traveling by boat.

The new campaign, titled “Brazil is calling you! Celebrate life here”, consists of movies, images and social media elements which aim to encourage the world to visit Brazil for business and leisure and take advantage of the opportunities that Brazil brings as hosts of world´s greatest sports events.

The campaign will be broadcast from 12 July on television channels globally and on YouTube, and forms part of the Ministry of Tourism and Embratur’s strategy to increase international visitors to the country.

The main objectives of this strategy, called “Plano Aquarela 2020 – International Tourism Marketing”, is to secure a 300 percent increase in foreign currency inflows from international tourists and to double the number of these visitors to Brazil by 2020. Brazil aims to invest approximately US$30 million into this campaign by the end of 2010. This will include of a range of marketing initiatives.

During the launch of the campaign, which took place at Casa Brasil in Johannesburg, the movies “Apito Final” and “Sons do Brasil”, produced by the Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, were screened. For the Ministry of Tourism and Embratur, the exposure of Brazil to the international media provides a platform for the country to demonstrate its potential as the host of the FIFA 2014 World Cup and of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Key initiatives for the international promotion of Brazil included in the “Brazil is Calling You! Celebrate life here” are:
Movies – After the closing of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a 30 seconds movie will be aired for two months by FIFA authorized television broadcasters. The movie “Sons do Brasil” will also be screened on international television channels (sports and news) and on YouTube. This will consist of 10 weeks of media activity with coverage in more than 100 countries, reaching approximately 400 million people globally. Countries incorporated in this campaign span across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

At present ferry passengers have the right to a refund or a space on a later sailing if their journey is disrupted. However, airline customers get more protection, such as compensation if a flight from a European airport is affected.

The new rules are designed to bring consistency to the arrangements.

From 2012 when a regular passenger boat or ferry service is cancelled or over 90 minutes late in departing, the passengers will have the right to be rerouted (in order to reach the destination earlier) or to receive back the ticket cost and not to travel (or else to return to the initial port of departure at the company’s cost).

This will not apply in the case of weather delays or other conditions outside the operator’s control.

Passengers must also be given snacks or meals, wherever possible, the EP said in a statement.

In addition, regardless of whether they choose to travel or not, the passengers will now be entitled to compensation of 25 per cent of the ticket price.

However, passengers are still unable to claim compensation for any lost time at their holiday destination. Such claims will still have to be made through travel insurance - if a policy offers sufficient cover - or a credit card provider.

Addressing the European Parliament Siim Kallas, European Commission vice-president for transport said: “This means passengers travelling by water will benefit from the same basic quality service standards wherever they travel in the European Union.

“We hope that the European framework of passengers’ rights might soon be completed by the adoption of a regulation on rights for passengers travelling by bus and coach.”

Bus Negotiations Ongoing

Following the success of the regulations governing boat travel, the Parliament has turned its attention to the protection of travellers taking a bus.

The European Parliament is currently drafting regulation stipulating new bus and coach passenger rights; such as ticket cost reimbursement or rerouting in case of delays in departure of more that two hours.

There are also provisions for compensation of up to €1800 for lost or damaged baggage.

Meanwhile, in the event of a passenger’s death in a bus or coach accident, the amount of compensation should not be limited, argue MEPs.

However, the debate is ongoing.

According to immigration records compiled by the South Africa department of home affairs, the total number of arrivals during June totalled 1.3 million.

This is up from the 1.01 million visitors recorded for the same period of 2009.

African visitors have been among the most numerous arrivals – with nationals from Lesotho, Zimbabwe. Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana – leading the way.

Europe has also been strongly represented, with tourists from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands all turning out in force.

“We take this opportunity to congratulate all national teams that have so far participated in the tournament in their quest to become world football champions, and in particular those national teams including Ghana who have qualified for the quarter finals of the World Cup,” added a statement from the department of home affairs.

The data was recorded by the South Africa’s Movement Control System, which is deployed at 34 priority ports of entry across the country.

The system has also been deployed to deny illegal entry during the World Cup, with 188 people prevented from entering South Africa due to possession of fraudulent visas, permits, travel documents and stamps or failure to meet immigration requirements.

These include the interception and deportation of ten Argentinean and British soccer hooligans over the past few weeks, officials added.

Although an unknown name to the public, ITA is an important player, providing behind-the-scenes data on flight times, availability and pricing to travel agencies and online reservation systems, which are then used as part of customer-facing sales tools.

Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said: “Their technology opens exciting possibilities for us to create new ways for users to more easily find flight information online, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to Google.”

A consortium of rivals including Microsoft, Kayak, Expedia, and Travelport attempted to buy ITA earlier this year as they all rely on its data and wanted to keep the company out of Google’s hands.

ITA was reportedly holding out for $1 billion, but Google secured the original $700 million price.

This also puts the pressure on Microsoft, and its Bing flight tracker, which aggregates flight prices and suggests whether you should buy now or wait for a better deal.

Travel agencies are worried that Google could short-circuit them by simply offering ITA’s flight data in its general search results. And they are concerned that they could find it harder to access rapidly changing information once ITA is under Google’s ownership.

