South Africa picked up quite a few prestigious tourism awards this month and the nation’s credentials have subsequently been praised as a tourist destination.

South Africa picked up the Best International Adventure Tourism Destination of 2008 award from the second annual Today’s Traveller Diamond & Platinum Awards.

The nation has much to offer, especially to adventure holidaymakers, including the world’s largest bungee jump and of course the well known safari trips where tourists can have the chance to view a range of game animals in the wild.

The country also picked up the Best National Tourism Organization 2008 as well.

The acting country head for South African tourism, Ms Medha Sampat, was there to pick up the hospitality award for her country whilst the regional director of Asia and Australasia for South African tourism, Ms Zolelwa Mukhozo, picked up the adventure destination award.

According to the Lonely Planet, they refer to South Africa as an ‘exhilarating’ nation, boasting:

“an unmistakable “abundance of energy and sense of progress”

adding:

“Travellers are returning to a remarkable land that has been off the trail for way too long”

For those looking for luxury holidays, South Africa offers a great opportunity.

Airline Qatar Airways from the Middle East has announced that it will be launching a new non-stop direct flight from Doha to New York.

The new service is confirmed to start on the 26th Ocober and will be using the airline’s new range of Boeing 777 planes.  This will cut approximately three hours from the current 17 hour flight.

The airline currently flies to Newark via Geneva, but will now be flying directly to New York’s main airport, JFK.

There will no longer be a connection between Geneva and Newark but instead the seat capacity on flights between Doha and Geneva will be increased, which will make this route a dedicated service.

The Chief Executive of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, said:

“As we have introduced more aircraft into our fleet, we have been able to increase frequency on the New York route from four flights a week to six services in just 12 months.  We are now preparing to go daily with our brand new Boeing 777s featuring lie-flat business class seats from October and offer[ing] unprecedented levels of space and comfort, which will truly give us an edge over our competitors in the Middle East and around the world.”

The Qatar Airways air carrer was voted the best airline in this year’s World Airline Awards for the Middle East category.

A town in Australia, Greater Port Macquarie in New South Wales (NSW), has been awarded three regional tourism awards.

The town won three awards, including a cultural tourism and heritage accolade for the Timbertown tourist attraction, from the Countrylink Regional Tourism Awards 2008.

The Observatory was awarded a gong in the deluxe accommodation category and an award for marketing was presented to the local tourism association.

The next stage is for all the winners from the regional event to go on to the Tourism NSW awards to be held in November.

The acting tourism manager at Greater Port Macquarie Tourism, Linda Hall, said:

“’These industry awards provide the only opportunity for local tourism operators to benchmark against others in the region.  We are delighted to be recognised as offering visitors the best in class for these categories, and it’s fantastic that the operators are rewarded for their hard work.”

For Australia, New South Wales is one of the most prominent regions in the country for tourism.  Flights to Australia are available from most major UK airports, with airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Qantas.

Almost 1,000 new hotel suites and rooms will be available in South Korea.  This is the result of an arrangement between the Gwangwondo Development Corporation and the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

This move will double the number of hotels in the region as IHG will be able to operate new suites and hotel resorts using the Holiday Inn and InterContinental brand.

The new development will be in the Pyeong Chang district in the Gangwon-do province, which is a well known skiing destination.  It will be made up of three separate areas consisting of the resort village zone, the winter sports zone and the golf and villa zone.

Although the destination is approximately two and a half hours drive from the international airports and Seoul, the journey is soon to be made shorts as an expressway it due to open in 2009.  This would cut the journey by around an hour.

Jan Smits of IHG Asia-Pacific said: “Our brands are expanding rapidly in Asia Pacific and globally.  This growth is reflected here in South Korea where we have been successfully operating for more than 20 years. The signing of these three entities in a single deal is another evidence of that growth and the confidence in South Korea.”

Last year, South Korea received around 6.4 million tourists and approximately a third of those were from Japan.

The new developments are due to complete by the end of June 2009.

Less than a week after beginning the four year run up to being the host of the next Olympic Games, plans have been unveiled by VisitBritain, the agency in charge of Britain’s tourism advertising, to use the 2012 Olympics to boost London’s profile and that of the UK in general.

On the 24th August, the official handover took place.  The Olympic handover ceremony was held on Pall Mall and thousands of people took to the city’s streets to celebrate the occasion.

James Bidwell, London tourism chief, described it as:

“a day of great celebration for London”

And added:

“Watched by an international television audience of billions, London showed the world it was ready and energised by the 2012 Games and its host city status.”

The Olympic Games is a great opportunity for VisitBritain to position the UK as a leading destination for bargain holidays, attracting tourists worldwide.  There has been a forecast stating that the British economy could benefit by around £2 billion as a direct results of the 2012 Olympic Games.

A spokesperson for VisitBritain said:

“This weekend started a four-year, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to position a dynamic, vibrant and welcoming Britain as the best destination in the world.”

