The first-of-its-kind combination of every vacation makes its official debut on Jan. 27 The new year is kicking off with an iconic celebration. Royal Caribbean International's highly anticipated Icon of the Seas has taken the center stage as it arrived in Miami for the first time. The first-of-its-kind combination of the best of every vacation was welcomed with fanfare by air, land and sea, ahead of its official debut on Jan. 27. Counting down to the start of a new era of vacations, local residents and Royal Caribbean fans, executives and employees were on hand as the first to see Miami's newest resident. Icon arrived to PortMiami in style, with celebratory fireboat salutes, banner planes in flight and a community celebration at Pérez Art Museum to mark the new vacation's first appe...
Read MoreYear: 2024
Hundreds of hip-shaking and wig-wearing Elvis Presley fans on Thursday began their annual pilgrimage to the Elvis Festival in the Australian outback, the world's largest tribute to the iconic musician. Revellers in their sequin-encrusted jumpsuits danced to several of the King's biggest hits at Sydney's Central railway terminal before catching the 'Elvis Express' to the rural town of Parkes, 357 km (222 miles) westward. FILE PHOTO: An Elvis Presley impersonator performs at Sydney Central Railway Station before departing for the Parkes Elvis Festival, in Sydney, Australia, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy Passengers on the six-hour train trip will be treated to a steady stream of Elvis-themed entertainment, with tribute artists belting out the King's biggest hits along the journ...
Read MoreFrance unveils its pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo The France Pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo was unveiled on Tuesday, 9 January, in the halls of the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d’Orsay, Paris, under the esteemed patronage of the President of the French Republic. The Expo will be held from 13 April to 13 October 2025. Its theme is “Designing tomorrow’s society, imagining our lives in the future”. Olivier Becht, French Minister of State with Responsibility for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French People Overseas, and Jacques Maire, Commissioner General for France Osaka 2025 and Chairman of the Compagnie Française des Expositions (French Exhibition Company (COFREX)) introduced this presentation, unveiling the pavilion’s architecture, its guiding theme and the...
Read MoreOn the occasion of the sixty-second anniversary of the Liberation of Goa, Goa Tourism has announced the launch of a ground breaking model for regenerative tourism. This innovative approach aims to redefine the tourism industry in India by promoting environmental restoration, cultural preservation, and community empowerment by means of the four paths of spirituality, indigeneity, civilisational and cultural nationalism and conscious tourism. Aligning itself to the values and aspirations of the famous Manila Declaration of World Tourism of 1980 and the more recent G20 tourism ministers working group meet in Goa that came up with the Goa roadmap for tourism as a vehicle for achieving the sustainable development goals, the Department of Tourism in Goa promises to transform the state into a...
Read MoreAstronomers have found a direct link between the explosive deaths of massive stars and the formation of the most compact and enigmatic objects in the Universe — black holes and neutron stars. With the help of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and ESO’s New Technology Telescope (NTT), two teams were able to observe the aftermath of a supernova explosion in a nearby galaxy, finding evidence for the mysterious compact object it left behind. When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they collapse under their own gravity so rapidly that a violent explosion known as a supernova ensues. Astronomers believe that, after all the excitement of the explosion, what is left is the ultra-dense core, or compact remnant, of the star. Depending on how massive th...
Read MoreNEOM announces Aquellum The Board of Directors of NEOM has announced Aquellum, a luxury and experiential space embedded within the mountains, and the latest striking addition to the ongoing regional development in northwest Saudi Arabia. With its foundations steeped in cutting-edge technology, avant-garde architecture and forward-thinking concepts, Aquellum will offer guests a taste of futuristic living through its array of pioneering experiences. NEOM announces Aquellum, a futuristic lifestyle community within a mountain haven Concealed from the outside along the Gulf of Aqaba coastline, Aquellum is hidden within a breathtaking, 450-meter-high mountain range and represents a futuristic ecosystem that is harmoniously integrated into the natural surroundings. Crafted to inspire or...
Read MoreHenley Passport Index captures the spirit of travel freedom across globe An unprecedented six countries share the top spot with visa-free access to a record-breaking number of destinations on the 2024 Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Four EU member states — France, Germany, Italy, and Spain — join Japan and Singapore in boasting the most powerful passports in the world, with their citizens able to visit an astonishing 194 destinations out of 227 around the globe visa-free. The two Asian nations have dominated 1st place on the index (which ranks all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa) for the past five years. Dr. Christi...
Read MorePhilippine Airlines (PAL) and its affiliate carrier, PAL Express (PALex), have embarked on the next phase of their journey to deploy IBS Software’s iFly Staff travel solution. Built to improve travel operational efficiency for airline employee travellers, iFly Staff is a SaaS solution designed to automate the end-to-end business and leisure travel booking process for airline employees. The partnership with iFly Staff enables PAL and PALex employees, dependents and retirees to plan, book and manage their travel requirements for leisure and business trips via multiple channels and devices. PAL is the first Southeast Asian SaaS customer of IBS Software and the fourth from the Asia-Pacific region. Since the go-live, iFly Staff has significantly improved the travel experiences of ...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for November 2023 air travel performance indicating that air travel demand topped 99% of 2019 levels. Total traffic in November 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 29.7% compared to November 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 99.1% of November 2019 levels. International traffic rose 26.4% versus November 2022. The Asia-Pacific region continued to report the strongest year-over-year results (+63.8%) with all regions showing improvement compared to the prior year. November 2023 international RPKs reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels. Domestic traffic for November 2023 was up 34.8% compared to November 2022. Total November 2023 domestic traffic was 6.7% above the November 2019 level. Growth...
Read MoreScientists knew it would make history — but not by this much Last year was the planet's hottest on record by a substantial margin and likely the world's warmest in the last 100,000 years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday. Scientists had widely expected the milestone, after climate records were repeatedly broken. Since June, every month has been the world's hottest on record compared with the corresponding month in previous years. "This has been a very exceptional year, climate-wise... in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years," C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said. FILE PHOTO: A man walks on the cracked ground of the Baells reservoir as drinking water supplies have plunged to their lowest level since 1990 due t...
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