generalnews the travel news that's turning heads New Egyptian director plans for growth
by Julie Baxter The new UK Director of tourism for the Egyptian State Tourist Office has pledged her support for the travel trade and unveiled a series of measures designed to help rebuild sales. Mrs Omayma El Husseini is determined to make the UK Egypt's top performing market in the next year and believes the prospects are good.
Among her early announcements
is an extension to the tourist board's support for charter operators to ensure even low-load services can continue; and government approval for the reintroduction of the 'long cruise' from Cairo to Aswan.
Around 40 cruise ships have been
given permission to begin the 'long cruise' from the middle of May. These cruises have been unavailable for 15 years but allow Nile cruises to take in the sights of Aswan and Nubia, with access to Abu Simbel. Vessels in the Sanctuary Nile fleet
(
www.sanctuaryretreats.com/cruises) will be among those doing the long
Azores help is here
The Azores Islands Promotion Agency, has appointed KBC PR & Marketing as their new UK travel trade and PR representative.
The nine islands of the Azores are in the middle of the Atlantic and belong to Portugal. They are renowned for their ancient volcanic craters, beautiful lakes, sea and mountain vistas and their flora and fauna. The agency will also be promoting the islands' 500 years of history. From April to October, the islands are served by direct flights on SATA International Airlines (
www.sata.pt) from London Gatwick with a flying time of under four hours. For trade support or to learn more about The Azores Islands and KBC PR & Marketing visit.
www.visitazores.com www.kbc-pr.com
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tournament at the Cascades Golf Club, the luxurious Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay is offering an exclusive new tournament package for golfers to play the spectacular course designed by Gary Player. The packages includes accommodation, green fees, electric cart during tournament days, 50 balls per day on the driving range, welcome cocktail and access to the gym, sauna and steam room.
www.kempinski.com/en/somabay
theround-up ETo celebrate the 2012 Red Sea golf
EBelleair Holidays is offering a £20
cruises, as will Discover Egypt (www.
discoveregypt.co.uk) which will offer a 14-night journey priced from £2,197. Mrs Omayma El Husseini said promotional activities would also aim to raise the profile of Luxor, Aswan and Alexandria, the latter of which she felt had potential widely overlooked to date by the UK market.
She will also seek to build on Egypt's success in the recent DIVER Awards
P&O's ferry to the flowers
which ranked it Destination of the Year 2011, as voted by diving enthusiasts across the UK. She said: "Egypt has gone through recent political changes but it is already settling back in and everything is still very positive. The affinity Egypt has with the UK tourism market has always been strong and winning this dive award is a great sign of trust in Egypt as a hot spot for divers and all tourists alike.
www.egypt.travel
discount on Air Malta flights during May. This discount applies to flights in both directions, offering passengers a £40 discount on return journeys, when booked as a package.
www.belleair.co.uk/airmaltaoffer
EBritish Airways is expanding its
aircraft fleet and route network at London City Airport. It is now officially the largest operator with the highest number of routes and customers at the airport.
www.ba.com
Natural growth
From humble farm beginnings in the Yorkshire Dales to working with the Rockefeller family in the US, luxury self-catering experts Natural Retreats now has five sites in the UK, three properties in Ireland, one site in Lanzarote and two in the US. All are commissionable to travel agents. Some 60 sites throughout the UK, Europe and the US are planned for the next couple of years.
P&O Ferries is offering packages to visit Europe’s largest floral festival on a themed mini cruise to the Netherlands. ‘Floriade’ is a six-month horticultural
festival that takes place only once every decade and also offers daily entertainment including theatre, music, dance and fashion. The event opened on April 5 and continues through until October 7 2012 and is this year in Venlo in the South of Holland.
P&O Ferries has teamed up with accommodation partner Superbreak to offer a four-night mini cruise via its Hull – Rotterdam service from £220 pp on selected dates throughout the festival. The price includes return ferry crossings, two nights in a four star hotel in Amsterdam, a day’s entry and transportation to 'Floriade', and coach transfers to and from the ferry.
www.POferries.com/minicruises.
New for 2012 is a project by Natural Retreats, in collaboration with partners Heritage GB and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, to completely transform and rejuvenate the world-renowned tourist area of John O’Groats in Scotland.
Natural Retreats will create 19 luxurious apartments and 23 standalone residences in this area using environmentally-friendly, cutting-edge design. The new accommodation will open to visitors from this July.
www.naturalretreats.com
4 May/June 2012 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
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