Watch the last interview with Dr. Taleb Rifai: He has a wish…
Do not miss the last interview that UNWTO Secretary-General has conducted under his mandate!
Dr. Taleb Rifai is about to leave Madrid on a one-way ticket home to Amman, Jordan. Tourism is several thousand years old in the Kingdom of Jordan. Amman, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea, Petra, Jerash are some of the must-see destination a visitor to Jordan should experience. With Taleb Rifai returning home, with his standing, influence, and experience in the international tourism community, Jordan is poised to become the number one hot spot in the world of travel and tourism. Taleb’s recent visit to Damascus may be an attempt to help stabilize the situation in the Middle East through tourism and the integration of Syria.
Dr. Rifai said in the interview with UNWTO Communication officer Rut Gomez Sabrino: “I was moved when the world thanked me in Chengdu at the General Assembly. I was so used to be the one saying thank you.”
Taleb worked tirelessly from the minute he took charge of his office in 2010 until Friday, the last working day for UNWTO this year. Under his leadership tourism was elevated from a side industry to one of the major economic pillars and a contributor of peace in this world.
Memorable moments at UNWTO, the evolution of the tourism sector in the last years and confidences about his future integrate the short chat that took place at UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid. Rifai’s conclusion was: Everything I had planned, I fulfilled, except for one important point on my whitepaper – the expansion of member countries in UNWTO. Rifai’s final request for the next leadership was to build on this and work on attracting countries like the United States, Canada, the UK or Australia to join this important UN specialized agency.
Without a doubt, the travel and tourism world owes Dr. Taleb Rifai a big thank you. It remains to be seen how loud this thank you will echo in Washington, London, Canberra or Ottawa in the near future and under a new leadership. Considering Canada, for example, left UNWTO in 2012 out of protest over Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe. Times had definitely changed. The focus of a new UNWTO may be on Europe and countries with close ties to Georgia when Zurab Pololikashvil from Georgia will be in charge. Perhaps touching on the issue of expanding membership in Rifai’s last interview was a “hint of advice” for Pololikashvil.
Click on the video below to watch and listen.
(Posted to the UNWTO FACEBOOK page)
Taleb Rifai’s final words as UNWTO Secretary General: Make this world a better place
Not only the Legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism is coming to an end, but also the term of UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai.
Dr. Rifai has changed the UNWTO and what it is during his term and many say, he had raised the bar of the UN agency very high and has built a legacy for himself like none of his predecessors did. In his final speech he addressed not his legacy, but the legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. This is just his humbled style of communication. This is Mr. Rifai’s final address as a UNWTO Secretary-General:
Dear Friends,
We have come to the end of a very special year for UNWTO and for the global tourism community.
In late 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2017 as the ‘International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development’. This was, without doubt, a global recognition of tourism as an important contributor to the development agenda through economic growth, social inclusion, as well as cultural and environmental enrichment and preservation.
UNWTO was designated by the UN General Assembly to coordinate the activities and the celebrations of the International Year. With your support and the great support of our partners, we have promoted the value and contribution of sustainable tourism to development, to inclusive economic growth, social empowerment cultural and environmental enrichment and protection as well as mutual understanding, peace and justice. This was in many ways a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come together and work closer in making travel and tourism a catalyst for positive change.
The launch of the Measuring Sustainable Tourism last June in the Philippines, the adoption by Members States during the Chengdu General Assembly of the ‘Tourism and Sustainable Development Goals’ Declaration, the Montego Bay Declaration and the Lusaka Declaration, our 14 official events held in all regions of the world, our first consumer campaign – ‘Travel.Enjoy.Respect’ and our online space for sharing stories, knowledge and actions which gathered over 1000 initiatives, were just some of the initiatives of this Year. All my thanks go to each and every one of the 65 partners who joined us in making this possible as well as the 12 Special Ambassadors for the International Year.
Dear Friends,
This International Year will not end in December 2017. All the work we have done together during this year needs to be sustained and expanded if we are to ensure tourism’s effective contribution to the 17 SDGs. We were, therefore, very pleased to have been able to launch the findings of the ‘Tourism and SDGs’ report at the Closing Ceremony of the Year in Geneva on 19 December. The Report, which was developed in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), looks into the links between tourism and the SDGs in national policies, in private sector strategies and sets recommendations for our common journey towards 2030.
