Post-Morakot reconstruction campaign continues strong,Taiwan to
Transcription
Post-Morakot reconstruction campaign continues strong,Taiwan to
Taiwan continues to promote measures for energy conservation and carbon dioxide reduction The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to December 18, at which time Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen will meet with European nations’ environment ministers to exchange views and share proposals. President Ma Ying-jeou has expressed that only if Taiwan’s officials are able to attend the conference can the international community learn more about Taiwan’s efforts to reduce energy use and curb carbon dioxide emissions. Our participation would help the world better understand that Taiwan looks forward to serving as a constructive member of the international community. On November 24, the EPA released the results of its first survey of greenhouse gases emanating from the residential, commercial and transport sectors. Taiwan is now in line with international moves to inspect, report on and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The survey showed an annual increase in emissions of 3.8 percent. Of this increase, the transportation sector accounted for 4 percent, while emissions from residential and commercial sectors accounted for 8.6 percent and saw the greatest growth. However, in 2008, Taiwan reduced total electricity consumption by 4 billion kilowatthours, helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 percent, the first time the nation has ever witnessed negative emissions growth. To further minimize air pollutant and carbon dioxide emissions, on November 25 the Executive Yuan approved the Ministry of Finance’s suggested amendments to the Commodity Tax Act. Within five years of these amendments’ taking effect, individuals purchasing a liquid-petroleum-gas-powered hybrid vehicle and completing a new license plate registration will be eligible for a NT$25,000 (US$777) deduction in the commodity tax charged in connection with the car’s purchase. Moreover, in order to promote “green” businesses, Taiwan will add electric automobiles to the list of newly emerging industries it is supporting. Since producing electric vehicles involves both upstream and downstream components, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will propose two sets of incentives to the Executive Yuan, the first being the elimination of commodity taxes on electric vehicles and the second a NT$100,000 (US$3107) to NT$500,000 (US$15,535) subsidy to be provided to each purchaser of a new electric vehicle. It is conjectured that such measures will lead to increased sales. Gulf Air Strategy Announces New Gulf Air today announced its strategy to turn the company into a commercially sustainable business by 2012. The new strategy will create: A targeted, more focussed international network: – Gulf Air will re-align its international network to reflect its customers’ needs and aspirations – It will expand its operations into over twenty new destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe – It will suspend up to fifteen other routes and close a number of overseas stations that are not profitable and no longer reflect customer needs. This will include our current operations to Shanghai, Hyderabad and Bangalore A superior, more consistent product: – Gulf Air will improve the customer experience by introducing a number of attractive new product innovations, seating arrangements, in-flight entertainment and other on-board amenities to create more consistency particularly across Middle East region A modern, more efficient fleet that will optimize value: – Gulf Air will continue to improve its operational efficiency and reliability by investing in aircraft that will be optimized for the new network and flight schedule, providing maximum convenience and value for the customer – The fleet composition will focus primarily on narrow-body aircraft and regional jets, including a number of long-range narrow-body aircraft which will connect Bahrain to key financial centres in Europe and Asia – The strategic plan will necessitate a substantial increase in our current requirement for narrow-body aircraft beyond the fifteen ordered A320s, three of which have already been delivered, whilst reducing our requirement for wide-body aircraft – Gulf Air is engaging our aircraft manufacturing partners in order to align our current order book with our new strategy – The company is also considering the introduction of regional jet aircraft on the short