This month, air carrier Emirates has launched new Airbus A380 flights to Toronto in Canada and Bangkok in Thailand increasing the range of holidays to these destinations.
These new flights are a new experience for holidaymakers as this is the first time that the A380 has been used for commercial flights to Toronto and Bangkok. The flights will operate from Dubai three times a week to Toronto and once a day to Bangkok. Emirates said they mark: ‘a new era of luxury air travel to Thailand and Canada’.
Tim Clark, president of the airline, said:
‘Emirates is delighted to celebrate its inaugural A380 services to Thailand and Canada today. The aircraft with its large capacity and excellent operating economies is a pillar of growth, both for the airline and the destination.’
Emirates already runs an extensive network of international flights from the central hub in Dubai including holidays to Sydney in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand to name but a few.
An announcement was made from Tourism New Zealand that the mobile studio unit that they installed to record the views of holidaymakers visiting New Zealand had completed its first month in action.
Videos have been recorded in the portable studio that have been uploaded by the tourist board to a ‘have your say’ YouTube channel that has attracted over 42,000 views.
600 videos so far, featuring holidaymakers from the UK, Japan, Australia, and the United States and beyond have been viewed.
The whole exercise has been part of Tourism New Zealand’s ‘what do you say UK?’ campaign for 2009. At the moment the studio has hit the road to travel from the north to the south of New Zealand and has already been to Wellington, Auckland and Coromandel.
Chief executive at the agency is George Hickton and he said that there were 900 million people travelling and taking holidays worldwide and he felt that New Zealand really needed to start building its profile to attract a larger chunk of the market share.
He said:
“If every clip filmed in the mobile studio is viewed by ten friends and family back home and if 3,000 clips are filmed, that’s 30,000 messages about New Zealand sent to our key markets – a very cost-effective form of marketing.”
Holiday makers and business passengers that ended up at Sydney airport in 2008 joined the 1.2 million other passengers wanting to use its most popular non-domestic route to Auckland in New Zealand.
Sydney Airport and its customers, who equate for 11% of the airports’ yearly volume of international passengers, have been looking forward to the new flight service. The service launch is provided by Emirates who will be utilising their A380 craft to fly from the airport to Auckland in New Zealand.
The Emirates Airbus A380 servicing Sydney to Auckland launched its maiden flight on 2nd February 2009 and it was the first time a superjumbo aircraft had been used on this flight route.
CEO at Sydney Airport, Russell Balding, commented:
“The introduction of the A380 into commercial service across the Tasman is a great achievement, and I congratulate Emirates on flying the A380 on this very popular route. The fact that Emirates is acquiring 50 A380s means that while [this] historic flight represents a new first in aviation across the Tasman, there will be many more A380 flights from Sydney airport in the years ahead.”
Emirates are one of three airlines providing flights along the route and joins Singapore Airlines and Qantas.
It has been announced that aircraft manufacturer Boeing has teamed up with Air New Zealand to schedule a test flight for Wednesday 3rd December using sustainable biofuels.
The flight will run from Auckland and one of the Boeing 747’s four engines will be powered by fuel made from the jatropha genus of plants.
Reportedly, the fuel for this test flight is the first ever large-scale production run of a sustainable biofuel to be used for aviation purposes.
The chief executive officer of Air New Zealand, Rob Fyfe said the test flight is in support of the carrier’s efforts to become
‘the world’s most environmentally responsible airline’
Fyfe also said:
‘Introducing a new generation of sustainable fuels is the next logical step in our efforts to further save fuel and reduce aircraft emissions.’
Other measures planned in their efforts to become environmentally responsible will include the planned use of the Boeing 787 Dreamline, which according to Mr Fyfe will burn a fifth less fuel that the current planes that will be replaced.
If flights were to become more environmentally friendly, this would be great news for the world’s tourism industry.
Earlier this week, Tourism New Zealand announced that it is about to launch its largest advertising campaign at the UK.
The new advertising campaign will include eight different television commercials, each lasting forty seconds, and some online activity. The campaign will start on the 7th September.
The promotion will feature the tagline ‘What do you say UK?’ and will show British travellers in New Zealand, visiting main tourist attractions and talking about the experience.
The Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand, George Hickton, stated that they hope the campaign will make the prospect of visiting New Zealand more achievable for British holidaymakers.
He said:
“While the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign has helped New Zealand stay a very aspirational holiday for the British, the new campaign will give consumers a reason to come now.”
From January to June 2008, more than 290,000 visitors from the UK arrived in New Zealand, making the UK its second largest tourist market.
Flights to cities in New Zealand such as Auckland or Wellington are available from major UK airports and include the likes of Qantas and Air New Zealand.
New Zealand is one of the top destinations for luxury holidays for many people on this side of the Atlantic. However, when you go looking for New Zealand holiday deals, how many people would be interested in shark diving?
In Dunedin, New Zealand, two men are launching a venture to allow tourists to cage-dive with the sharks, and not just any sharks, but great white sharks.
Tourists will be dropped into the Foveaux Strait waters in a two metre high aluminium cage.
Co-owner of the Great White Southern Dive Company, Peter Dryden, said that the cage is practically indestructible and one his first cage dive, he sae five of the giant sharks, accordin gto the Otango Daily Times. Peter said:
“It’s pretty awesome. It’s something you can’t describe. They’re amazing.”
He also added that there is no need to fear aggression from the sharks on these cage dives, as has been known in other cage dives around the globe:
“I think it’s because they are not hungry. There’s plenty of food for them to eat around Stewart Island. Cages dropped in South Africa and South Australia have had their air hoses chomped through by the sharks. But our cage is indestructible because it sits just below the surface by the boat.”
Visitors can expect to pay approximately $500 or £190 per person per day for the tours.
Queenstown sits on an edge of Lake Wakatipu and faces the Remarkable Mountains. The top of Bob’s Peak gives a breathtaking view the Remarkables mountain range, Coronet Peak and Lake Wakatipu.
A popular tourist town
A popular tourist town, the visitors to Queenstown range from backpackers to luxury tourists, whether you’re looking for a cheap holiday or a more luxury holiday. It has something for everyone. Exciting and adventurous day activities and a vibrant nightlife
Queenstown offers many fun activities like:
• Bungee Jumping – specially from Kawarau Bridge
• Ski slopes
• The Shotover Jet is an exciting jet boat ride. High-speed jet boats carry passengers over shallow waters in a canyon performing stunts like 360-degree pirouettes in the water.
• Horseback riding – takes you through valleys and across shallow rivers.
• Parasailing over the lake
• White water rafting
• Scenic flights to beautiful of Milford Sound and Fjordland
The quaint Town Centre offers good quality shopping for knitwear, sheepskin and jade.
Nightlife in Queenstown
• Restaurants serve excellent seafood, game, lamb, venison and beef.
• Bars are open dusk to dawn. Nights buzz with live jazz.
A visit to the South Island would be incomplete without a stop at Queensland.
