Travel News

Rydges Melbourne reopens after a remarkable transformation and a new, refreshingly local approach to the hotel experience.Following a thorough renovation, Rydges Melbourne has reopened in the centre of the city’s thriving theatre district, just steps from upscale Collins Street boutiques, important sporting arenas, and the Bourke Street Mal.With amenities like: The new Rydges flagship property caters to every traveler’s needs.370 completely renovated rooms spread across three different types of lodging—25 apartments with kitchenettes, laundry rooms, and separate living and dining areas, as well as 310 King Standard Rooms. The well-known Rydges DreamBeds are in every room, ensuring that guests have everything they need for a restful night’s sleep.Modern technology offers connected and seamless experiences all over the place. Customers can check in online using a mobile device or self-service kiosks, eliminating the barrier of a reception desk, and are then welcomed by the helpful hotel staff. Casting, room service, and more are available on in-room TVs. The venue offers one of Melbourne’s largest selections for conferences and events, including 11 newly created meeting spaces that span a roomy 1500 sqm over two levels. The largest area, which was formerly known as Bobby McGee’s and is now a gorgeous ballroom, displays its grandeur with seven-meter-high ceilings and a staggering 4x7m HD LED screen. The new Rooftop Terrace is located on level two and offers visitors a sizable outdoor area as well as expansive panoramic views of famous landmarks like Her Majesty’s Theatre and ChinaTown. The facility now has a cutting-edge fitness studio that is interactive and modern, enabling visitors to easily continue their workout routines while visiting.The hotel’s ground-floor Bossley Bar & Restaurant was designed with its prime location in Melbourne’s thriving theatre district in mind. The restaurant’s menu was carefully designed to highlight locally sourced ingredients and to provide a culinary experience that embraces the vibrant and varied flavours of Victoria. The Rydges Melbourne has undergone a painstaking transformation to serve as the brand’s flagship, according to Troy Cuthbertson, Group General Manager of Hotel Operations for Rydges. The Rydges brand is exclusively owned and run by Australians, and this is reflected in the style. We have designed a property that offers more on every level, from the warm and inviting styled rooms, suites, and brand-new apartments that rival the best views in Melbourne to the cutting-edge technology and top-notch facilities and events spaces. The response from visitors has already been overwhelmingly positive, and there is considerable interest in our new conference and event spaces. We are genuinely thrilled to offer this experience to Australian consumers.Source- Travel daily

One of the top online travel agencies in the world, Booking.com, has unveiled the APAC Travel Confidence Index (TCI) for 2023. The report offers a thorough analysis of travel mindsets throughout Asia-Pacific (APAC) in light of the current macroeconomic conditions. It reveals a startling paradox: astonishingly, 73% of APAC travellers remain unwaveringly optimistic about their future travel plans over the course of the next 12 months, despite the fact that financial worries are their top worry (42%). Despite the intricate and interconnected crises pressing on the world economy, such as inflation, climate change, and supply chain disruptions, more than half (53%) of travellers surveyed have no intention of cancelling any of their travel plans. What’s more impressive is that 59% of these travellers not only stick to their original travel schedules, but also want to take more trips and spend more money on travel this year. Over 8,000 travellers from 11 different APAC nations and territories, including Hong Kong, participated in the TCI 2023 research, which was commissioned by Booking.com and independently carried out by Milieu Insight between April and May 2023. It provides a thorough analysis of traveller confidence and interest in sustainability across a range of APAC destinations. The report includes rankings that gauge the degree of consumer confidence in each market, with Hong Kong coming in at number one. In addition, the report introduces four distinct traveller personas for the first time, offering insightful information about their primary driving forces, priorities, and travel habits: Conscious Explorers actively pursue sustainable and eco-friendly travel (Hong Kong, India, Mainland China, Taiwan). They are committed to exploring while minimising their negative effects on the environment. To be consistent with their values, they participate in ecotourism, stay in eco-friendly hotels, and give to the community.Comfort and convenience are prioritised by Comfort Seekers (Singapore, Australia). They look for luxurious getaways and lodgings that promote the utmost in relaxation. In their travel choices, they place a premium on comfort over sustainability and value individualised services and high-quality amenities.Vietnam’s Mindful Voyagers take a deliberate and considerate approach to travel, motivated by a sense of duty to the environment and a desire to support local communities. However, they frequently feel anxious in strange settings and actively look for resources to get over their fears and build confidence.Homebound Pragmatists (New Zealand, Korea, Japan, and Thailand) favour local travel and staying in close proximity to their places of residence. Convenience, effectiveness, and making the most of time and resources are given top priority. Making the most of their limited time and resources, they seek out efficient, organised, and seamless travel experiences.Conscious Explorers from Hong Kong travel. According to 49% of Hong Kong residents, leisure travel makes people happier, and 35% acknowledge that it provides much-needed relief from the pressures of daily life and urban living.Source- Travel daily

