News in Brief: Monday January 5
Singapore Airlines Holidays are currently offering special discounts from their new 2015 Maldives brochure, with savings between $2500 and $4000 per person twin share available on new bookings made before February 28, 2015.
The specials are for packages staying at two of the most sought after properties in the Maldives for travel from May 10 until September 22, 2015, with a 20% discount when you pre-book a spa treatment, as well as savings for families and on recreational and dining options.
Sydney-based car leasing and rental company globalCARS has appointed industry veteran David Reeves as business development manager NSW.
Reeves has worked in the Australian travel industry for 39 years in a variety of positions-mainly in the sales and marketing area.
In the trade area he has produced and presented training programs to different levels from retail travel consultant to travel wholesalers and has also presented trade events to groups of retail travel agency staff for a variety of different destinations, including Taiwan Tourism and Jordan Tourism.
Tourism Australia has partnered with Yatra.com and Star Sports to create a portfolio of 30 tour packages that showcase the Best of Australia experiences for Indian travellers heading down under for the cricket season.
The itineraries, starting from Rs 104,990, will give tourists an opportunity to indulge in unique Aussie activities on the sidelines of the cricket matches. The packages will be reflective of Star Sports commentator Gautam Bhimani’s journey in Australia.
The Indian cricket team has been based in Australia since last month, staying until March 2015, with travellers offered a number of cricket-centric activities such as touring iconic stadiums like the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has the National Sports Museum, Sydney Cricket Ground, Adelaide Oval, and also visit Bowral close to Sydney, which houses the International Cricket Hall of Fame Museum.
Star Sports viewers will get a chance to see Australia through ‘Wonders Down Under’, special destination features on the channel which prospective travellers can replicate byway of Yatra.com’s packages.
In under a month at the end of 2014, two new itravel stores opened their doors for the dirst time, with itravel Liverpool and itravel Hurstville opening in Westfield stores.
This is the second store for itravel Hurstville owner Rosemarie Church, with both teams excited with their new refurbished premises and Westfield clientele.
Aircalin has appointed Brett Walsh as the new country manager for Australia, effective as of January 1 2015.
Walsh brings more than 20 years’ experience within the Australian travel industry, including six years working with leading Australian consolidators and more than 15 years with international airlines.
Fiji Airways has announced that it has completed the formal acquisition process for a new A330-300 series aircraft from CIT, a global commercial aviation financing company.
The brand new A330-300 is expected to be delivered in December 2015, and will increase Fiji Airways’ current wide-body fleet, which includes three A330-200s. The 300 series aircraft will offer 40 more seats than the current 200 series, while all other aircraft features will be similar.
This includes a 24-seat Business Class cabin featuring angled lie flat seats, in seat power supply, large personal entertainment screens.
Economy class will feature 289 seats with individual entertainment screens and power supply for charging devices.
Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has formed a partnership with Malaysia Airlines to ensure he builds on the success of his first year on the world circuit, which saw him climb from 183rd in the world rankings to 52nd.
“While I was born and brought up in Australia, I’m really proud of my family culture and very close to my Malaysian family. I’ve flown with Malaysia Airlines to visit them since I was a boy and my mum and extended family have always associated the airline with home,” Kyrgios said.
Regional Senior Vice President of Malaysia Airlines, Mr PK Lee, said the collaboration with Nick is a result of two parties sharing a common heritage, as well as a desire to achieve excellence.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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