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.

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.

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.”

Rajendera Kumar, industry veteran, Director, The Ambassador Vivanta by Taj, New Delhi, has welcomed the recent introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but regretted that the hospitality industry has not been treated fairly.

A former president of the FHRAI (Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India), Kumar says that the tourism industry will suffer because of the high and differential rate for various segments. He quoted the example of Singapore, where seven percent tax is applicable across the board.

Kumar feels that the restaurants in the hotels should have the same GST as the stand alone restaurants, which is five percent. At present, they have to pay higher rate.

Many industry players are finding the working of the GST difficult and would like it to be simplified.

Bhim Singh, managing director, Rajasthan Tours, based in Jaipur, says that he has left the GST to the accountants, as he is unable to understand the intricacies.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently released its list of the World’s Top 15 Model Cities for Best Practices in Tourism. Hangzhou, China was included in the list for its innovative efforts in the protection and development of as well as continuous investment in the city’s historical and cultural resources.

In December 2016, UNWTO created an award recognizing the 15 cities worldwide considered by the organization as examples to emulate when it come to the adoption of best practices in tourism, among its 193 member countries. UNWTO plans to expand the best practices applied by the winners in other global destination cities. UNWTO selected 15 winners based on the results of a survey and a performance evaluation program conducted by a panel of judges at a special evaluation meeting held in September 2017.

Hangzhou applied for the Tourism’s Impact on Community and Culture category and was evaluated by the UNWTO. It was the first time Hangzhou competed for an award based on international tourism standards with the goal of taking its tourism sector to the next level and being benchmarked against international standards. The city has achieved a breakthrough with its presence at the evaluation.

Hangzhou was selected for inclusion in the list, thanks to its years of efforts in transforming the city into both an international tourism destination and an international city, as well as in enhancing the appeal of its local culture. The city highlighted its international marketing competitiveness by having itself benchmarked against the world’s most known tourism destinations and by leveraging its unique tourism resources. Chinese President Xi Jinping had made a point of promoting Hangzhou’s tourism resources at the G20 Summit held in Hangzhou in 2016, immediately raising the visibility of the city worldwide and cementing the city’s reputation as a go-to destination.

The honor will help Hangzhou accelerate its transformation into an international city as well as assist city managers in showcasing their achievements in terms of best practices for the tourism sector. In addition, the Hangzhou Tourism Commission was invited by UNWTO to give a presentation on best tourism practices at the UNWTO Annual Conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2017. Hangzhou was the only representative for model cities in the Asia Pacific region to attend the event.

On December 9, WorldTourismWire published an article entitled UNWTO Revenge: “Zurab Pololikashvil fired Carlos Vogeler.”
This headline was now changed to “Zurab Pololikashvil will not keep Executive Director Carlos Vogeler.” Why did WorldTourismWire change this headline?

There are many different sources of information this wire and eTN receives about UNWTO activities, including from an “anonymous chat group, from press statements, insiders and UNWTO members.” Carlos Vogeler has never been one of these sources. When eTN published the headline the word “fired” was not meant to be taken literally but it may have been inappropriate and confusing. eTN should have checked with Mr. Vogeler directly to include his “official version” of the situation.

Here are the facts: The contracts for all four executive directors in the World Tourism Organization are subject to expire December 31, 2017. According to eTN sources, three of the current executive directors will remain employed by the organization in one form or the other. The only current executive director not kept employed is Carlos Vogeler. Couldn’t this be interpreted as being “fired” in a way?

Strong and reliable sources told eTN,  Mr. Vogeler asked for an extension for personal reasons, but this was denied by Zurab. eTN will honor Mr. Vogeler’s request to abstain from making reference to his personal circumstances and those of his family.

Mr. Vogeler wrote to eTN on December 21 saying that the article on December 9 was written without his previous knowledge or consent. This is true. eTN did not contact Mr. Vogeler prior to writing the article, nor would eTN need anyone’s permission to do so.

Mr. Vogeler’s sees his own situation different: “The article indicates that I have been fired from UNWTO which is a totally false affirmation. My contract, once I reached the retirement age of 62 as per UN rules, is due to end on 31st December 2017. This date coincides with the end of the term of the current Secretary-General Mr. Taleb Rifai, whose Senior Team I have been proud to serve. Consequently, this is the end of my contract and not a dismissal and all my pension rights have been totally respected by the Organisation. ”

Mr. Vogeler continued to say,  he had been very honored and is proud of his professional career at UNWTO during all these years.

After again checking with sources, this publication stands behind its previous article and assertion about the likelihood of a “revenge”, even though Mr. Vogeler feels and clearly said in his letter this word was false and offensive to him. eTN today again checked a third time with sources close to the situation to come to this conclusion.

eTN will continue to monitor the situation and remains confident, that the previous evaluation on this issue was a correct assessment of the situation. eTN did not agree to remove the original article.

Nothing, of course, has been officially announced yet by the new Secretary General. When the new 107^th session of the newly elected Executive Council met on September 16 in Chengdu. It was fully expected, as is the long-standing UNWTO tradition for any newly confirmed Secretary-General to present his deputy, and the rest of his executive team.

Curiously, this did not occur, because Pololikashivili wasn’t “ready”. Pololikashivili asked outgoing Secretary-General Taleb Rifai to push back the presentation and announce an extraordinary session of the Executive Council on the sidelines of the FITUR trade show in January 2018 in Madrid. Rifai announced this prominently at the 107^th Executive Council meeting.

Some weeks later the minutes of this meeting was posted to the UNWTO website, yet there is not a single word about the incoming executive team presentation that was being rescheduled. Mysteriously it states the 108^th  Executive Council meeting will be hosted in Madrid in the first half of 2018.

“Mr. Vogeler will leave UNWTO on December 31 and we wish him the very best for his future. Mr. Vogeler has made a difference to UNWTO and can take credit for a lot of amazing success stories. He will be remembered”, says eTN Publisher Juergen Steinmetz.