2017 was also a momentous year for me personally, as it was the last year of my mandate as UNWTO Secretary-General. Over 12 years at UNWTO I have seen tourism become one of the world’s most important and impactful socio-economic transformative forces of our times. I have seen its growing relevance to the lives of millions of people around the world, to the preservation of our common values and to the greater understanding among people of all walks of life.
I have been touched by every person I have met throughout my humbling, rewarding yet challenging journey and deeply moved by many of the tourism stories I have come across around the world.
I want to thank all those who make our work meaningful every day. I also wish to thank all our Member States, Affiliate Members, sister UN Organizations, industry leaders and their teams, associations and global bodies for their support to me and to the mandate of UNWTO throughout these years. It has been a truly humbling experience.
I wish to say a very special thanks to the UNWTO staff that made possible every success that the Organization has enjoyed over the past years. I am extremely grateful to everyone I have worked with. It has been a privilege to serve as Secretary-General, not the least because of the diverse breadth of exceptional colleagues I have had the pleasure of working with.
I wish Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, the incoming Secretary-General, every success in continuing to drive our sector forward to a better future.
Dear Friends,
Whatever our business in life may be, let us always remember that our core business is, and will always be, to make this world a better place.
Thank you!
Taleb Rifai
New Year Message from Hugh Riley Secretary General Caribbean Tourism Organization
Bridgetown, Barbados (28 Dec 2017) – This has been a challenging year for Caribbean tourism. While the first half of the year saw exciting growth in both tourism infrastructure and tourist arrivals over the previous year, in September we were hit hard by a series of unusual hurricanes that not only destroyed property, but also took the lives of many of our citizens. We must never forget the souls we lost along the way.
Physically, we will recover. Our Caribbean people are a resilient population. We will put the bricks and mortar back together and the hotels and vegetation will rise again and shine in the brilliant sunlight.
We take this time, a season of celebration and joy and the promise of a new beginning, to both reflect on the preceding year and look forward to tomorrow. And we will take the time to give thanks.
Travellers coming to the countries that were impacted by the storms will now see various stages of the rebuild/recover effort. Some are already fully up to speed and ready for the winter; others, only partially so. Our affected islands respect the safety and security of guests and staff and are therefore being frank and open about their state of readiness.
As tourism is the main economic driver for most of the Caribbean, we place enormous emphasis on delivering value and a superb visitor experience. In the hurricane-affected islands guests in 2018 and beyond will expect to see a product that is rebuilt stronger, better and even more attractive than before. That’s the plan, however long it takes to deliver.
We are thankful that the vast majority of the Caribbean never got touched by the hurricanes, so those islands have continued to welcome visitors every day. For them it’s business as usual. We are grateful to the travel professionals, the many visitors and our citizens themselves who continue to share images of the Caribbean today. Those pictures tell a thousand realities.
We want to use this time to thank our member countries that were quick to come to the aid of others not so fortunate. We want to thank our partners, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, the airlines, cruise lines and the hotels across the region that have worked and are still working to bring the Caribbean back to normal operations. We want to thank our marketing and sales partners, the tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents from around the world who have stood by the region and continue to promote and sell our destinations. And we want to thank the media that have, for the most part, painted a proper picture of our region that is clearly open for business. Through it all, we are also eternally grateful to our visitors and to the Caribbean Diaspora who stand shoulder to shoulder with our region in times of need.
Even as we prepare to greet a New Year let us take a moment to look back on a few of the successes of 2017.
Recently we embarked on a strategy to substantially enhance the Caribbean’s engagement in Canada, to develop business in non-traditional areas and work closely with our members’ representatives for maximum impact. New travel agent training and certification, increased use of targeted social media, enhanced deployment of the CTO’s data analysis tools, and more focused engagement with the Caribbean Diaspora were all components of the 2017 strategy for Canada. The Canadian market was a strong performer for most of 2017, with arrivals up by 6.4 percent. We can now look forward to more expansion of that market in 2018.
We also continued to focus on our two primary markets, the United States and Europe, with the UK, in particular, taking a central role. These markets were more robust in 2017 and we trust this will continue in 2018.
We realized too, that intra-Caribbean tourism, which has also been on the rise, would need our continuous attention, especially under the current circumstances where the task of educating the travelling public and removing the barriers to intra-Caribbean travel will continue to be a challenge.