The world’s largest island nation, Indonesia, is now easier to reach from Vietnam’s largest southern city, Ho Chi Minh City, thanks to VietJet, the country’s leading new-age airline, which has increased the frequency of its flights to Bali. From August 12, 2023, the airline will run 2 flights per day from Bali to Hanoi and 4 flights per day between Ho Chi Minh City and Bali. The new flights have an arrival time in Bali of 11:55 (local time) and depart from Ho Chi Minh City at 07:05. The new flights from Bali are scheduled to depart at 13:10 and arrive in Hanoi at 17:25 (local time). The airline’s extensive route network, reasonable flight times, and incredibly low cost make it one of the most sought-after airline options among travellers. All Vietjet flights will offer perks to passengers, including reimbursement for medical expenses incurred due to accidents or illnesses (including Covid-19), support for issues relating to flights, and round-the-clock access to Global Travel and Medical Support Services. Additionally, on every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (GMT+7), passengers have the option of purchasing tickets starting at INR 5,555 (*), which are applicable to the entire network of international flights. Visit the www.vietjetair.com website and the Vietjet Air mobile app for more information. Vietjet is providing additional services in addition to offering special in-flight hot and fresh meals with a variety of dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, served by a committed and welcoming cabin crew.Source– Travel daily

A brand-new River Nile cruise with exclusive TUI charter flights to Luxor departing from Manchester and London Gatwick Airports has been announced by TUI River Cruises. With this exciting expansion, the river cruise line will be able to offer seven-night, all-inclusive round-trip sailings from Luxor on a newly renovated, five-star ship that will be called TUI Al Horeya, which is Arabic for “freedom.” The TUI Al Horeya offers 74 cabins, including single, standard, and suites, and has room for 145 passengers. There will be two weekly flights from Manchester and London Gatwick to Luxor, a city that offers a fascinating fusion of history, architecture, and culture. The new routes, which are only available from TUI, will operate weekly on a Thursday from 7 November 2024 to 24 April 2025. TUI will be the only tour operator to offer direct, non-stop flights from the UK to Luxor. “TUI River Cruises is going from strength to strength, and we are so excited to introduce this latest offering on the Nile, which we are confident our customers will love,” said Chris Hackney, managing director of TUI River Cruises. “Lush landscapes, traditional villages, and other famous sites like the Luxor and Edfu Temples make a cruise along the Nile a tranquil and unforgettable experience. Egypt is the ideal location for discovering ancient history and giving visitors the chance to fully immerse themselves in an opportunity of a lifetime because of its year-round sunshine. Since it is the only TUI River Cruise ship that will remain in a single nation, the name TUI Al Horeya was chosen to ensure that we maintained a local connection to Egypt. The word “freedom” (TUI Al Horeya) comes from the Arabic language and represents the opportunity for exploration that travelling by river offers. Throughout the trip, knowledgeable licenced Egyptologists will be available to answer any questions and improve the customer experience. The sleek, modern ship will have two whirlpools, a top-deck pool, a lounge bar, a restaurant with outdoor seating, a wellness centre and a boutique shop. TUI Al Horeya will offer customers a wide range of excursions that have been carefully chosen by industry experts and are guaranteed to transport guests back in time to the era of pharaohs and dynasties, as will the rest of the fleet. Two pre-planned excursions, to the Edfu Temple of Horus and the Kom Ombo Temple, are included in the cost of the sailing package. A wide selection of excursions will be available in Luxor and Awan for customers to choose from, ensuring that they have as much flexibility during their cruise as possible. Options consist of: finding the Sphinx Avenue, a stunningly graceful piece of architecture on the banks of the Nile, and the Temples of Karnak and Luxor;observing a sound and light show at the Karnak Temple that describes Thebes’ history and the pharaohs’ lives;visiting the island-based Nubian village and taking a traditional felucca sailboat with canvas sails;visiting the 1960-built Phllae Temple, Obellsk, and the High DamThe newest ship in the TUI River Cruise fleet of three adult-only vessels is the TUI Al Horeya. The announcement of this new location is the result of a high level of consumer demand, with bookings up 40% from the previous year. All three European ships will put their festive sailings up for sale in Winter 2024 to meet demand. These sailings will include two new seven-night itineraries over New Year’s Eve: the ‘New Year Sail Away’ itinerary on TUI Isla, which spends New Year’s Eve in Cologne, and the ‘Sail into the New Year’ itinerary on TUI Maya, which celebrates the new year in Frankfurt. This is in addition to the current Skyla itinerary for “New Year on The Rhine.”Source- Travel daily