Kayak’s chief marketing officer, Robert Birge, said: “They have dominance on the general search side, When you couple that with ITA’s airline relationships there is reason to be concerned.”

Marissa Mayer, Google VP for search products and user experience, said while online travel market is growing fast, competition from the likes of Google would only benefit other parties in the long-term.

She said: “Once we’ve completed our acquisition of ITA, we’ll work on creating new flight search tools that will make it easier for you to search for flights, compare flight options and prices and get you quickly to a site where you can buy your ticket.”

Though the vote is only a first step toward Congressional approval of the changes, supporters view it as a significant step towards rebuilding trade and travel relations between the countries.

The end of the Cuba travel ban would mean a bonanza in tourism to the island at a time when Fidel and Raúl Castro are in desperate need of new revenue streams. But some argue that Cuba’s isolation preserves the dictatorship and that a flood of gringo tourists would weaken it.

Similar measures have failed in Senate in recent years and State Department spokesman would not say whether the Obama administration would support the legislation.

The bill, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, must still go through the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees before it can be considered by the full House. Then the Senate would have to act.

Proponents of the bill said it would be a major boost for American trade.

“This is a great opportunity to expand trade,” said Representative Collin C. Peterson, the chairman of the committee. He added that American travel to Cuba would “show the Cuban people how great democracy can be.”

But opponents of the bill argued lifting the travel ban would benefit only the Communist government.

“Every dollar spent by American tourists in Cuba would contribute to the regime’s bottom line,” Representative Tom Rooney, Republican of Florida, who voted against the bill, told the New York Times.

This week Amnesty International has called on the Cuban government to free political prisoners and end legal restrictions on freedoms of speech and the press.

Both the House and the Senate tried to ease the travel ban during the Bush administration, but were threatened with a veto from the president. In April 2009, President Obama allowed Cuban-Americans with family members in Cuba to travel to the country.

From Travel News.

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.

African nominees are among 5,000 nominated companies across more than a 1,000 categories, including airlines, cruise companies, destinations, resorts and hotels in 162 countries.

The fight for Africa’s Leading Airport is between Cairo International Airport, Egypt; Cape Town International Airport, South Africa; Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi; and O.R. Tambo International Airport, South Africa.

Likewise, there’s hot competition among airlines for Africa’s Leading Airline. The contenders are South Africa Airways; Air Namibia; Egypt Air; Ethiopian Airlines; Kenya Airways and Royal Air Maroc.

But it’s the struggle between hotels, large and small, that are likely to see the fiercest resistance.

Africa’s Leading Beach Hotel is between Camps Bay Retreat; Diaz 15, South Africa; Diaz Strand Hotel & Resort, South Africa; La Gemma Dell’Est Zanzibar, Tanzania; Lagoon Beach Hotel, South Africa; Peponi Hotel Lamu Island, Kenya; Sheraton Miramar Resort El Gouna Hurghada, Egypt; The Bay Hotel, South Africa and The Z Hotel Zanzibar, Tanzania.

There are 13 nominations for the hotly disputed category of Africa’s Leading Boutique Hotel. They are: Andros Country House, South Africa; Birkenhead House, South Africa; Dar Les Cigognes, Morocco; Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa, South Africa; Kasbah Tamadot, Marrakech, Morocco; La Villa des Orangers, Morocco; Saxon Boutique Hotel & Spa, South Africa; Shamwari Town House, South Africa; The Constantia, South Africa; The Long Beach, South Africa; The Peech, South Africa; Villa Didon Hotel & Spa, Tunisia and Welgelegen, South Africa.

Sweeping off the title of Africa’s Leading Hotel is a ‘bone of contention’ between: Camps Bay Retreat, South Africa; Cape Grace, South Africa; Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the First Residence, Egypt; Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the Nile Plaza, Egypt; Grand Hyatt Cairo, Egypt; Kasbah Tamadot, Marrakech, Morocco; Mena House Oberoi Hotel & Casino, Egypt; Mount Nelson Hotel, South Africa; Saxon Boutique Hotel & Spa, South Africa; The Palace of the Lost City, South Africa; The Table Bay Hotel, South Africa; and The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, South Africa.

Title for Africa’s Leading City Tourist Board is between Cairo Tourism; Cape Town Tourism; Johannesburg Tourism Company; Marrakech Tourism and Tourism Tunis.

In addition to overall Africa categories, there are awards for Botswana, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Travel industry professionals throughout the world have been voting online for their preferred companies and organisations during the past four months. Voting has now closed and votes counted ready for the big night.

Consumers use the list of winners as a reliable guide and means of reassurance when choosing their holiday. Companies and destinations that finish up on the winners podium, receive extensive commercial benefits and global profile.

For a full list of nominees for Africa and Indian Ocean log on to the World Travel Awards website.

Winners of the Africa and India Ocean Gala Ceremony go through to the final of the World Travel Awards in London on Sunday November 7th, immediately prior to World Travel Market.

From Travel News.