There is good news for those heading to the African continent or utilizing services of South African Airways (SAA). SAA has announced various improvements to its schedule and route network for the benefit of customers which in turn will enhance the revenue of South African Airways as well.

SAA has reworked the flight schedule for certain routes. For example the route from Washington DC has started operating
direct instead to Johannesburg which enables the passengers from North America to reach Johannesburg atleast 3 hours faster than any other carrier on this route. The other advantage to the customer is that the flights have been rescheduled which in turn will allow passengers easy connections to 72 points from Washington to continue their onward flight on any of the Star Alliance Partner Airlines.

"We have made the Washington route more attractive for those customers who in the past flew via Europe to North America. We are exploring possible new destinations in Europe and to North America and we hope to make announcements regarding these in due course," says Magwentshu, the Business Development Manager for SAA.In keeping with the huge demand from SAA customers over peak times from during the holiday period, extra flights have been introduced to Frankfurt, London and Perth. At least one extra flight per week will be added to each of these destinations during December and January. In addition, these additional long haul flights will have flat bed seats on all its aircraft for its premium passengers.

SAA has added a fifth frequency per week on its route to India, a fourth frequency on the Accra, Ghana route and from December to February use the Boeing 747-400 on the route to Sao Paulo in Brazil instead of the Airbus A340-300, to add 574 seats on this route following customer demand. Further all SAA long haul flights on an Airbus now operate with their new award winning lie flat seats in premium class.

SAA will also be announcing in the coming months new routes in Central Africa, West Africa, North America and Europe.
 

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has issued the 16th edition of its annual tourism manual - Destination Dubai. The copies of the manual were launched at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London this November. The colourful, attractive manual is a comprehensive information book for all potential visitors to Dubai and documents the emirate's progress in trade, travel and tourism, sports alongside a complete list of shopping and other leisure options. The ‘Destination Dubai’ project was undertaken under the supervision of Mr. Ahmed Al Tunaiji, DTCM Manager Media and Advertising. ‘Destination Dubai’ documents Dubai's fast transformation into a haven for sun seekers and shoppers and also a city of adventure, offering exciting discoveries in both mountain and desert terrain. The manual fulfils a genuine attempt to present Dubai's fantastic tourism options to a global audience. Mr. Ahmed Al Tunaiji said, “The manual contains valuable information like the places to visit, heritage sites, entertainment and tours, dining out options. It also looks into Dubai's visa regulations and visitors' easy access to visit visas.”

Dubai's emerging reputation as a shopping oasis with features like the Dubai Duty Free and Dubai Shopping festival are well represented in the manual. He added that Destination 2007 also explores the interesting spots in other emirates to offer a total UAE tourism package for the visitors. With an increased interest worldwide over Dubai's state-of-the art sporting facilities, Destination Dubai 2007 has an update on the Dubai Sports City at the Dubailand complex, set to open its doors in 2007 along with the facilities available at other existing premium sports hubs. A complete listing of Dubai's rapidly expanding list of hotels and hotel apartments, foreign embassies and consulates in the manual will help guide tourists through the multiple leisure options that are available in Dubai. Destination Dubai 2007 also aims to educate the foreign traveler about sponsorship details, transit visas, customs and duty free allowances, language, climate, local press etc. The manual is distributed free of charge locally and at the 15 DTCM overseas offices. DTCM will be producing the Arabic, Italian, German, French, and Chinese versions of the manual very soon to boost its global reach.

The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) recently announced Dr Ghaasan Aidi, President Cham Palaces and Hotels as the new IH&RA President during the Association's Annual General Assembly held in Nice, France, on 28 October Dr. Aïdi takes over from Mr. Dieter Huckestein, President, Yellowstone Club World, former Chairman & CEO, Conrad Hotels and former President, Hilton Global Alliance - USA. “This is a tremendous honour,” says Dr. Ghassan Aïdi, “I embrace the challenge and privilege of being IH&RA President and look forward to serving IH&RA members worldwide.”

Dr. Ghassan Aïdi is a long-time IH&RA member and served on the IH&RA Board of Directors in the year 2006 as Vice President for Hotels. As President of Cham Palaces & Hotels and Royal Regency International Hotels, a US-based Hotels Management Company, Dr. Aïdi embodies the global hospitality industry. He maintains offices on three continents, and manages Cham Palaces & Hotels' luxury properties in USA, France, Lebanon, UAE, Syria and Jordan.

The new IH&RA Board is comprised of a distinguished group of international hotel and restaurant chain leaders, chief executives of national hotel and restaurant associations worldwide and a representative of independent hotels, with two representatives appointed to represent IH&RA Worldwide Partners . The new Board of Directors takes office immediately and will direct the Association from now and throughout the year 2007.

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