Airlines will have access to AWS Clean Rooms through ATPCO so they can collaborate and analyse their combined datasets without having to develop time-consuming solutions. Airlines require additional data to supplement the current intelligence used to create fares and offers in order to enable the creation of dynamic offers at scale. Without disclosing their underlying raw data to one another, ATPCO and the cooperating airlines will be able to analyse their collective shopping insights using AWS Clean Rooms to produce the most pertinent offers, enhancing the customer experience. More than any other company, ATPCO has access to the world’s most complete collection of airline data. Although many businesses have access to web-scraped insights, those don’t tell the full travel story; instead, reliable data and cutting-edge technology are required to generate additional value for all parties. In order to generate insights and innovate more quickly, AWS Clean Rooms enables the collaboration of approved airline, ATPCO fare, and fare-related data. The first step to generating novel insights using the privacy-enhanced collaboration capabilities of AWS Clean Rooms to help accelerate change in the airline pricing landscape has been approved by ATPCO’s 11 board airlines. According to ATPCO President and CEO Alex Zoghlin, “as the neutral industry platform, ATPCO is in a unique position to truly light the path for airlines to further explore dynamically created offers.” We are investigating the opportunities that the privacy-enhanced capabilities of AWS Clean Rooms provides, in order to generate rich pricing insights, as many airlines already provide their shopping data, including dynamically generated pricing. Travellers are seeking more individualised and customised offers than ever, and ATPCO customers’ ability to use this AWS service is a crucial first step in making this a reality. Airlines that are interested in learning more about using ATPCO’s Clean Rooms, which are powered by AWS, should get in touch with ATPCO.Source- Travel daily

The airline Eurowings has decided to significantly expand its so-called “Sneaker Flydays” after a successful test phase. The German airline now allows its pilots and flight attendants to dress in white Puma trainers with the Eurowings logo every Friday during the summer. By doing this, the Lufthansa Group company, which operates the airline, not only satisfies the desire of its own employees for a sporty travelling companion, but also offers fashionable eye-catchers on board and on the ground. A resounding majority of the more than 3,000 crew members who participated in an internal poll in favour of wearing sports shoes on board and on the ground more frequently. More than 700 comments were analysed, and the results showed that people think Puma’s trainers are comfortable and cutting edge. Several passengers have also left very favourable feedback, and it frequently appears in social media. Following analysis of the survey, Eurowings has made the decision to make every Friday going forward a “Sneaker Flyday” in order to better reflect the spirit of “Casual Friday” and significantly increase the number of Sneaker Flydays from a monthly basis. No shoes, whether worn on a business trip or a vacation, combine the business and casual lifestyles like trainers, according to Jens Bischof, CEO of Eurowings. The athletic attire also draws attention to our brand as “Europe’s Value Airline,” with which we hope to differentiate ourselves from competing low-cost carriers.Source– Travel daily

