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Mobility solutions for top requirements: Sixt car rental received the accolade of “World’s Leading Business Car Rental Company” at the World Travel Awards (WTA). In addition, the Sixt Limousine Service was named the “World’s Leading Luxury Chauffeur Service.” The World Travel Awards are considered the highest distinction in the travel and tourism industry. The awarding of prizes is based on votes by industry experts worldwide. The international mobility service provider received the top ratings for the high levels of quality of its services and products.

The World Travel Awards were presented in a ceremony at the CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Heinz Verhaegh, Managing Director of Sixt’s activities on the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Maarten, and Saint Barthelemy, accepted the award from Graham Cooke, President of the WTA. Louis and Allison Ratchel, Branch Manager and Operations Manager of Sixt on the island of Saint Martin, also attended the event. In recent years, Sixt has received many prizes in various categories at the World Travel Awards for its high-quality and comprehensive services and products.

Ryanair, launched a ‘Crazy Fares’ sale across Europe, with fares from £9.99 for travel in January on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which must be booked before midnight Monday the 5th of January.

Customers across Europe already choose Ryanair for its low fares and wide route selection, and now they can also enjoy allocated seating, a free second carry-on bag onboard, avail of reduced fees, a new website, a smartphone app with mobile boarding passes, and Family Extra and Business Plus services, making Ryanair the ideal choice for families, business and leisure travellers.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“To celebrate the New Year, we’re launching a ‘Crazy Fares’ sale across Europe, with fares from £9.99 for travel in January on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which must be booked before midnight, Monday 5th of January – making Europe’s lowest fares even lower. Customers should log on to Ryanair.com and choose a New Year break – but they need to be quick as this amazing sale ends at 24:00hrs on Monday, 5th January.”

More countries are now ready to follow the US lead on eased visa requirements for Chinese tourists. Outbound travel from the mainland is tipped to become the major driver of growth for airlines based in the region. And international traffic for Chinese carriers will increase more than 15 % this year on the outbound tourism boom, outpacing an expected 10-12 % rise on domestic routes, Citi forecasts in a report.

According to report, “The US recently loosened visa requirements for Chinese visitors. The UK, Japan and South Korea also promised to relax the visa application process. We expect more countries to follow this trend in the near future, which should significantly boost international traffic.”

The White House says, in 2013, 1.8 million Chinese visitors added US$21.1 billion to the US economy. A meeting of Apec leaders in November resulted in an agreement between China and the US to extend the visa validity for business and tourism from one year to 10 years.

Air China leads the mainland carriers on North American routes, followed by China Eastern Airlines. Both are expected to secure more growth than their competitors.

UBS Asia transport research analyst Eric Lin estimates Cathay Pacific accounts for up to a quarter of traffic on China-US routes factoring in transits via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific expects increased demand on its US flights arising from the visa moves.

Commercial director for Hong Kong and Macau at Texas-headquartered American Airlines, Victor Lee, said: “Relaxed US visa requirements will not only bring more Chinese visitors to the US, but also to Latin America”, as a US tourist visa gives entry to various other countries including Mexico and Panama. Chinese airlines’ share of seats on China-EU and China-US routes was below 50 percent, which makes them a promising bet.”

“There will be earnings growth for sure, but revenue growth will be below volume growth,” he said, as carriers vying for market share may compete at the expense of ticket prices.

Relaxed visa policies will bring in more travelers, but most of them will not be corporate travelers, which are the real profitable passengers for airlines,” he said.

According to Japan it would announce the details of its new visa policy for Chinese citizens in the spring after promising to loosen requirements in November.

圣诞快乐和繁荣的新的2015年！

メリークリスマスと豊かな新年2015！

Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (5 Jan) released its December traffic and load factor statistics as follows:

Traffic grew by 20% to over 6m customers.

• Load factor increased 7% points to 88%.
• Rolling annual traffic to December rose 6% to 86.4m customers.

Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kenny Jacobs said:

“Ryanair’s traffic grew by 20% to over 6m customers in December, while our load factor rose by 7% points to 88%, thanks to our lower fares, our stronger forward booking strategy and the continuing success of our “Always Getting Better” customer programme, which is delivering better than expected load factors in our significantly expanded winter schedule. With our new routes, increased frequencies, improving customer experience and Business Plus service, Ryanair continues to deliver so much more than the lowest fares in every market we operate in.”

Source:- Ryanair

Robots that service hotel guests, the emergence of marijuana tourism and the rise of several Midwest destinations – these are some of the trends that marked the year in U.S. travel.  As 2014 draws to a close, Hotels.com® has compiled an analysis of search data, survey findings and data from the Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®) to come up with the Top 10 Travel Predictions for 2015.

 1. Detroit’s resurgence will continue and the city (currently ranked the 28^th most popular domestic destination according to HPI) will join Chicago (ranked sixth) as the only other Top 25 U.S. destination in the Midwest. After emerging from two years of bankruptcy, new hotel openings, such as the Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney, and the addition of new downtownentertainment and nightlife options will help the ongoing revitalization of Detroit.

2. The travel industry will continue to see robust growth in mobile hotel bookings in 2015 as hotel and travel companies continue to find new ways of reaching millennials – the fastest growing segment in travel. Easier online payment methods – the use of more mobile payment services, hotel gift cards and the emerging smart watch market – are making the booking experience more convenient.

3. Denver’s tourism will continue to surge, making it a Top 15 domestic destination. In 2014, Denver (currently ranked 17^th) enjoyed a record year in business travel according to the Colorado Convention Center, while Colorado’s legalization of marijuana sales sparked travel interest.

4. More Americans will flock to mid-size beach towns, such as Key West, Fla., Ocean City, Md. and Palm Springs, Calif., and at least one will become a Top 50 domestic destination. All three beach towns were among the most searched destinations on Hotels.com in 2014.

5. Bangkok will once again become a Top 20 international destination for Americans following a steep drop-off in 2014 (from 14^th to 21^st) due to political unrest. Bangkok’s Department of Tourism reported an increase in airport arrivals for November 2014, which were up 2.5 percent compared to November 2013 when the protests began.

6. Innovation will continue to be a point of differentiation for new hotel properties. While many properties won’t go the way of arobot concierge or drone delivery service, smart innovations such as keyless mobile entry and automated check-in kiosks will begin to become standardized.

7. Latin American countries will account for one-third of Top 50 international destinations for Americans. While the majority of top international destinations remain European cities, Latin American destinations have been on the rise, with Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico accounting for nearly 20 percent of the Top 50.

8. Pop culture tourism will be a boon for small towns following a year in which Albuquerque, N.M. rose in popularity after being portrayed as a key character in a popular TV series. Montauk, N.Y. and Cape Girardeau, Mo. also garnered recent attention and next year’s TV and film releases should bring other destinations into the spotlight.

9. There will be more demand for complimentary breakfast. Free WiFi has long been the most important hotel amenity, but complimentary breakfast was also recently named at the top of the list.

10. Venice and Florence will see more American visitors. The Hotels.com Winter Holiday Travel Survey found that Italy is the second most popular 2015 travel wish list destination for Americans (after Hawaii). Both cities have been popular international destinations for Americans (ranked 12^th and 13^th, respectively), but may see a boost as a result of heightened interest due to some big celebrity weddings in 2014.

Source:- Hotels.com