Sri Lankan airlines ordered six A330-300 and seven A350-900 to be delivered by december 2020 (1.3 billion dollars) for renewing long-haul fleet in two years. ILFC - International Lease Finance Corporation also announced it hassigned a 12-year lease agreement with SriLankan Airlines (SriLankan), the national carrier of SriLanka, for three A350-900 aircraft. The aircraft will support the airline s long-haul fleet renewal.

Sponsored by Fiera Milano, the most important player in the Exhibition Industry in Italy and one of the biggest in the world, Bit takes place every year, since 1980. Over the years Bit has been an international meeting point for decision makers, professionals, buyers coming from different areas and industry fields. BTC (Borsa Turismo Congressuale) closed sometimes ago and now in Italy, if you are a business travel operator, you have only two possibilities to be considered as Hosted Buyer: BIT in Milan (generally in February) and TTG in Rimini (generally in october). So currently you cannot get only Leisure packages but also MICE, Luxury, Food and Wine. ++++++++++++++++ BIT MICE 2019 consisted of three days full of events at the stand with 10 events per day. During the various breaks between one event and the other, buyers had 1 or 2 hours available to visit other stands. This solution allowed MICE’s world to meet other players and thus complete their offering. To make the companies participation in this formula more effective a certain number of top buyers coming from MICE’s world was invited, whose ratio was 1/1.5 (Buyers / exhibitors) To meet the market’s requirements, we’ve decided to create a controlled access area at Bit 2019 where to host pre-installed stands for the suppliers of the meeting industry. Moreover, workshops related to MICE world took place in the central area , thanks to the support of the Mice Advisory Board.

The 3,600-cruisers Royal Princess is a new-generation vessel currently under construction for one of the biggest cruise companies - Princess Cruises. Amidst the new features found on the board of the cruise liner is going to be a 50 % larger atrium that is the social hub of the vessel; a dramatic over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed walkway covering more than twenty-eight feet beyond the edge of the cruise and balconies on all outside rooms. The cruise liner's 2014 maiden season is going to include cruises on the line’s signature Grand Mediterranean route throughout the summer, which are going to be followed by Eastern Caribbean cruises starting in the fall.

While the names and brand identities of consumer facing brands Aeroplan, Nectar (Chile, Italy and the UK) and Air Miles Middle East remain unchanged, business-to-business brands LMG Insight & Communication and Carlson Marketing now operate under the name Aimia: One single global brand reflecting our position as a global leader in building long-term profitable relationships between brands and their customers. A true Canadian success story, Aimia is now a widely-held, global leader in loyalty management. Having grown through organic and 'green-field' development, international acquisitions, including the 2007 acquisition of Loyalty Management Group in the UK and the 2009 acquisition of US-based Carlson Marketing Worldwide, as well as strategic investments in emerging and adjacent industries, Aimia delivers the Full Suite of Loyalty services and solutions in 20 countries world-wide. The recent acquisition of EIM – Excellence in Motivation, further strengthens Aimia's capabilities and geographic presence in the U.S. EIM is a full-service performance-improvement and business loyalty company that specializes in creating incentive programs and marketing solutions that deliver results for its clients.

The GCB German Convention Bureau has received European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) certification developed by the European Commission for companies and other organisations within the EU and the European Economic Area to evaluate, report, and improve their environmental performance. For the GCB, sustainability is an opportunity for the entire industry, especially for making Germany a sustainable meetings and conventions destination - said Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the GCB. GCB is organising the next greenmeetings and events conference together with the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC).

Psav is a global supplier of audiovisual services and event technologies to decision makers responsible for organising meetings, conferences, and events worldwide. With the adoption of mobile technologies growing at a rapid rate, PSAV Presentation Services is introducing the iMeeting Experience to make event presentations more engaging. Utilising the Apple iPad, meeting planners can instantly share content from their laptop directly onto iPads provided to event attendees. By offering each meeting participant an Apple iPad, meeting planners are able to connect directly to the content via an iPad for easy viewing. The use of this technology makes meetings more personal and helps attendees to better retain the message. Each iMeeting package includes: iPad devices with table stands, a high-speed WiFi router and a presentation computer. ++++++ More info ? ++ go to psav.com ++++++

All Inclusive Collection – the brand that introduced the world’s first-ever all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotels – is thrilled to announce its new company name, AIC Hotel Group. This name change serves as an indication of the brand’scommitment to diversify and expand its current portfolio to include EP hotels, and reflects the evolution of the brand as a more all-encompassing collection. AIC Hotel Group (EP Hotelsincluded) is exclusively contracted by RCD Hotels.

