Author: Shawon Hannan

Presidente InterContinental Santa Fe Hotel, a property from UK-based hotel group, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has opened in Mexico City, Mexico. The 111-room luxury hotel includes 26 suites; six meeting rooms; an art gallery; seven stories of office facilities; and six restaurants. The hotel represents an investment of around $35 million, and should provide an additional 350 new jobs to the local economy. Kirk Kinsell, the company president for IHG, the Americas, said, ‘The Presidente InterContinental Santa Fe is IHG’s second InterContinental hotel in Mexico City and the 12th IHG-branded hotel with Grupo Presidente, which are a reflection of the…

Emirates Air Line, a transport company operating a cable car link across the River Thames in London, will be opening the route on June 28, 2012, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympic Games. The £60 million network has been constructed in sponsorship with the UAE-based airline company, Emirates Airline. Monocable Detachable Gondola (MDG) technology will be used to run the 1km long cable car line, which crosses the Thames River from the Greenwich Peninsula, and goes to the Royal Docks. The operation will be run by 34 cable cars, ferrying 2,500 passengers per hour. The cable car will…

A recent survey conducted by Howard Johnson hotel brand, in collaboration with UK-based market research agency, Redshift Research, says that the happiest vacations commence with travellers receiving complimentary stays. For a truly happy vacation, around 64 percent of respondents to the survey want their vacations to last for a week or more, and the majority of respondents wish to have family and friends along with them on vacation. Around 22 percent of people surveyed believe that to be able to disconnect from work makes them most happy on a vacation. The Howard Johnson hotel brand has said that it will…

Easyjet, a UK-based airline, has announced additional services on its routes from Belfast International Airport to Edinburgh, Manchester and four other airports in the UK. The airline is also launching new flights to Birmingham from Belfast from October 28, 2012. The expanded services include an increase from three to four daily flights between Belfast and Edinburgh on Mondays, an increase from two to three daily flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; an increase from two to three flights between Belfast and Manchester daily on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and an increase of flights on weekday mornings and evenings between Belfast and…

As business travel expenses have continued to show an increase in the first three months of 2012, companies need to consider offering support to their employees to help them make better-informed decisions, says American Express Global Business Travel, a venture of US-based financial services company, American Express Company. The company has launched its Business Travel Monitor for the 2012 First Quarter, which highlights that prices across all travel categories of services, including airfares, and hotel room rates, both domestic and international, for trips from North America to domestic and international destinations, have increased compared to those for the first quarter…

Caribbean Airlines, an airline based in Trinidad and Tobago, has introduced a non-stop service to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, from London Gatwick Airport in the UK. The new non-stop twice-weekly services commenced from Gatwick on June 15, 2012, from the North Terminal. With launch of its new services to the UK, Caribbean Airlines becomes the fifth international air carrier to begin offering services from Gatwick Airport in 2012 Guy Stephenson, the airport chief commercial officer, said, ‘We are delighted to welcome Caribbean Airlines and its passengers to our airport today. This non-stop service will not only be…

The hotel industry must go green, in order to survive, says online hotel reservations services company, hotel.info HI GmbH. The company is promoting that hotels should follow a green agenda, and notes that an act as simple as a guest putting the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on their hotel room door will result in the avoidance of unwanted room cleaning and the conservation of water. Research carried out by the company has shown that hotels in the US consume an average of 84.7 billion kWh of electricity, annually, which is equivalent to the electricity supplied to Washington DC for ten…

Premier Inn, a UK-based hotel brand from Whitbread PLC, has expressed apprehension with regards to the possibilities of its properties benefiting from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The company has reported that its London properties have generated more revenue than its other properties in the UK in the last three months, and yet there is doubt over whether London 2012 will ultimately generate excess revenues for the company. The hotel chain has reported an increase of 12.4 percent in total sales for the quarter ending May 2012, although like-for-like sales have increased by 4.3 percent from the same…

London Gatwick Airport in the UK, has launched a new online tourist information library, in a joint venture with local organisations. The new resource, Aroundgatwick.com is providing visitors with information about the region and its premium attractions, along with travel information and route maps. The site is offering its users information on visiting almost everything in the south east of England, including gardens, castles, vineyards and museums, be it for short trips or for longer breaks to neighbouring Sussex and Surrey, Kent in the east, or the New Forest in the west. Lindsay Baldwin, the head of airport communications at…

Two new hotel properties have opened at Stratford, London, in the UK, in time for the 2012 London Olympic games, which are expected to attract an additional 500,000 visitors to the country during the period from July to August. The Holiday Inn London Stratford City and Staybridge Suites London Stratford City, both of which are hosted by UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), have opened close to one of Europe’s largest shopping centres, Westfield Stratford City. The two hotels are owned by a joint venture between Cycas Hotel Partners and Patron Capital, and are being operated under a franchise agreement with…