‘SKY CONNECTION – VIETNAM 2023’ was hosted by Thai Vietjet and Viet Nam Tourism Exchange (VNTE) on July 21, 2023, at the S31 Sukhumvit Hotel in Bangkok, under the patronage of H.E. Phan Chi Thanh, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand. The event aimed to strengthen ties between Thailand and Vietnam and to support the recovery of the global travel industry. In order to connect with potential business partners in the tourism and hospitality sector, introduce new products and services, exchange business information, set up business meetings, and form new partnerships in order to expand together and support the tourism industries of both Thailand and Vietnam, the “SKY CONNECTIONS – VIETNAM 2023” initiative was launched. “After the success of our initiative in 2022, we are excited to present ‘SKY CONNECTION – VIETNAM 2023′ once more. This year, we give companies in the travel and hospitality industries in Thailand and Vietnam the chance to further connect and compete with one another, working together to develop and improve the two nations’ tourism. Woranate Laprabang, the CEO of Thai Vietjet, said, “We are extremely proud to actively participate in those valued industry activities. Over 200 attendees had the chance to learn about the Vietnam tourism industry while visiting a number of popular tourist destinations, such as Phu Quoc, Da Nang, and Hue. They also saw presentations from a number of tourism operators in Thailand and Vietnam, such as theme parks, travel agencies, tour operators, resorts, and hotels. Additionally, during the B2B sessions of the event, participants had the chance to win free airline tickets from Thai Vietjet and hotel vouchers in lucky draws. Thai Vietjet, which was founded in 2014, has been working with the Vietjet Group to expand its flight network and give tourists more chances to explore Thailand and many other countries with its friendly and enjoyable service.Source– Travel daily

Over two million British vacationers are expected to travel abroad for summer vacation this weekend (21–24 July), which marks the beginning of the break for most schools in England and Wales. The busiest day of the weekend is anticipated to be July 22, according to ABTA, the travel association. The Balearic, Canary, and Costa del Sol islands of Spain continue to be the most popular family vacation spots, but ABTA members are also reporting strong demand for Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey, Morocco, and Greece. With hundreds of thousands of passengers expected to depart from Heathrow, Gatwick, 199,000 from Stansted, and 116,000 from Luton, airports in the south east are anticipating a very busy weekend. Despite the fact that Scottish schools are well into their summer vacations, over 100,000 people are expected to fly out of Scottish airports this weekend, including 200,000 from Manchester and 71,000 from Bristol. Over the weekend, there will be a tonne of traffic at the channel tunnel, other local airports, and ports. Thousands of families will be departing this weekend as the majority of UK schools begin their summer break, according to Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA. Many of these will be travelling abroad for the first time this summer since the pandemic, returning to familiar places, and will have an amazing experience in store. “If you’re travelling to a region with unusually high temperatures, we advise you to take reasonable precautions to ensure your safety. additionally exercising extra caution when in the water and on balconies. On our website, abta.com, we provide traveller advice to ensure a safe trip.Source– Travel daily

