The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a new website, thailandwonders.com. The thailandwonders site features a concierge service known as On-line Concierge. The free service allows tourists to interact with travel experts to get assistance in planning their visit to Thailand. Trips can be tailored to meet the specific interests and requirements of each traveler. [Read more…]

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is scheduled to open three new hotels in Asia between 2009 and 2011. The St. Regis Hotel & Residences in Bangkok, Thailand will open in early 2009, to be followed the next year by the St. Regis Hotel in Osaka, Japan. The St. Regis Hotel in Tianjin, China is planned for 2011. This expansion follows the two original St. Regis Asian properties in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as properties which will begin operations in the next two years in Singapore (2007), Bali (2008), and Macau (2010) . [Read more…]

Qantas announced that its new Airbus A380 aircraft will have a state-of-the-art interior, one created with a new level of customer involvement. The design by Australian industrial designer Marc Newson incorporates many customer-initiated ideas. Customers were also involved in testing the ergonomically designed seating.

The fleet of twenty aircraft are scheduled for delivery starting in August 2008. The plane will have 450 seats in four classes of service, First, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. A detailed list of features for each is provided at the end of this article. [Read more…]

While passenger traffic between the United States and China has been up more than 10% annually in recent years, Korean Air has experienced a 55% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers it carries between the two countries. Korean Air is focusing on traffic to China and has declared the country is its second home market, and expects this growth to continue through 2010. Trans-Pacific traffic as a whole has increased 5% annually, half the growth rate of China traffic. [Read more…]

Free WiFi has been extended to lobbies and other public areas in Marriott International’s Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, and SpringHill Suites hotels in the United States and Canada. The five chains combined now have more than 1,500 free WiFi hotel hotspots.

Free WiFi has been available in guest rooms for three years, but charges applied in public areas. These charges have now been eliminated in conjunction with the creation of new lobby and public spaces by most of these brands. The new interiors are designed to function as places for work and relaxation, as well as offer increased technology access. [Read more…]

Virgin America will offer Google Maps on Red, its in-flight entertainment system. Interactive and personally controlled moving maps will be available on every seat-back screen. The program has been custom-developed by Google and Virgin America.

The system will allow guests to see location, distance and time to their destination, and time remaining to their destination throughout the flight. Panning and eight levels of zoom will be available. Passengers will also be able to plan travels using Red’s Journey section. [Read more…]

During the January to June period of this year, utilization of Singapore’s Changi Airport increased compared to the first six months of 2006. Airport traffic showed both increases in passenger traffic and improvements in the number of connections available.

Changi had 5.4% growth over the period, handling over 17.7 million passengers. They flew on 4,180 weekly flights by 79 airlines serving 185 cities in 59 countries. During the June school holiday period, more than 100,000 passengers passed through the airport on a nearly daily basis. Both March and June had traffic in excess of 3 million. [Read more…]

Qatar Airways now flies daily non-stop between Doha, Qatar’s capital, to Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport. The Washington route is operated with the Airbus A340 aircraft in a three-class configuration, with First Class offering eight seats convert into flat beds and the 42 Business Class seats providing a 160 degree recline. Economy Class has 216 seats. [Read more…]

On October 18, 2007 Cathay Pacific Airways will inaugurate its second non-stop flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. The new flight will have a daytime departure to give passengers a choice of both a day and evening flight on Cathay Pacific. The airline also increased the number of flights on its Vancouver-Hong Kong route from fourteen to seventeen last week, adding three morning departures. [Read more…]

The Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel has opened in the Futian central business district of Shenzhen, at the Great China International Exchange Square. The Exchange Square, a multi-purpose landmark building, is located between the Shenzhen Civic Center and the Shenzhen Convention Center and is within easy walking distance of the convention center.

Tomas Hansson, the hotel’s General Manager, cited “the rapid economic growth of Shenzhen city and development of Shenzhen’s central business district in Futian” in remarks about the new hotel. [Read more…]