Dubai’s cruise season heats up as the weather cools and new cruise visa becomes available. Mina Rashid set to welcome 110 ship calls carrying more than 381,000 passengers through to season end in June 2015. Seasonal growth up 19 per cent on last year, with even greater opportunities ahead says Dubai Tourism Executive Director. New UAE multi-entry cruise visa now available for cruise tourists. Dubai’s cruise season, which began in late October with the arrival of the Rotterdam, heated up this weekend as the weather cooled. From Saturday 15 November until the end of the month Mina Rashid will welcome a total of 11 ship calls carrying more than 39,954 passengers and crew, with nine of the 11 vessels staying overnight in Dubai.

The finalists of the 11th UNWTO Ulysses Awards for Innovation in Tourism, one of the three categories in the annual UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism, have been announced today (Madrid, 22 December 2014).
Every year since 2003, the UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism have honored tourism initiatives that contribute to advance tourism through knowledge and innovation, in line with the principles of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

2015 will see the opening of Thailand’s first hospitality school based on ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals. Dusit International’s pioneering Education division, responsible for Thailand’s first hospitality school, Dusit Thani College, and a first-of-its-kind joint venture with Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School, announces another first for the local hospitality education field.

International tourism is set to hit a new record by the end of 2014 with over 1.1 billion international tourists travelling the world in one single year. During the first ten months of 2014, the number of international tourists grew by 5% according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, rising above expectations.

Sport: Men’s UEFA Champions League final coming to Berlin for the first time. Culture: Major shows from Renaissance to ZERO art movement. 2015 will be a year for sport and culture in Berlin. The city will host many international sporting events, with the highlight being the men’s UEFA Champions League football final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. Culture lovers will be treated to quality exhibitions exploring different periods of cultural history from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

The Germans prefer to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with friends and family. In order to ensure that all guests arrive on time for their Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties, many airberlin employees will even be working over the holidays. This year around 290 airberlin flights with a total seating capacity of over 50,000 will be taking off on 24 December. On New Year’s Eve there will be a total of 310 flights.