Bangkok (Thailand) 2017 - Waldorf Astoria 170 rooms ++++++ Sri Lanka - 2017 - Marriott resort 200 rooms ++++++ Seoul (Korea) 2017 Four Seasons ++++++ Mumbai (India) end 2017 Radisson Blu Mumbai Essel World +++++ Mumbai (India) end 2017 - Radisson Blu Hotel Mumbai Powai ++++++ Hong Kong 2018 Kelly Hotel (Shangri La) 546 rooms - sqm 1,750 ballroom - Kolkata (India) end 2018 - Radisson Blu Hotel Kolkata Hastings ++++++ Kolkata (India) end 2018 - Radisson Blu Hotel Kolkata airport ++++++ Shanghai (China) end 2018 - Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai Pudong Airport +++++ Kandy (Sri Lanka) - end 2018 - Radisson Kandy +++++ Shanghai (China) end 2018 - Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai Hongqiao +++++++ Bali (Indonesia) end 2018 - Swissotel - 170 rooms ++++++ Shenzhen (China), 2020 - Raffles - 200 rooms ++++++

The RDA International Coach Tourism Federation e.V. (founded in 1951) represents the complete spectrum of coach tourism business activity. The RDA is the leading federation in Europe for coach and group tourism with ca. 3,000 member companies and several associated federations in more than 40 countries and over 70 branches. These include coach companies, tour operators, tourism federations, destination marketing organisations, visitor attractions, culture and events suppliers, carriers, hotels and restaurants. The primary goal of RDA political engagement is the promotion of modern and environment-friendly coach and group holiday travel.

At the recent EMECA General Assembly members gave positive feedback about their trade fairs and conventions, and many even prepare for record results in the next future, due to additional exhibition or conference space with important investments over several years. This confirms the worldwide leading quality level of European venues. Both Italy and Spain are fully back to normal business and are successfully implementing and hosting trade fairs, conventions and big events. The 22 EMECA venues host and organise 1.900 trade fairs a year globally, out of which more than 1.500 in Europe on a gross rented space of nearly 38 mio sqm. They welcome roughly 360.000 exhibitors and over 41,6 mio visitors in Europe. +++++++++++ http://www.emeca.eu +++++++

At a recent press conference, the Government of Catalonia announced Barcelona World, an ambitious project to consolidate Barcelona as a great global tourism capital, with the best leisure project in southern Europe, according to the Catalan government. The area where Barcelona World will be located measures approximately 826 hectares, 200 of which are already home to the Port Aventura theme park. An estimated 4,700 million euros is expected to be invested in this project that will include 6 hotels with some 12,000 rooms and six themed tourist complexes, which aim to recreate six areas of the world: Europe, the USA, Russia, China, Brazil and India. ++++++ barcelonacatalonia.cat

3rd edition in Rome - The Church Palace - Best companies voted by travel agencies: Preferred Association = ASTOI - preferred network = GATTINONI - preferred GDS = AMADEUS - preferred cruise line = MSC CRUISES - preferred car Hire = HERTZ - preferred airline = EMIRATES - preferred low cost airline = Easy Jet - preferred tour operator = EDEN VIAGGI - preferred Ferry Line = Grimaldi Lines - +++++++++++ more info? www.italiatravelawards.it +++++++++++

The DMC Network, LLC, announced that Gina Rodigou, CMP - results-oriented hospitality professional, with a solid reputation for developing and facilitating client relationships - has been named to serve as the company's new Director of Global Sales. Her well-rounded industry experience in DMC's, Hotels and CVB's provides clients with a wealth of knowledge and insight to ensuring their meetings are successful, and as a hospitality industry veteran of over 20 years, Gina has a solid record of achieving business goals by building and maintaining mutually beneficial partnerships. The DMC Network is an LLC of independently owned DMCs throughout North America. The alliance with Ovation Global DMC guarantees to produce meetings and events around the world.

Last year, more than of 1.2 mil. visitors attended exhibitions, meetings, congresses, corporate celebrations and other events at the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre. This represents an increase of more than a 100,000 visitors on the previous year. A total of 95 exhibitions were held, covering various sectors and fields of interest. In addition, the Exhibition & Convention Centre was a popular venue for meetings: more than1,700 meetings, congresses and corporate celebrations were arranged over the year. The largest international congress held at the Exhibition & Convention Centre last year brought 4,200 international visitors to the Centre.