At the start of the year we declared 2017 the Year of Adventure in the Caribbean and we capitalized on this in multiple promotions with member countries and industry partners. The Caribbean Year of Adventure linked directly with the United Nations Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and allowed us to pair adventure with sustainability.
The year culminated with the World Tourism Organization holding its Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth, in Jamaica, followed by the CTO’s partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank to host the Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum in St. Kitts.
For the New Year the CTO has declared 2018 The Year of Rejuvenation in the Caribbean. With wellness and rejuvenation being important aspects of the Caribbean tourism product, we are encouraging our member countries and private sector partners to plan and organise events and activities around that theme.
For travellers who focus on renewing body and spirit, the options are virtually endless; from beachfront workouts and yoga retreats, to wellness resorts and spa treatments, the notion of being rejuvenated in the Caribbean is one more reason to let us pamper you in 2018.
The 2018 Caribbean Year of Rejuvenation will be promoted through social media and traditional media channels and will create opportunities for locals, travellers and holiday/vacation planners to share their ideas on how to capture the Caribbean’s huge capacity for wellness and rejuvenation. It will be a time of rebirth for us and for those who come to share the joy of a Caribbean vacation experience.
We look forward to 2018 with optimism and excitement.
On behalf of our CTO Chairman, The Hon. Dionisio D’Aguilar, Bahamas Minister of Tourism, the CTO Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism, the Board of Directors, Members and Staff of the CTO, I thank you for your continued support of our region, and I wish you and yours a safe, peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Dazhai Wands in China was dedicated as an IIPT Global Town of Peace
Dazhai Wanda, China was dedicated this week as an IIPT Global Town of Peace. Orchestrating the ceremony was Ms. Haybina Hao, Honorary Mayor of the Village for the week. Haybina set for herself a goal to create greater international awareness of Danzhai Wanda Village as an international tourism destination and its impressive contribution to poverty reduction.
Haybina is formerly Vice President, International Development, U. S. Tour Association. In this capacity, she played an instrumental role in increasing tourism from China to the United States and assisted in establishing a tour operator’s reception system for inbound Chinese tourists. She is recognized as a China tourism expert in both the U.S. and China.
Haybina’s week as Honorary Mayor was focused on achieving “A Dialogue between Danzhai and the World.” The December event featured greeting videos and letters sent from 11 international destinations and tourism organizations congratulating Danzhai Wanda Village for its success in attracting some 3 million visitors in less than 6 months since its opening this past July.
IIPT President receiving gift from Danzai Country Official
The ceremony also featured the dedication of Danzhai Wanda as an “IIPT Global Town of Peace” during which IIPT Founder and President, Louis D’Amore stated: “The founders and administrators of Danzhai Wanda are to be congratulated on their impressive award winning achievements in such a short period of time.”
Danzhai Wanda General Manager and IIPT President by Global Peace Park commemorative stone
He continued: “As 2017 is the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and Peace, of particular significance is Danzhai Wanda’s contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals one and four: to reduce poverty and provide for quality education. As a result of your efforts, 40,000 lives have been enhanced, raising each of them above the poverty line. And with the dedication today of Danzhai Wanda as an IIPT Global Town of Peace – your contribution to UN Sustainable Development goal sixteen – to nurture peace and mutual understanding.”
Located in the southwestern province of Guizhou, Danzhai County is one of the most undeveloped areas in China. Although endowed with spectacular natural scenery and an incredible diversity of ethnic cultures, Danzhai is a largely unexplored destination for tourists due to its previous inaccessibility.
Danzhai Wanda Village is one part of a three-pronged poverty alleviation scheme by the Wanda Group that also includes a poverty alleviation fund and Guizhou Wanda Vocational College with an enrollment of 400 students. Wanda will hire 50% of the graduates from the vocational school. Danzhai Wanda Village, which includes a hotel and town district built in the distinctive Miao architectural tradition, is expected to provide up to 3,000 jobs.
Ms. Hao’s mayorship also resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a sister district relationship between Danzhai Wanda Village and Deadwood National Historic Landmark District in South Dakota, United States. The MOU marked the first sister district relationship in China to focus on tourism-related connections with international destinations.