range routes from Bahrain as early as next year – Gulf Air is exploring the possibility of selling five of its A340s and the disposal of certain other aircraft that have become surplus to requirements This programme of change will be rolled out as part of a targeted three year transition programme, split into two main parts. Phase 1 will be undertaken over the next six to twelve months and will focus on re-aligning the existing network to match market demand. Phase 2 will be undertaken in the second and third years and will focus on growing into new markets where there is identified growth potential, supported by the introduction of a compelling new range of products and services. Relais & Châteaux, enfin un retour à Bruges! Cela a pris du temps mais la prestigieuse chaîne hôtelière Relais & Châteaux a enfin décidé de retourner à la ville la plus visitée de Belgique: Bruges! A partir du mois de Novembre 2009, l’hôtel Heritage de Bruges peut se présenter comme le nouveau membre Belge de Relais & Châteaux. Une ville extraordinaire mérite un hôtel extraordinaire: Hôtel Heritage! L’ Hôtel Ce petit bijou de 24 chambres et suites toutes individuellement décorées, est parfaitement bien situé dans le cœur de la ville et de ce fait il est le point de départ idéal pour une découverte approfondie de Bruges. La maison d’origine fut construite en 1869 en tant que maison privée; elle fut transformée en 1922 par la banque le Crédit Général Liégeois et transformée en filiale. En 1992 le lieu qui était en mauvais état fût racheté par Johan & Isabelle Creytens qui décidaient d’en faire un hôtel de charme qui a ouvert ses portes en 1993 sous le nom Hansa Hotel. Sous la maison se trouve encore une partie des caves du 14ème siècle. Cette cave fut rénovée en 1999 et installée comme lieu de fitness avec sauna et hammam. En 2000 l’étage se trouvant sous le toit, qui était l’appartement privé des propriétaires, fut transformé en 4 suites confortables. Suite à la rénovation totale de toutes les chambres en 2003 il fut décidé de changer le nom de l’hôtel en “Hotel Heritage” car depuis quelques années déjà, aussi bien Johan et Isabelle que les clients trouvaient que le nom Hansa Hôtel ne donnait pas la juste représentation à l’hôtel. Les années qui suivaient ont prouvé que ce fut une bonne décision. Les rénovations continuent à ce jour, récemment toutes les chambres ont été équipées de téléviseurs LCD avec écran 40’. L’hôtel dispose également d’une petite salle de réunion. L’hôtel offre évidemment tout confort moderne et dispose d’une connexion internet dans chaque chambre ainsi que du Wifi dans tout l’hôtel. L’hôtel dispose également d’un garage privé mais les places sont limitées donc nous suggérons de bien réserver à l’avance. Elu vainqueur en 2009 du trophée Travelers Choice by Tripadvisor, nous ne nous arrêtons pas… l’Hotel Heritage Brugge est en vainqueur et vous allez sûrement encore entendre parler de nous dans les mois et années qui suivent ! Le Restaurant ‘Le Mystique’ Depuis peu l’hôtel a ouvert son restaurant :‘Le Mystique’. Le Mystique vous étonnera dès l’entrée: un cadre historique et authentique de 1869 crée immédiatement une ambiance unique et cossue qui met le ton pour le reste de votre visite. Classique mais avec des touches contemporaines et surtout locales est comment Chef Jérôme Papin décrit sa cuisine. Tous ses mets, préparés avec beaucoup d’amour, sont naturellement préparés avec les ingrédients les plus frais et suivent donc les saisons. Bien que originaire du Mans, Chef Papin aime bien d’ajouter une touche méditerranéenne à ses préparations, question de nous rendre de bonne humeur avec une petite touche de soleil dans notre nord parfois un peu gris! Le restaurant est ouvert tous les jours pour déjeuner et dîner ; jours de fermeture dimanche et lundi. Après une longue promenade à travers Bruges ou avant le déjeuner ou dîner le salon cosy du bar Le Magnum ou le coin bibliothèque sont des endroits où il fait bien se reposer. La ville :Bruges Bruges connaît son origine au 9ème siècle au bout d’un petit cour d’eau intérieure, le Zwin, ce qui faisait de Bruges un port naturel. Par le commerce du textile, Bruges se transforme au cours des siècles en un centre de commerce mondiale. Du 14ème au 16ème siècle elle fut une des villes les plus importantes d’Europe. Pendant cette période faste les riches bourgeois et commerçants de Bruges ont financé les superbes maisons de maître, églises et bâtiments publics que nous pouvons encore toujours admirer aujourd’hui. Le centre de Bruges a au fond connu très peu de