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ASTA announced that Joe Scarborough will be the guest speaker at ASTA's first-ever Retail Travel Leadership Summit at the 2008 THE TRADESHOW in Orlando, courtesy of Auto Europe/Destination Europe.

Abacus International has reported that the switch on June 1 to issuing all air tickets electronically went without a hitch for Abacus and Abacus-connected travel agents. The goal for effective100% e-ticketing and the target date was set by travel industry organisation IATA, with strong support from the airline industry and it is believed the move could save the travel industry US$3 billion each year.

Amadeus, announced that Thai Airways has launched e-Merchandise in five major markets, with more on the way.

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Carlson Hotels Worldwide has announced the addition of seven locations to its Canadian portfolio during the past 18 months. The new hotels include three Radisson properties and four Park Inn hotels. Carlson's Canadian portfolio now totals 39 hotels including 22 Radisson Hotels & Resorts, 13 Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and four Park Inn hotels.

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Emirates Hotels & Resorts' 4,000 acre Australian luxury conservation resort, Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, has reached its first milestone with the completion of the first of 40 villas, and the planting of the first 1,000 native trees on site. Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, visited Australia recently to inspect the site.

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FCm Travel Solutions has established new partnership agreements with long-standing travel companies in Greece and Cyprus, as part of its ongoing expansion in Europe.

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Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) unveiled its growth plans for the Indian market to tap the outbound visitors and expand its marketing outreach to Southern India.

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Indian association of Tour Operators (IATO) is organizing it annual convention in Bhubaneswar, capital of beautiful coastal state of Orissa. IATO expects more than 1500 delegates to attend the convention starting 7th August.

IIPT has announced that the UN World Tourism Organization (UN WTO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will be Partners in the 1st IIPT European Conference being hosted by Stenden University (formerly CHN University) and to be held in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, October 21 24 2008. Theme of the conference is: “Bridging the NorthSouth Divide through Sustainable Tourism Development”

ITB Asia ,inaugural October 22-24 in Singapore, has announced partnerships with three specialist travel trade events that will give attendees access to four leading events in one trip to Singapore. Within four days, in the same location of Suntec, Singapore, delegates can attend a travel distribution, marketing and technology event, a corporate travel event, a MICE event, and a general travel trade show and convention.

Invis Infotech Pvt Ltd., announces the publication of a book on Kerala, titled Kerala: A Poem in Green and Gold, with an online prepublication offer.The book is on Kerala, a state of India. Kerala has been rated as one of the 13 paradises and 50 must see destinations of the world by National Geographic Traveller.

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Kerala Tourism's official website, www.keralatourism.org has won the Net4 PC World Web Award 2008 instituted by the technology magazine PC World, for the best tourism website in India. In its second year, the PC World Web Awards chose www.keralatourism.org from among 57 websites across 31 popular categories.

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Le Méridien continues its expansion in Asia Pacific, announcing plans to open two new properties, one in Taipei and one in Xiamen, China. Le Méridien Taipei marks the brand's first hotel in Taiwan and will open in early 2011 in Hsinyi, Taipei's bustling central business district. Le Méridien Xiamen, China will open in 2009 in Xianyue Hill, one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods. Operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., both hotels will offer a European flair, and sophisticated, environment designed to appeal to the creative guest.

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Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL) a leisure hospitality provider offering quality family holidays recently won the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Award for its LakeView Resort, Munnar at a glittering ceremony. The LakeView resort is Club Mahindra's flagship resort and received the award in the category of 'Best Resort for Health and Rejuvenation.'

Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese Representatives signed a historic agreement s, which allowed mass tourism between China and Taiwan for the first time for almost 60 years, produced a flood of applications for tickets on the augural weekend of the chartered flights. Travel agents said thousands of Mainland Chinese had applied to travel to Taiwan for the flights t.

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Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation has appointed Sartha Marketing Consultants headed by Sheema Vohra as their first overseas representation. This representation shows the importance of the India market. The aim of the representation in India is to create awareness of the various attractions offered by Niagara. Their primary target audience is leisure and business. Joint promotions with airlines and media trips are some of the marketing options that Sartha is looking into.

Nepal Tourism Board, in cooperation with the Nepal Embassy in Japan, organized the Nepal Sales Mission in the two major cities of Tokyo and Osaka in Japan on 17 and 18 June 2008 respectively. As Nepal has witnessed one of the most important political changes in its recent history, NTB promoted the Nepalese tourism in key cities of Japan to encourage travelers to come visit this new Republic.

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Pegasus Solutions, Inc. has announced an exclusive agreement with Travelport GDS, one of the world's leading providers of global distribution systems (GDSs), to offer Galileo-connected travel agencies a reduced price on its commission processing services. Initially planned for the EMEA and ASPAC regions, the agreement will enable Galileo agents to more easily reconcile hotel bookings and significantly improve tracking and collection of hotel commissions. The agreement was reached to help agents boost earnings from hotel commissions at a time of reduced commissions in other travel segments.

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Sri Lanka Tourism and the small and medium sector will receive a boost with the announcement that the World Bank will fund Sri Lanka Tourism initiatives to expand its capacity to develop strategies and action programmes to support sector initiatives including those for local communities and small businesses. The assurance of support comes in the wake of discussions Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda recently had with World Bank officials in Washington D.C.

Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing joined Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, to capture the interest of the large outbound tourist market, by arranging a workshop for tour operators on June 19th at the embassy premises. Representatives of leading tour operators from Sri Lanka attended the workshop alongside their Chinese counterparts. Ms Shan Lin, who brings a wealth of experience in the travel and tourism industry in China, was introduced as representing destination Sri Lanka. Ms Lin will operate from the Sri Lankan embassy premises in Beijing.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and its new lifestyle brand, aloft hotels, has announced the opening of aloft Montreal Airport, the first aloft to open anywhere in the world. Developed and owned by the joint venture between Silver Hotel Group and Northampton Group Inc.

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Tamil Nadu Tourism is highlighting new areas like rural tourism, eco-tourism, medical tourism and lesser known tourist destinations. It is giving a special focus on lesser known tourist centres and has announced incentives for investors. Similar incentives are being offered for putting up golf course, amusement park, etc. Tamil Nadu Government has also announced support for converting heritage buildings into heritage hotels.

Taj Tours (London) has been appointed as premier partner for the TAAI convention to be held in London in September 2008. Taj Tours will provide additional services pre and post tours for the Indian travel trade delegates including excursions to Paris, Holland and Germany.

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UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the first results for 2008 suggest the relative stability of international tourism. In spite of uncertainties posed by the global economy, international tourist arrivals grew at around 5% between January and April 2008, compared to the same period of 2007. Prospects for international tourism remain positive, although the overall economic climate has deteriorated since the last quarter of 2007, reducing consumer confidence and putting pressure on household spending and travel budgets. UNWTO expects tourism demand to grow, but at a slower pace over the remainder of the year.