Click to watch a two minute video
About IIPT
The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering travel and tourism initiatives that contribute to international understanding, cooperation among nations, an improved quality of environment, cultural enhancement and the preservation of heritage, poverty reduction, reconciliation and healing wounds of conflicts; and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world. It is founded on a vision of the world’s largest industry, travel and tourism – becoming the world’s first global peace industry; and the belief that every traveler is potentially an “Ambassador for Peace.”
What UNWTO doesn’t want you to listen to….
Is the UNWTO General Assembly a closed event? The publisher of this publication received a surprisingly urgent demand from the UNWTO Chief of Communication and Publications officer Sandra Carvao on December 21, 2017. Her request was for Worldtourismwire to delete two recordings from a December 14 article published on this wire entitled UNWTO the Untold Story -click here to read- According to sources, this request came from the UNWTO legal counsel.
Carvao wrote: “Such material (recordings) is protected and this cannot be made public without the authorization of the people on tape. I would thus ask you to please consider to take out these recordings with immediate effect.”
She went on to question this publisher in concluding he didn’t attend the General Assembly “in the quality of media”,
While some journalists and photographers were hosted by UNWTO, the eTN Publisher Juergen Steinmetz attended the UNWTO General Assembly on his own time and invested his own money as a delegate representing the International Coalition of Tourism Partners. Steinmetz is the chairman of the organization. Professor Geoffrey Lipman who also attended is the president of ICTP.
Even though eTN was not invited to attend the press-conferences in Chengdu, this publication was always the first international news outlet coming out with news from the event, or the first articles found on Google News.
The two recordings UNWTO wanted to be removed:
Recording one included the explanation to the general assembly on how the confirmation process works. The Chairwomen explained to the General Assembly the confirmation process on how to confirm or not confirm Zurab Pololikashvili as the candidate presented by the Executive Council.
The chairwoman explained such a confirmation is usually done by acclamation, except if a country requests a secret vote. She said only one country is necessary to demand a secret vote. She went on to ask the General Assembly if any country requested a secret vote and The Gambia responded positively.
Shortly thereafter the microphone was given to the current Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai. Rifai is heard pleading with the full General Assembly for unity in the organization and to trust the Executive Council in their decision to elect Zurab Pololikashvili and to proceed with acclamation instead of a secret ballot.
The second recording included a debate by a number of countries pushing and effectively isolating The Gambia to withdraw their request for a secret vote.
Experts told eTN this alone should have been reason enough not to let The Gambia withdraw. This debate should have never taken place since one country already asked for a vote.
The recording also included the second intervention by Zimbabwe and the continuation to isolated this African country to agree on not having a vote. When this agreement was made and Pololikashvili was confirmed the Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism Dr. Walter Mzembi was invited to the stage and to shake hands with Pololikashvili, Rifai and everyone else.
Steinmetz said today from his home in Hawaii: “Journalists should feel safe reporting from a United Nations Event. The UNWTO General Assembly was an international event and should not have been subject to censorship procedures by its host country. Including recordings from a public UN event in a relevant news article cannot be compared to a private recording between two people. This recording would have helped to show transparency and openness by UNWTO.
“The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists is currently debating and the Issue of Impunity is a worldwide framework which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, both in conflict and non-conflict situations.
“All major and many not so major news channels use investigative reporting tools. These tools almost always include recordings.”
” What is there to hide? Everything at the General Assembly was recorded anyway, videos and photos are produced. The event had TV cameras running and recording the same content.?”
“In just 6 short days a new year starts, and for UNWTO a brand new leadership will be taking over. This leadership needs all the support it can get, It’s time to move forward.”
“eTN always appreciated our excellent professional relationship, friendship, and cooperation with UNWTO and the people behind the organization. We hope 2018 will not be any different. I also hope this UN Specialized Agency will put a focus on transparency and openness towards their members, affiliated members, the media, the travel & tourism industry and the global public as a whole. All of us here at the eTN Group of publications are looking forward to this.”
“Worldtourismwire asked UNWTO and the UN Headquarter in New York and a journalist association for more input on this issue. Depending on the response we will decide on the removal of the two recordings. The principle of a free press and the integrity and independence of our reporting has top priority for eTN. I hope our readers appreciate this.”