changements jusqu’à ce jour ce qui souligne le côté authentique de la ville et fait que Bruges n’est pas pour rien la destination touristique la plus populaire du pays. Au passé la ville a souvent été décrite comme ‘Bruges la Belle’ ou ‘ Le Venise du Nord’, elle reste une ville romantique et belle avec un soupçon de mystère que l’on découvre au mieux à pied. Hôtel Heritage Niklaas Desparsstraat 11 8000 Brugge – Belgium Tel: +32 (0)50 444 444 Fax: +32 (0)50 444 440 [email protected] www.hotel-heritage.com À la veille de Noël, British Airways constate une augmentation des demandes de voyages à destination de Londres, la livre sterling restant faible British Airways annonce une augmentation de 20%₁ des demandes de renseignements en ligne des clients européens désireux de se rendre à Londres à la veille de Noël. Traditionnellement considérée comme une ville chère, la chute de la valeur de la livre fait qu’une visite à Londres – en avant-goût des vacances de Noël – est maintenant une option plus abordable. En Belgique, £1 vaut actuellement 1,10972€. Et avec le principal « think tank » du Centre pour la recherche économique et commerciale, qui prédit que la devise risque de perdre encore davantage pour atteindre éventuellement la parité avec l’euro, il y a rarement eu une période plus propice pour visiter Londres. Commentant cet intérêt grandissant, Jean-Pierre Martin, le directeur commercial régional de British Airways pour la Belgique et le Luxembourg a déclaré : « Rien que ce mois-ci, nous avons enregistré une moyenne de 65.000 visites par semaine sur notre site Internet ba.com pour les réservations de vols et d’hôtels, soit une augmentation de près de 10% par rapport à l’année dernière et nous nous attendons à ce que ces chiffres fassent encore un bond en avant. » De nouvelles informations de British Airways montrent qu’aujourd’hui, les personnes qui voyagent à Londres en ont vraiment pour leur argent ! À la veille de Noël 2008, deux adultes de passage à Londres pour un week-end de deux nuits devaient prévoir de dépenser près de €700 – y compris l’hébergement, l’entrée à la Tour de Londres et à la Roue du Millénium (London Eye), un dîner pour deux soirs, des billets pour les transports publics pendant deux jours et deux billets pour un spectacle. Comme l’euro est fort par rapport à la £, les visiteurs de la Belgique peuvent maintenant s’attendre à économiser plus de €80 pour le même programme, qui ne coûte aujourd’hui que €618. bmi restructures network route Brussels, 25 November, 2009 – bmi, Britain’s second largest airline at London Heathrow has today announced a restructuring programme that will see it suspend a number of routes as a result of unprecedented market conditions. The route suspensions are as follows: Brussels – London Heathrow. Last flights 9 January 2010. Amsterdam – London Heathrow. Last flights 27 March 2010 London Heathrow-Tel Aviv. Last flight ex Heathrow 9 January 2010, last flight ex Tel Aviv 10 January 2010. London Heathrow-Kiev. Last flights 10 January 2010. London Heathrow-Aleppo. Last flight ex Heathrow 9 January 2010, last flight ex Aleppo 10 January 2010. From April 2010 bmi will end its lease agreement on two Airbus 330 aircraft which will mean that its London Heathrow to Cairo route will be operated using an Airbus 321. Routes are being suspended to improve the profitability of bmi which is now 100% owned by Lufthansa who are committed to helping bmi restructure the airline to return it to profitability. Going forward, the airline will focus on routes serving oil, energy and emerging markets with a particular focus on Business Class customers and those visiting friends and relatives. The airline will maintain its current UK and Ireland network providing frequency for business travellers and feeder connections for its own network and that of Star Alliance. Dominic Paul, bmi’s Managing Director, said: “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience the route suspensions cause our customers and travel agents and would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have supported us on these routes for their loyalty and business. Agents holding bmi bookings on affected routes need to ticket by 1 December to be eligible for reprotection. Agents will be contacted from 2 December with reprotection options” For more information, contact: Eva Wouters Weber Shandwick t: +32 (0)2 894 90 41 f: +32 (0)2 894 90 69 e: [email protected] Aan de vooravond van Kerstmis noteert British Airways een stijging van het aantal reisaanvragen naar Londen dankzij het zwakke