by editorial office, itb

Rapid increase in travel bookings via internet – travelers are increasingly counting on recommendations by friends. For the first time ever, the internet is dominating in regards to the planning and booking of trips in Europe.
In 2008, the number of travelers who used the internet in their travel planning passed the number of those who passed on on the World Wide Web for travel information or booking. This is the conclusion of the ITB World Travel Trends Report, produced by the consultancy IPK International on behalf of the ITB Berlin.

The new tourism minister of Thailand, Mr. Chumpol Silpa-acha, is pushing for a tourism revival package to aid tourism enterprises hard hit by the global financial slowdown and the impact of the country’s political instability.

The plan is expected to involve a 3.8 billion baht (US$110 million) aid package to assist Thai tourism operators severely affected by the eight-day closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport in late November last year.

by editorial office, chd

Online bookings are increasing rapidly: The German hoteliers, too, recorded above-average increases in room reservations via internet, CRS and GDS in the previous year. For almost 73 percent of hoteliers, the number of bookings over the hotels’ own websites rose strongly, sometimes very strongly. This is shown by a recent study conducted by the international market research institute CHD Expert among 221 hotel businesses across Germany, which we have obtained in advance.

The Finnish airline Finnair showed an increase in passengers in 2008. Transported passengers headed for Asia, alone, amounted to 1.3 million during the last year. Asian air travel rose by 16.5 percent compared to the previous year. This marks a record for Finnair, as announced by Senior Vice President Christer Haglund, spokesperson of Finnair, in Helsinki. Finnair, he said, would continue its successful Asia strategy.

Gerhard R. Fasching, an industry veteran with over 34 years of experience in the hospitality business, has been appointed General Manager of Radisson Hotel Pudong Century Park in Shanghai, China.

Among his responsibilities as General Manager of the hotel, Gerhard will oversee the training of all hotel management staff, ensuring that the training programs are of the highest standards in the industry.
He will also be responsible for the hotel’s sales and revenue, and for reducing the organization’s expenses.

Finnair is expanding its flight plan by a new destination: Starting from March 3, the Finnish airline will fly from Helsinki to Istanbul twice a week at first, with flights being extended to four times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting from March 30.

„With Istanbul, we are covering another important travel destination“, explains Kimmo Rautiainen, Sales Director Germany and adds: „With the flights between Helsinki and Istanbul, we are continuing the expansion of our Europe-Asia strategy“.