Taleb Rifai in Syria to help relaunch tourism
Syrian Tourism Minister Bishr Yazigi met on Sunday the Secretary-General of the Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb Rifai and the accompanying delegation. Yazigi said that the upcoming stage regarding the tourism industry should concentrate on “the business and religious tourism” as an important means for reviving the areas that have been liberated by the Syrian Arab army from terrorism.
The minister also referred to the future projects being set in order to develop the tourism industry throughout Syria, and the need to train staff specialized in tourism.
In turn, Rifai pointed out to the existence of important investment opportunities in Syria, adding that it is important to take into account how to integrate tourism with the environment and the local community.
Later, Yazigi, Rifai and the accompanying delegation visited the National Visual Arts center and several archeological sites in the old city of Damascus.
Syria is a member of UNWTO.
This is one of the latest official trips by the outgoing UNWTO Secretary-General. Rifai, a Jordanian national will give the helm of his organization to Zurab Pololikashvili from Georgia on January 1.
Joined and inspired by travel and tourism: eTN issues a Mele Kalikimaka
The eTN Team in Hawaii is in Holiday spirit today and issued a Mele Kalikimaka, a Hawaiian Phrase for Merry Christmas, to share this magical spirit of Christmas and Aloha with their 230,000 travel industry subscribers, with their 17,000 journalist subscribers interested in travel and tourism news, and their fans of 1.3 million readers everywhere on the globe inspired and joined by their love for travel and tourism.
Who is part of eTN Corporation?
eTN is a group of publications operating 24/7 around the globe and currently publishing
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eTN Rush: Breaking news updates hourly 24/7 when news happens.
eTN Daily: One daily feature edition, and one daily news edition on global travel and tourism news.
eTN Weekly: Weekly summary of feature news items
TravelWireNews: Updates every hour from news-sources around the world
WorldTourismWire: New updates relevant for Tourism leaders
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Daily update for journalists interested in travel and tourism
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eTN Publisher said on behalf of all staff: “We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous, happy new year.
As we look back through 2017, we are pleased to have brought to you important breaking, and investigative news reporting that was often overlooked by other media outlets.
Thank you for following closely our reporting on this year’s UNWTO Secretary-General election, which featured prominently throughout the family of eTN travel media brands in 2017.
Your support and encouragement to continue reporting on this complex story
enabled us to diligently watchdog the convoluted, twists and turns of the UNWTO election.
Throughout 2017 we traveled far and wide to bring you travel industry
breaking news, updates, and profiles on a diverse range of subjects and events.
We usually don’t publish second-hand news, we believe in putting our own boots on the
ground to bring you first-hand reporting.
2017 saw us attending the UNWTO Executive Council in Madrid, and the General Assembly in Chengdu, China, MITT in Moscow, SKAL in Bangkok, STEP lunches in London, Addis Ababa and Berlin, WTTC in London, the Travel Weekly security event in London, and the UNWTO conference in Jamaica, the ministerial conference in London. In addition, our reporters worldwide covered many conferences, trade shows and other important events and breaking news from around the globe.
eTN exhibited at IMEX in both Las Vegas and Frankfurt, Arabian Travel Mart in
Dubai, at MITT in Moscow, IGLTA in St. Petersburg, World Travel Market in London and various cities, WTTC, OTTM, partnered with WTM in London plus with more than 30 other trade shows, summits, and events.
eTN organized a number of Road Shows for Nepal Tourism in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and the United States. eTN also organized the Bhutan travel industry event in New York.
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Seychelles Partners with SUNx to Build Regional Climate Resilience Centre
Speaking in Victoria, Seychelles, at the Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, Seychelles Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine announced a partnership with SUNx to build a climate resilience centre for the Seychelles and Vanilla Islands.
He also made provision for Maurice Strong Legacy Scholarships, formally launched at this year’s World Travel Market in London and of special interest to the Seychelles because they provide access to a high-profile scholarship for outstanding Seychellois students to further their education in Sustainable Tourism. The long-term aim is to empower tens of thousands of likeminded, connected, committed, graduate trainees and lifetime learners for progressive change.
SUNx is a program of the EU based, not for profit Green Growth and Travelism Institute, and a legacy to the late Maurice Strong – sustainable development pioneer. Its goal is to promote Climate Resilient, Impact-Travel with good & bad effects measured and managed coherently: with Green Growth at the core and, 2050-proof in line with the Paris Accords and the W.E.F. 4th Industrial Revolution. At its heart are SUNx Centres: prefabricated, solar powered climate research and innovation centres for climate resilience learning and capacity building.