Britse pond British Airways kondigt een stijging van het aantal online reisaanvragen naar Londen aan met 20 procent1. Londen, traditioneel gekend als een dure stad, is sinds de val van het Britse pond een héél aantrekkelijke bestemming geworden voor een uitgebreide kerstshopping. Met één pond dat 1,10972 euro waard is en met de belangrijkste ‘think tank’ van het Centrum voor Economisch en Zakelijk Onderzoek die voorspelt dat de koers nog zou kunnen zakken, om zo eventueel gelijk te komen met de Euro, is er zelden eerder een betere periode geweest om Londen te bezoeken. Jean-Pierre Martin, Sales Manager British Airways België en Luxemburg: « Deze maand alleen al zien we een gemiddeld van 65.000 bezoekers per week op ba.com, onze site voor het boeken van vluchten en hotels. Dit is een stijging van bijna 10 percent in vergelijking met vorig jaar en we verwachten dat deze cijfers nog zullen stijgen.” Nieuwe cijfers van British Airways tonen aan dat reizigers waar krijgen voor hun geld in Londen! Tijdens de kerstperiode 2008 betaalden twee volwassenen voor een weekend met drie overnachtingen in Londen 700€. Inbegrepen: overnachting, ingang voor de Tower of Londen en het Londen Eye, een diner voor twee avonden, tickets voor het openbaar vervoer voor twee dagen en een ticket voor een show. Door de sterkte van de Euro in vergelijking met het Pond, kunnen Belgische toeristen nu meer dan 80€ voor dezelfde trip uitsparen, en betalen ongeveer 618€. Des stewards sur le marché de Noël de Mulhouse Cette année, l’Office de Tourisme et des Congrès de Mulhouse et sa région propose un service personnalisé pendant le marché de Noël. En effet, des stewards sillonneront le centre ville afin d’accueillir, orienter et informer les visiteurs pendant les week-ends, jours de grande affluence et de forte animation. Ils assureront un accueil convivial et chaleureux. Ils ont également pour mission d’informer le public sur les nombreuses animations qui se déroulent pendant la période de l’Avent, que ce soit pour les adultes ou pour les enfants ainsi que sur leur localisation. Les touristes qui éprouvent des difficultés à s’orienter dans la ville pourront aussi obtenir des plans et autre documentation auprès de ces stewards. Ils seront, en quelque sorte, les « Anges Gardiens du marché de Noël » de Mulhouse qui trouveront une réponse à toutes les questions, aussi bien sur le plan touristique, que sur le plan des animations, ou encore des questions d’ordre pratique. Les stewards seront présents sur le marché de Noël les samedis et dimanches de 13h à 18h et seront reconnaissables à leur cape et leur haut-de-forme blancs. Ce service a été mis en place afin de permettre à nos nombreux visiteurs de profiter pleinement du marché de Noël et de ses multiples animations dans une ambiance agréable et dans une véritable magie de Noël. Cette offre est proposée en partenariat avec le lycée professionnel du Rebberg où des élèves en cours d’apprentissage ont été recrutés et formés par l’Office de Tourisme. German Convention Bureau helps you plan Green Meetings Frankfurt/Main, 25. November 2009. The German Convention Bureau (GCB) is a pioneer in the field of “Green Meetings”: Two years ago the marketing organisation for the German convention and meetings industry already started making its annual convention sustainable. Further initiatives confirm the GCB’s good reputation as a “green” organisation. Web area “Green Meetings” on www.germany-meetings.com The “Green Meetings” area is an important pillar of the website www.germany-meetings.com. There the GCB offers comprehensive advice on planning green events. Apart from the CO2 Calculator, you will find a “Mobility” section with information on travelling to and from your meeting location and transport facilities there, “Best Practices” with examples of outstanding green initiatives of GCB members, and a “Standards” section explaining the most common environmental protection certificates. In addition, the “Guidelines” section offers advice on how to “green” your event. Reducing emissions with the GCB’s CO2 Calculator The GCB launched together with CO2OL, the solutions provider for climate-friendly meetings and events, an online CO2 Calculator this September. Meeting and event planners can use it to identify the climate impacts and carbon footprint of their event and receive detailed advice on how to reduce the greenhouse gas. Unavoidable remaining emissions can be offset by certified climate protection projects in order to make your event “climate-neutral”. The project meets with great