Hotels and resorts Starwood storms Gold List AN ASTOUNDING 51 of Starwood's hotels and resorts made it to Condé Nast Traveler 's 11th Gold List (featured in the magazine's January 2005 issue) -- a prestigious feat if ever there was one. More than 20,000 Condé Nast Traveler subscribers voted for their favourite hotels, resorts and cruise lines before the list could be drawn up, further testimony to the success of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Many of the winners made the list for the first time this year: the West Dublin Hotel, Ireland; the St Regis Club at the Essex House, New York; Hotel Schloss Fuschl, Salzburg, the Westin at Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort, Grand Bahama Island; and the Westin Melbourne. Two excelled in the food category, besides: Hotel Cala di Volpe in Sardinia, Italy was the premiere, while Hotel Schloss Fuschl came in third. Thomas Cook breaks in THOMAS Cook held its annual staff meeting, attended by over 200 employees from various offices in Egypt, at the InterContinental Heliopolis Hotel. It was coordinated by Mounir Kamal, the managing director of Thomas Cook Egypt and the Middle East. Emeco meets MIMA EMECO Travel recently won the 2004 Meeting Industry Marketing Awards (MIMA) bronze for the best brochure in the destination category -- a widely coveted honour. Since it was first launched more than 20 years ago, the manual has become a major reference in Egypt, thanks to creative incentive programmes and superior quality supplier's information. "We will continue to create the kind of extraordinary vacations that our customers dream of," Elhamy El-Zayat, Emeco chairman, announced. "We aim to perform our duty to satisfy our customers by meeting their needs, thus guaranteeing that they will come to rely on our business and recommend us to partners and business associates." MIMA awards are given in 10 categories -- Best Print Advertising Campaign, Best Public Relations Campaign, Best Web Site, Best Brochure, Best Direct Mail Campaign, Best Electronic Marketing Campaign, Best CD-Rom and Best Video -- and judged by an independent panel of industry experts and leading buyers. Wireless Conrad CONRAD Sharm El-Sheikh Resort has recently introduced a high-speed wireless Internet service enabling guests with laptops to go online no matter where they happen to be in the resort. The service will save time and reduce hassle, and is expected to encourage businessmen on the move to spend time at the Conrad as opposed to hotels that do not offer the same service. Conrad survey IN A TEAM members survey conducted by Bare Associate International, Conrad Cairo achieved a rate of 96.1 per cent, topping the global average of 89.89 per cent. The survey posed various questions, covering a range of points from guest services to salary benefits, with each member asked to give an honest opinion by marking one of five categories from "strongly agree" to "not applicable". Internet trophies IN AN ATTEMPT to encourage online booking, Sheraton Montazah has decided to offer guests who make their bookings through the site www.sheraton.com/montazah complimentary stays, chosen at random twice a month. The initiative is part of Starwood's bid to encourage Internet use. Oberoi partners TWENTY-FOUR travel agents were recently presented with occupancy and productivity awards from Oberoi Hotels Egypt at the Travel Partner Award ceremony, held at the Mena House Oberoi. News Now and then TO BE LAUNCHED in mid-March, Egypt Now www.egyptnow.com,www.egyptnow.com,a website administered by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Ministry of Telecommunications, will provide tourists, whether potential or actual, with comprehensive, accurate, up-to-the-minute information on the facilities and opportunities available in Egypt in four languages. Also in the pipeline of the Ministry of Tourism is a gigantic project that will deploy satellite technology in determining exactly how much tourism contributes to gross national product, arriving at accurate tourist expenditure figures. The road to China EGYPT is to present a major road show in China in May, comprising governmental and private-sector officials from the tourist industry. The news was announced in the course of an event celebrating the Chinese New Year at the Chinese Embassy in Cairo. Attended by 500 Chinese not resident in Egypt, the event promoted the motto, "Spend the new year at the footsteps of the Great Pyramid". Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Tourism, Hala El-Khatib, declared that, in a recent study, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) expected China to be the biggest consumer of tourist services in the next few years, with an estimated 100 million Chinese tourists visiting various parts of the world by 2020. Another study undertaken by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA) showed that the Chinese favour destinations of historical and cultural interest -- like Egypt. Abiding ties THE MEDITERRANEAN Travel Fair (MTF) recently renewed its contract with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, the Egyptian Tourist Authority, the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers, Egyptian Hotel and Travel Agents Chambers and EgyptAir. Founded in 2000, the MTF has grown over the last five years -- whether in the number of participants or the magnitude of the event. The next round (6-8 September 2005) will be held at the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC) and is expected to attract 50 countries. Red Sea plans MEASURES to increase the flow of tourists into the less popular stretches of the Red Sea coast, especially Marsa Alam, are currently being implemented. Perhaps the most important of these is the launching, this February, of a six-month incentive programme of chartered flights in Marsa Alam Airport. In a meeting with the Red Sea governor, General Saad Abu Reda, Egyptian Tourist Authority head Ahmed El-Khadem also discussed marketing Marsa Alam hotels and resorts through international tourism fairs attended by the Ministry of Tourism. Europe on top THE CENTRAL Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) head Ihab Elwi declared that 587,000 tourists visited Egypt in December 2004, with western and southern Europe providing the greatest number, followed by eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This, he added, amounts to an annual increase of 12,000 tourists, with tourists spending a total of five million nights in Egypt. Some 94,000 of the above figure were Arab tourists, moreover, and in this department Libya tops the list of countries of origin, followed by Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria. In the air At a click BRITISH Airways recently held a trade event promoting e-commerce with key travel partners. The company started selling tickets online in 1997, and 75 per cent of its routes, covering 150 destinations, are now "e- ticketable". An impressive 63 per cent of British Airways passengers use e-tickets worldwide. According to company officials, online booking affords many advantages: tickets cannot be lost or misplaced, and bookings can be adjusted readily. Designed to speed up the check-in process, British Airways has also installed 200 self-service check-in kiosks in 40 major airports. Clients use touch-screen technology to check in, selecting seats and requesting upgrades. As if this is not enough, a new "Manage My Booking" facility (now available in Egypt) allows customers to oversee their travel plans at every stage of their journey from the comfort of their home or office, requesting specific seats or special meals as they book via an individual web page. They can also draw up detailed travel plans, e-mail itineraries to friends or colleagues, enter Advanced Passenger information, check in in advance, survey arrivals and departures, book hotels, rent cars and buy insurance.