In the current economic climate, many Brits are feeling the pinch so are looking for ways to have cheap holidays.  According to research, Brits are hoping to save money this year by paying less on tips.

According to the survey from the Post Office, more than a third of UK tourists (36 percent), are only planning to leave a tip on their holidays if they receive an outstanding service.

A particularly stingy 13 per cent of respondents said that they would not be paying any extra regardless of the service received.

The most generous of the British holidaymakers are those from the East of England where around 55 per cent of people said they still intend to tip this year.  Close runners up were the Scots and people from the north of England.

A spokesperson for the Post Office advised that holidaymakers should check the tipping etiquette in the intended holiday destination before booking.

She stated:

“In some places, like the USA, giving a little extra is considered really important, for example.  Familiarising yourself with the tipping culture will lessen your chance of causing offence and stop you spending money unnecessarily. Do always take some small notes and coins in the local currency just in case.”

If you are searching for luxury holidays in a tropical climate, it is still nice to find a little cool relief every now and then.

Dubai’s bus network should be a much more attractive transport method for getting around the city now that 350 air-conditioned bus shelters have been installed.

Around 250 transit locations in and around Dubai now have the cooled shelters, including Deira, Qusais, Al Wasl and Jumeirah.

This new initiative is as a result of a cooperative between Dubai’s government organisations including their road and transport authority, and also a company called Right Angle Media, the company behind these air-conditioned bus shelters.

Right Angle Media’s director of operations, Jim Davies, said:

“Our commitment to providing world-class public transport amenities for commuters and tourists alike remains on top of our agenda.  We aim to make travelling in Dubai more convenient, safe and comfortable.”

Dubai is basically a desert city, getting extremely hot at particular times of the year, and is located in the United Arab Emirates to the east of the Arabian peninsula.

Most hotels and indoor areas do have air conditioning, however, if people wish to explore the city in more detail, the best times to visit are between September and May in order to avoid any uncomfortable high temperatures.

According to recent research, the ‘holiday fling’ could be a serious affair and not just the bit of fun we might have thought.  Nearly one in ten British people eventually marry somebody they met on holiday and had a holiday romance with.

The survey from moneysupermarket.com discovered that those holidaymakers aged over 60 are the most likely category to find love on holiday.  One in five over 60 tied the knot with their holiday partner.

Over a third of Brits have had a holiday fling during a holiday abroad but almost half said that the relationship ended with the holiday.

The best place for romance abroad seems to be Europe with approximately a third of holiday relationships happening on a visit to Europe.  It was no surprise to find that Paris was the number one European destination for finding love abroad.  Close runners up included Majorca, Tenerife, Barcelona and Rome.

Peter Gerrard of moneysupermarket.com said:

“For all those looking for fun and love in the sun, the chances of a holiday romance look pretty good.  It seems the over-60s are hopeless romantics and it’s great to know that you are never too old to find love.”

So you never know, perhaps cheap holidays are not the best way to find love.  To search for a richer holiday romance, perhaps luxury holidays are a better bet.

Virgin Atlantic has shown increased annual profits for the financial year from 2007-2008.  It attributes the success partly to an increase in business class numbers.

The last twelve months has seen Virgin Atlantic’s premium passenger figures increase by around 22 per cent.  The airline claims it took market share from other rival airline carriers, such as British Airways.

The total number of passengers increased to 5.7 million in 2007-2008.  This was an increase of about 7.6 per cent.  In the same time period, Virgin Atlantic increased its number of worldwide flight destinations to thirty.

Locations such as Nairobi, Mauritius and Chicago were available from London Heathrow whilst flights from Gatwick to Kingston were launched.

The President of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, commented:

“It’s ironic that just as regulators are breaking up one monopoly – BAA – British Airways and American Airlines are trying to create another.  Our results prove that consumers want choice on transatlantic routes. Unless the regulators block the proposed BA/AA monopoly, consumers will lose out – and they’ll pay higher ticket prices for the privilege.”

The new financial year of 2008-2009 has started well for the airline as the first-quarter sales were up by around 16 per cent compared to a year earlier.

A newly renovated, modern lounge has been unveiled at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia by Thai Airways.

The facility has been under redevelopment since November 2007 until April 2008.

The modern lounge can hold a maximum of 75 passengers now, including a VIP section consisting of 11 seats and another 64 seats located in the main lounge.

There are several amenities such as LCD televisions, stereos, internet access, food and drink areas and a carry-on baggage holding area.

The lounge has a new maximum capacity for 75 passengers, including 11 seats in the VIP section and 64 seats in the main lounge.

Thai’s Airways’ managing director of ground customer services, Wanporn Wibooncharoenkitja, said:

“Thai always places great importance on providing services to passengers that extend maximum convenience and greater comfort.  With the relaunch of Thai’s Royal Silk lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, passengers can enjoy the facilities, products and services offered in the lounge, where they can relax or work, based on their travel requirements.”

The new lounge will be open to customers of Thai Airways travelling via business class and also premium class passengers with Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.