interest: In the first four weeks the GCB already posted more than 500 visits. GCB and members support “Green Meetings” work group The GCB also makes an active contribution to the “Green Meetings” work group of the meetings and conventions industry and supports its 2010 Green Meetings Conference. This project aims to develop detailed and feasible recommendations that help improve the ecological framework conditions for event venues and destinations. In this way the partners in the work group want to demonstrably diminish the environmental impacts caused by the event industry. The partners of the project under the auspices of the WorldCCBonn are the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC), the GCB, and the Centre for Environment Communication of the German Environment Foundation (DBU). Internal GCB events go green and IMEX sustainable In the field of environment-friendly event planning the GCB sets a good example: At internal events such as its annual general assembly, it takes care that delegates travel on the Deutsche Bahn Event Ticket and by public transport, where possible, instead of using individual taxi transfer shuttle services. For catering the GCB team prefers solutions that do without superfluous packaging and favours regionally produced foodstuffs. Online registration and doing without printed documents saves paper and benefits the environment. And in its choice of give-aways the marketing organisation also focuses on ecological aspects of production and transport. Moreover, as the strategic partner the GCB has supported “IMEX – incorporating Meetings made in Germany – the worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events” for several years in its efforts for sustainability. Since its launch seven years ago IMEX has shown its green commitment: For example, every year the fair presents a large number of coveted green awards to international MICE suppliers (meetings, incentives, conventions and events) and event planners. Backed by its close partnership with the GCB, IMEX has further green initiatives that make “green meetings” a topic of major importance in the global MICE industry. The GCB German Convention Bureau e.V. markets Germany as a destination for conventions, meetings, events and incentives both on a national and international level, and is the place to contact for anybody planning an event in Germany. Its 257 members include leading hotels, convention centres and destinations, car hire firms, event agencies and service providers of the German meetings and conventions industry. Maritim Hotels, Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH and darmstadtium science and convention centre are Preferred Partners of the GCB. As Strategic Partners, Deutsche Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn and the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) support the work of the GCB The GCB is an interface between organisers of meetings and conventions and suppliers of the German meetings market, offers advice and support for planning and organising events, and provides contacts and addresses. Its website www.germany-meetings.com features an online search facility for meeting venues, newsletter, Germany guide and a lot more. Positive 2010 Irish Tourism Outlook For Leading UK Tourism Operator Bucks Trend By Predicting Growth In Irish Market For 2010 Pictured at the launch of Imagine Ireland’s 2010 Self-Catering Holiday Programme are (from l-r) Jose Herrero, Key Account Manager, P&O Ferries; Astrid Nitzsche, Stregic Director, Imagine Ireland; Colin Faircus, Regional Sales Manager, DFDS Seaways; Karl McCay, Marketing Services Executive, Tourism Ireland; Andy Greenslade, Area Sales Manager, Carlton Hotel Group; Dave Ashcroft, Key Account Manager, P&O North Sea Ferries; and Annette Collins, Operations Director, Imagine Ireland UK based self-catering holiday operator, Imagine Ireland, is confidently predicting growth in the Irish tourism market in 2010. Established in 2003 by Annette Collins and Astrid Nitzsche, Imagine Ireland is one of the UK’s largest self-catering companies and offers over 1000 individually vetted properties throughout Ireland. And although the company saw a 25% drop in holiday bookings during 2009, Imagine Ireland expects volumes to return to 2008 levels of 11,000 holidays by the end of 2010. Speaking at the launch of Imagine Ireland’s new holiday programme for 2010, Astrid Nitzsche stated: “Clearly our outlook is at odds with even the more optimistic commentators in the industry. However, our predictions are