Minister Loustau-Lalanne said:
“We believe that this centre will become a valuable focal point for subsequent research and action to link issues like coastal protection, greenhouse gas reduction and Impact-Travel, with access to world class experts in encouraging long-term Green Growth and Travelism as well as Tourism and Natural Capital Assessment.”
Professor Geoffrey Lipman, SUNx Co-founder said:
“We are proud to be working in partnership with the Seychelles Ministry of Tourism who are taking a lead in the fight against eXistential climate change. Small Island Developing States, (SIDS), like the Seychelles will feel the effects of climate change first and we applaud the progressive attitude towards developing climate resilience before it’s too late.”
Notes to Editors
The Strong Universal Network SUNx, is a program of the EU based, not for profit Green Growth and Travelism Institute, and a legacy to the late Maurice Strong – Sustainable Development Pioneer.
Its goal is to promote Climate Resilient, Impact-Travel with good & bad effects measured and managed coherently: with Green Growth at the core and, 2050-proof in line with the Paris Accords and the W.E.F. 4th Industrial Revolution.
Seychelles Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine, is a strategy focussed Tourism Ministry, committed to creating a conductive environment for the development and maintenance of an authentic, dynamic and sustainable tourism industry.
TRAVELCARE joins UNIGLOBE Travel EMEA Agency program
UNIGLOBE Travel International is pleased to welcome TRAVELCARE AGENCIA DE VIAGENS to the UNIGLOBE Travel EMEA Agency Program. TRAVELCARE is headquartered in Porto, Portugal and will support a strategic alliance for the entire UNIGLOBE Network.
Martin Charlwood, President, UNIGLOBE Travel International states “we are very excited for TRAVELCARE to join our global network. They are one of the most reputable travel organizations in Portugal, which is known as a top European destination.” TRAVELCARE has been a 100 % Portuguese company since it was established, in 2010.
The well-trained and motivated professionals at TRAVELCARE provide quality corporate services for a wide portfolio. Some of the industries that TRAVELCARE has expertly serviced include fashion, wine, construction, and automobile. TRAVELCARE offers Destination Management, and has extensive experience in organizing meetings and events. TRAVELCARE has the capacity and the creativity to exceed its customers’ expectations, in both corporate and leisure travel.
Portugal is experience impressive growth in the travel industry with the local government intending to set travel and tourism as a priority until 2027. The focus will be to ensure travel and tourism in Portugal benefits the country economically, environmentally, and socially. UNIGLOBE Travel looks forward to being a part of this new growth.
Working globally to serve clients locally across more than 60 countries. UNIGLOBE Travel leverages current technologies and preferred vendor pricing to save clients time and money on business and vacation travel planning. For more than 35 years, corporate and leisure travelers have depended on the UNIGLOBE brand to deliver services that go beyond expectations. UNIGLOBE Travel International Limited Partnership is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Korean Air receives first Bombardier C Series with Pratt & Whitney GTF engines
Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. and Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. celebrated delivery of the airline’s first Bombardier CS300 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine. Bombardier hosted a delivery ceremony in Mirabel, Canada where both C Series and GTF final assembly take place.
“Today we celebrate delivery of our first GTF-powered C Series aircraft. We are excited for the dramatic improvements in efficiency, emissions, and noise that will enhance our operations and passenger experience,” said Soo-Keun Lee, Chief Technology Officer at Korean Air.
“This is a very important milestone for the C Series program because it is our breakthrough into the fast-growing Asian market, and we are honored to have Korean Air Lines as our brand ambassador in the region,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “We expect that over the next 20 years, Asian operators will take delivery of 2,870 small single-aisle aircraft. We are thrilled that Korean Air is the first in the region to showcase the CS300 aircraft’s outstanding performance and capabilities.”
Since entering into service in early 2016, the GTF engine has demonstrated its promised ability to reduce fuel burn by 16 percent to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent to the regulatory standard, and to lower the noise footprint by 75 percent.
“We are thrilled for Korean Air to receive their first CS300 aircraft,” said Rick Deurloo, senior vice president of sales, marketing and customer support at Pratt & Whitney. “Pratt & Whitney has shared a long standing relationship with KAL dating back to the late 1940’s and we look forward to powering their new-generation fleet.”