Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007 - (Page 2)

I news INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP AUSTRIAN AIRLINES INCREASE IN USE OF OPENS FIRST ‘EXPRESS BY HOLIDAY INN’ IN DUBAI etix® ELECTRONIC TICKETS Paper-free, convenient ticket handling with clear price benefit to 85 destinations An increasing number of passengers are using electronic ticketing to fly: the share of passengers of the Austrian Airlines Group now using etix® is already 64%, an increase of 59% compared to last year. Interlining possible with 24 partner airlines I nterContinental Hotels Group has opened ‘Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City’, the group’s first limited service hotel in the Middle East. Express by Holiday Inn is the world’s largest limited service brand, with over 16,000 properties, and is growing rapidly, opening on average two hotels per week around the globe. Speaking about the plans, Michel Augier, Acting Chief Operating Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group, Middle East & Africa, said, “The rapid global expansion of the Express by Holiday Inn brand will be mirrored in the Middle East with a growing demand for limited service hotels offering competitive pricing, quality accommodation for both business and leisure travellers and the reassurance that an international brand brings.” Added Augier, “Currently, hotel options in the Middle East for travellers on a budget are quite limited, with many people having to select more expensive accommodation in order to guarantee themselves satisfactory levels of amenities and service. This will now change with the opening of Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City.” The properties will be operated by Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Co. BSC ©, the exclusive developer of the Express by Holiday Inn hotels in all GCC countries, except Saudi Arabia. Sami Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer of Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Co. BSC ©, said, “Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City is the first of 22 hotels planned across the GCC countries and Jordan by the end of 2010. Ishraq believes Dubai is the perfect location for the first of four Express by Holiday Inn properties scheduled to open within the next 18 months, due to the established tourism market and demand from corporate travellers around the world.” There are a number of further properties in the pipeline across the UAE set to open in the next five years with contracts and locations to be announced in the near future. Hotels will be developed by Ishraq in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and also Jordan over the same timeframe. Now officially open, the property comprises 244 rooms over four floors and is completely integrated into the strategically located Dubai Knowledge Village complex. The issuing of electronic tickets on the routes of other airlines, known as ‘interlining’, is also expanding continuously due to its huge market success. Interlining has now been extended to include Korean Airlines as well Star Alliance partners Lufthansa, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, bmi, LOT, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Swiss, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways, United Airlines and US Airways, as well as with regional members Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines. Interlining is also possible with British Airways, EL AL, Delta, Ukraine International Airlines and Wideroe. The number of routes that can be flown with etix® is being successively expanded. The global route network of the Austrian Airlines Group now includes 85 destinations where ‘paper-free’ flying is an option. TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE Editor Victoria Geddes Managing Director Christos Agathocleous Sales & Marketing Mike Trafford Graphic Design Debby Heffernan Correspondents Austria Jean A. Guilhermet Belgium Carole Hazlewood France Barbara Casassus Germany Paul Needham Greece Vicky Karantzavelou, Theodore Koumelis Italy Pamela McCourt Francescone Monaco Jean A. Guilhermet Scandinavia Martin Lladó Spain David Ing HEADQUARTERS 8 Vitsi Street, 1st floor, Nicosia 2373, Cyprus Tel: +357 22 459359, Fax: +357 22 459361 E-mail: office@travelnewseurope.com www.travelnewseurope.com REPRESENTATIVES WORLDWIDE India Mediascope Publicitas Fax: +912222835799 Malaysia Int. Media Sdn. Bhd. Fax: +603 704 2285 Monaco, France, Italy, Austria Promocom. Fax: +377 9777 83 06 Nepal Globex Representative, Fax: +977 1 421179 Portugal Ilimitada Publicidade Int., Fax: +35 11 388 3283 Thailand Public Major Media Ltd., Fax: +662 314 4863 Japan Pacific Business Inc Fax: +81336616139 PRINTED IN CYPRUS BY J G Cassoulides & Son Ltd., PO Box 21980, 1515 Nicosia, Cyprus, Tel: +357 22 843600, Fax: +357 22 348835 HOTEL.DK AND BOOKING.COM COLLABORATION Hotel.dk, Denmark’s principal provider of hotels online, has entered into a partnership agreement with Booking.com, Europe’s leading online hotel reservations agency. www.hotel.dk now offers over 35,000 hotels in more than 9,000 destinations worldwide. Hotel.dk is owned by VisitDenmark Booking (a subsidiary of VisitDenmark). It offers an easy and fee-free online hotel search and reservation system. The offers are regularly updated by hoteliers themselves; enabling customers to find the most recent prices and the best hotel deals. The website also provides a selection of tourist and event information about Denmark. Hotel.dk currently attracts over 70,000 users a month, which has led to record levels of demand for hotel reservations. In addition to this, higher search engine rankings and a continued increase in activity on the website have prompted the decision to boost hotel stock from purely Danish properties to worldwide hotels. Booking.com is available in 16 languages, offers over 35,000 hotels in more than 9,000 destinations and attracts over 20 million visitors each month from both leisure and business markets worldwide. “The collaboration with Booking.com means that in addition to Danish hotels, we can now provide a huge choice of accommodation all over Europe and the rest of the world. We want to ensure the best service for our visitors and encourage more people to make the most of what Denmark has to offer. This includes providing hotels elsewhere for travellers passing through, whether they are heading further south in Europe or up to the north of Scandinavia.” says Morten Krarup, CEO of VisitDenmark Booking. TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE September 2007 http://HOTEL.DK http://BOOKING.COM http://www.hotel.dk http://Booking.com http://Booking.com http://www.travelnewseurope.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007

Cover&Contents
NEWS
- INAUGURATION OF ITB ASIA
- INAUGURATION OF ITB ASIA TWICE DAILY
- WTM TO HOST SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
INTERVIEW: Ziad Tantawy
DESTINATIONS: Egypt
BUSINESS
- Spas & Wellness
- Golf
- Exhibitions

Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007