predicated on three factors: the increasing value for money for UK tourists in Ireland, the UK general election and the bottoming out of the UK’s recession.” “There is an ongoing adjustment within the cost base of the Irish economy which combined with salary cuts and declining domestic demand will see a 10% fall in products and services over the course of 2010 countering the recent rises in the value of the Euro versus Sterling. This makes Ireland a value for money destination for our clients. Secondly we expect the market will react positively to a change of government in the UK which is likely on foot of the 2010 general election which in turn will positively impact on people’s perceptions of their own prospects and in turn perceived prosperity”, she added. Ms Nitzshe continued: “if people are optimistic, they spend more and comes on foot of tremendous uncertainty and pessimism amongst UK consumers. Thirdly although not exclusively, there are green shoots beginning to emerge within the UK economy as the banks are stabilized and the economic upheaval of the past 12 months settles. This in turn will encourage banks to start lending, companies to start investing and companies to start employing in turn putting more spending power back into the UK economy as consumers recover the confidence to spend.” Co-Director Annette Collins added: “Our business is wellestablished thanks to our relationship with our owners and our holidaymakers. That said we take nothing for granted particularly as the tourism market has become global due to the internet while the self-catering market in particular has seen an upsurge in competition from non-traditional sectors such as hotels and serviced apartments. We have for example invested this year in our brand while our marketing activity is being repositioned to target our predicted lift in tourists’ propensity to travel hence our recent re-launch of Imagine Ireland against the backdrop of the world’s largest trade fair, World Travel Market, which took place in London earlier this month”. Imagine Ireland, however, has cautioned the Irish tourism industry against complacency as other worldwide destinations similarly would be actively targeting any resurgence in demand. “The need to constantly drive value for money throughout pubs, shops, transport providers and attractions, combined for example with Tourism Ireland’s efforts at maintaining a prevalent brand presence across key markets particularly the UK, Ireland’s closest and largest overseas market, was further underlined as critical to Ireland’s emergence from its current tourism downturn”, concluded Ms. Collins. PATA Exchange in London offers key platform for Asia Pacific Sellers A second PATA Exchange is scheduled in London for 15 March 2010. Organised by the UK Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, the PATA Exchange takes place immediately after ITB Berlin – when large numbers of delegates route through London on their way home. This year’s inaugural event saw over 50 top Asia Pacific travel and tourism brands meet more than 120 UK agents and sellers. It attracted product, contract and reservations managers, hotel groups, destination management companies and national tourist organisations from across Asia, Australia and the Pacific. A similar delegate profile is expected next March. The one-day Exchange will again operate on an appointments system, giving UK-based agents and buyers the opportunity to meet key sellers from the Asia Pacific region in one manageable forum. Ian Hawkes, executive director of the PATA UK Chapter, says: “Everyone associated with the inaugural PATA Exchange felt it marked an important initiative in bringing together tourist boards, hotel chains, tour operators and ground agents with the UK travel trade. The challenge now is to build on that success and address the needs of exhibitors and visitors as our industry faces on-going challenges as well as many new opportunities.” Ian Mills, of Langham Hotels International, said: “The timing of the PATA Exchange – straight after ITB – is key and a large part of the event’s success. This is an excellent initiative for those unable to attend ITB and we will definitely be there again in 2010.” Entry for PATA members and non-members attending in a buying capacity is free. The cost for sellers is UK pounds 310.00 per company for PATA members and UK pounds 350.00 per company for non-PATA members. PATA Exchange takes place at Australia House in London on Monday March 15. For further information and to register visit www.pataexchange.com