Author: Shawon Hannan

Redfern Travel, a UK based travel management company, has launched a new taxi booking service. The company is offering the service in a partnership with UK based taxi, private hire and executive car services provider, Cabfind.com Mark Bowers, the joint chief executive officer of Redfern, said, ‘What we have created with Cabfind is essentially a GDS for taxis by pulling together different providers across the UK. It’s just for UK taxis although potentially it could be introduced overseas. It works from postcode to postcode and is designed as an end-to-end solution. We focused on the UK because we have the…

Flybe, a UK-based airline company, has launched its new service from London Gatwick Airport to Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. The airline is offering up to four flights to Guernsey from London Gatwick from March 31, 2013, using a new 88-seat Embraer jet aircraft. The fares commence from £37.84 one way. Andrew Strong, the airline’s managing director for the UK, said, ‘We know there is a demand for a jet service on this route from both the business and leisure sectors travelling to and from the Island and our E-175 jets have been very positively received by passengers since they…

Tourism authorities in Portugal are to capitalise on a recent surfing record that was set in the nation, in order to boost tourism. Portugal took the opportunity to promote its beaches when Hawaiian extreme surfer, Garrett McNamara, broke a world record this week by catching an, estimated, 100-foot wave off the Portuguese fishing village of Nazare. Now tourism officials are working overtime to capitalise on the development and attract more surfers like McNamara to the waves. The tourism department is also turning to good use the negative publicity that the coast around Nazare has traditionally had. There is a saying…

Centro, the UK based organisation that operates bus, rail and the Midland Metro Tram transport in the West Midlands area, has announced a price reduction for bus passes in the West Midlands. The company is reducing the cost of a West Midlands bus pass by up to £1.60 per week. The price cut follows discussions conducted by Centro with around 35 different bus operators in the area. Cllr. Kath Hartley, the organisation’s vice chairman, said, ‘At a time when the cost of living seems to be going through the roof, especially items such as food and petrol, it’s great to…

Qatar Airways, a Qatar based airline company, is offering new smartphone applications for its regular passengers. The airline has launched a new mobile application for BlackBerry, Android, and iPhone handsets, as well as introducing a new mobile website for its passengers. The new apps are targeting today’s busy executives and business travellers, as well as leisure travellers who wish to access the latest travel information regarding the airline. The apps offer a search and book function for airline passengers, as well as the latest information on flight status, and travel alerts. The airline chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, said,…

Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO), the agency that promotes tourism to the Mediterranean island, has commenced an advertising campaign to attract UK visitors to the country. The agency has launched a spring advertising campaign, ‘Cyprus in Your Heart’, promoting the island as a haven for both leisure holidaymakers and adventure seekers. Orestis Rossides, the director of the CTO office in London, said, ‘Advertising activity during this period usually proves very effective in inspiring visitors to book their getaways early, as holidaymakers look for sun-drenched destinations to counterbalance the grey skies of a British winter. Now, with our new and improved campaign,…

Air China, the China-based, state-owned airline company, is offering a new non-stop service from Chengdu, in China, to Frankfurt airport, in Germany. The new service commences from May 19, 2013, and is intended to help to position Chengdu as an air transportation hub for southwestern China. Around 62 of the airline’s domestic, international and regional routes currently serve Chengdu. The new Chengdu to Frankfurt service is intended to make it easier for passengers from Europe to travel to the southwest region of China. The three times weekly service will be operated with an Airbus A330-200 on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.…

The Morrison Dublin, a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, has opened in Ireland, bringing the upmarket, Doubletree, hotel brand to Ireland for the first time. Hilton Worldwide, the brand owner, had earlier entered into a franchise agreement with the owners of the existing Morrison Hotel in Dublin, and the new hotel has been converted from the 138-room property with the completion of a €7 million refurbishment. Martinez Hotels and Resorts will operate the new hotel. The UK and Ireland director for Martinez Hotels and Resorts, Stephen Mulligan, said, ‘We set out with a very ambitious timeline for this project so we’re…

Tourism in the Algerian region of the Sahara Desert, an area that has traditionally been popular with foreign tourists wishing to experience the desert at close quarters, has been affected by the recent terrorist attack on a gas plant. During the attack, workers at the plant were taken as hostages and a number were killed before soldiers liberated the installation. Before the attack, the awe-inspiring dunes and wild mountains had drawn foreigners to Algeria’s desert regions for decades. However, the latest attacks, which were apparently carried out by factions sympathetic to Muslim terrorist Group, Al Qaeda, could possibly put an…

Set on the Red Sea at the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, the area called Sharm el-Sheikh has some of the globe’s best scuba diving places. With its crystal clear warm water, the underwater world is spectacular. It has thousands of species of fish including colourful reef fish, sharks, barracudas, Morays as well as huge walls of coral, caves and shelves. The SS Thistlegorm is nearby and considered the best wreck dive in the world, and there are many more. For serious divers, there are dive safaris that take people far away from the crowds to the…