The second quarter’s profit for Icelandair was USD 13.7 million, the highest since 2016. EBIT of 20.9 million dollars, up 19.6 million dollars from the previous year.EBIT ratio of 5%, up 4.7 percentage points over time.Profit of $13.7 million versus $3.8 million in the same quarter last year.Records-breaking operating income of USD 414.2 million, up 26% annuallyRecord Q2 unit revenue (RASK) of 8.6 US cents, up 8% compared to the same period last yearStrong protability is the result of leasing revenue increasing 41% year over year.2 million passengers were carried, representing a 17% year-over-year increase in capacity and a 19% increase over Q2 of last year.83.6% load factor and particularly high demand on North American routes The highest ever liquidity position of USD 521.2 million is the result of strong operating cash flow. Forward bookings are strong and higher than last year for the upcoming six months.President and CEO Bogi Nils Bogason stated: “We are proud to deliver the strongest results in the second quarter since 2016 thanks to the outstanding work of our employees. Record passenger revenue, a historically high load factor, and improved yields in all of our markets all contributed to the prot of USD 13.7 million. Lower fuel expenses brought about by the Boeing 737 MAX’s efficiency as well as lower fuel prices improved the outcomes. Additionally, our leasing business maintained its strong performance and predictability. In order to maintain the reliability of our aggressive ight schedule, we leased additional aircraft in June due to delays in maintenance projects and the implementation of new aircraft. One-time expenses as a result had a negative effect on the Q2 results. Our cargo operation continued to be difficult, but we firmly believe that with our intense focus on regaining stability, we will be able to turn it around within the coming months. In light of this, the Q2 results show solid underlying financial performance and provide us with great confidence for the future. All things considered, the first half of the year has been busy as we have prepared for our busiest ight schedule to date in terms of the quantity of destinations and frequency of ights. We added two new locations, put six new aircraft into service, transported 1.8 million people, and hired and trained nearly 1,200 people. With ongoing strong bookings, particularly from North America, the outlook for the second half of the year remains positive. There has been a high demand for flights to and from Iceland over the recent months. Additionally, Keavik Airport’s capacity has grown significantly, 20% above pre-Covid levels this summer and even further into the following winter. In some markets, revenue growth and yields are anticipated to be impacted by this development in the second half of the year. However, thanks to our excellent team of employees, valuable infrastructure, and strong liquidity, we are well-equipped to adapt to market conditions at any time. We continue to anticipate a full-year EBIT margin in the 4-6% range and therefore anticipate delivering net profit in 2023.Source–Travel biz

Global airport services aggregator DreamFolks and Plaza Premium Group, a provider of airport hospitality with the largest network of independent airport lounges in the world, have announced a partnership to add more than 340 Plaza Premium Lounges in more than 70 major international airports to the DreamFolks global lounge network, starting today. This will improve the travel experience for its members all over the world. In four continents, including major travel hubs like Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Florida, Brazil, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and more, Plaza Premium Lounges will be extensively covered thanks to this collaboration. The number of DreamFolks’ global touchpoints will rise to an impressive 1700+ with the addition of Plaza Premium Lounges. This expanded network will provide members with unmatched access to premium lounges in popular travel locations around the world, ensuring a smooth and relaxing travel experience. Dreamfolks Services Ltd. Chairperson and MD Liberatha Kallat stated, “We are thrilled to work with Plaza Premium Group and expand our global lounge network. The impressive geographic reach that Plaza Premium Lounges provides is something we are proud to highlight across newer lounges and various locations. The strategic partnership represents a crucial step in improving everyone’s experience travelling abroad. Travellers can anticipate experiencing unrivalled comfort and hospitality at important travel hubs around the world thanks to expanded lounge coverage and access to a vast network of touchpoints. Plaza Premium Group’s Deputy-CEO, Bora Isbulan, stated, “We are pleased to work with DreamFolks. Due to the fact that India is one of the largest and fastest-growing outbound markets in Asia, this strategic partnership allows PPG to further its mission to improve travel by providing travellers with distinctive airport hospitality solutions that cater to their changing needs. Given India’s sizable population, rising purchasing power, and rapidly expanding outbound travel market, our goal is to make the airport experience a part of the journey you look forward to in India. We also believe that the airport hospitality space presents a significant opportunity for growth. Through this partnership, we can more successfully introduce new goods and services to the Indian market by utilising DreamFolks’ broad exposure and in-depth knowledge of the country’s travel industry and consumers, as well as PPG’s robust global network and expertise in airport hospitality.Source– Travel biz