Gaza Resist

Planners in the Middle East has been identified as Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, good sources of tourist traffic to offset the potential decline of traditional markets in the West. Many Arab countries, is currently engaged in three days,ITB Asia travel trade in this article is no secret that Malaysia and Singapore, in particular, were inherently good business opportunities.

Tourism Authority (QTA) Chairman, Ahmed Abdullah M. Al-Nuaimi said Qatar has made significant investments for building infrastructure such as museums, sports and tourist spots in town. “We offer a culture of Malaysia. We have built Museum of Islamic Arts in tracing the history of 1400 years old, “he told Bernama in Qatar exhibition halls.

He emphasized the common bonds of Islam between Qatar and Malaysia. “Nobody even knew there can be no art in Islam “he said. A delegation held an exhibition at the QTA Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur on October 18 before arriving here.

The event attracted 69 representatives of the companies KL travel industry and tourism. Said Al Nuraimi QTA of “great interest “to attract tourists from Malaysia to be stressed that Qatar Airways has increased the frequency of connections to 11 flights per week KL.

Bottom line is that Qatar has traditionally been a strong business relationship with Malaysia and Singapore “he said. Malaysian companies, he said, were present in Qatar, a big way. “We have a lot of Malaysians in Doha at the end of commercial and other reasons that we use the ‘48 hours of Qatar program. Malaysia is given a visa on arrival Al Nuraimi said. Qatar has made significant investments as well as Malaysia and Singapore.

Malaysian companies are involved in infrastructure construction in Qatar, between the airport and highways. The new mega-airport project, which should be completed by 2012, includes a number of Malaysian companies.

Qatar has launched a tourism strategy four years ago. Tourism, the publication of good growth in Al Nuraimi said Qatar was interested in promoting tourism. Qatar hotel reservations had been posted a growth of 25 percent, he said. “We had no hotel rooms in the past and because we have many more business people in Qatar, we felt we needed more room “he said.

Sell 50% of Africa Israel Hotels. Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel Investments it has found a buyer for half of its fully-owned subsidiary Africa Israel Hotels, it announced on Wednesday. The purchaser is a group of savers led by Tony Elisha of Belgium.

The cash-strapped parent company will receive NIS 180 million, helping it out of its dire liquidity straits. The purchasing group will also buy half of Leviev’s NIS 36 million owner’s loan to the subsidiary within the next three years. Africa Israel’s share price rose 5.76% for the day on heavy trading.

Elisha is part of the group that controls Netz Bonds, recently bought by the Hagag brothers.

The deal is expected to be completed in December, once all the necessary approvals are received from the relevant authorities and from within the companies involved. Africa Israel said it expects to earn pretax income of NIS 210 million on the transaction.

Last December, it was reported that Leviev had tried to sell the hotel subsidiary to Yuli Ofer, but the two failed to agree on a price. Yesterday’s announcement follows a preliminary notification put out by Africa Israel in February.

Africa Israel Hotels owns and operates 11 hotels in Israel with a total of 2,560 rooms and suites. Among its largest are the Crowne Plaza hotels in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat. It also owns and operates several hotels in Europe.

In 2009, the company registered a loss of NIS 71 million on revenues of NIS 389 million. The value of its assets at the end of 2009 stood at NIS 1.08 billion.

With this transaction, Africa Israel is cashing in on its holdings once again: In August, it announced that it was selling its share in Derech Eretz, the operator of Route 6, for NIS 475 million.

Another milestone

Two weeks ago, Yuval Ben Ze’ev, research manager at Clal Finance, gave Africa Israel shares an Outperform rating. Ben Ze’ev told TheMarker yesterday that the transaction is of great importance, not only from a financial viewpoint but also for the company’s image.

“From an economic standpoint, the transaction represents a company valuation of NIS 360 million – much higher than the market estimate,” Ben Ze’ev said. “We had valued the company at only NIS 200 million.”

The effect on the company’s cash flow is another positive factor, as it will “help it deal with the short-term bonds that it needs to pay back shortly,” Ben Ze’ev added.

Regarding the company’s image, Ben Ze’ev pointed out that Africa Israel only very recently came out of the largest debt settlement arrangement the country has ever known.

“The trust between the company and the public was damaged, and this transaction is another milestone on the road to regaining investor confidence in the firm,” he said. He also said the subsidiary had not been a factor in the positive rating he gave Africa Israel.

Africa Israel was forced to reach an agreement with its bondholders and creditors after racking up NIS 8 billion in debt, of which half a billion was to the banks and the rest to investors in its debt. When seeking the arrangement, the company said it might not be able to meet its liabilities after the year 2011.

Tourists are marking their footprints on the white sand beaches and scarfing down fried shrimp at restaurants along the Gulf of Mexico, Half a year after the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig sparked.

Last weekend, more than 60,000 music fans headed to Gulf Shores, Ala. for free performances by Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley; Alan Jackson is the headliner for another concert Oct. 30.

But the gains come after what one Northwest Florida hotelier called “the summer that wasn’t,” as both oil and orange-suited cleanup crews showed up along some beaches in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Beachfront hotels reported year-over-year drops in revenue ranging from 12% to 29% during the high-season months of June, July and August, according to figures compiled by the Santa Rosa Island Authority.

Statewide, Florida tourism was up 3.4% between April and June – due in part, the Miami Herald reported, to an aggressive, BP-funded marketing campaign. And in New Orleans, where restaurant owners worried that skittish customers would avoid oyster po’-boys and seafood gumbo when the federal government closed off some Gulf of Mexico fishing zones, “we had our best year since (Hurricane Katrina in 2005), said tourism spokeswoman Jennifer Day.

At the same time, reports the St. Petersburg Times, many potential visitors think Floirda beaches remain fouled by the spill, including some hundreds of miles from where oil touched shore. As a result, many say they’re unlikely to take their next vacation in the state.

Those who do can still find deals: Orbitz’ new “I Love the Gulf Coast” sale gives discounts of up to 40% at selected hotels on bookings made by Nov. 8 for travel by Dec. 31, 2010 and a $50 Restaurant gift certificate.

Mitchell Goozé phone wasn’t ringing much during the depths of the recession as he usually spends much of the year traveling, giving advice to companies on how to grow.

Now Goozé is back to Travel, many of his clients are feeling more confident, ”I went through a period where I wouldn’t travel for two or three weeks, and now, I’m starting to be gone almost every week again,” says Goozé, whose company is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. “The trend is definitely moving.”

Businesses will send more people out on the road next year, making up for lost time during the recession, when travel budgets were slashed and corporate trekkers mostly stayed put, corporate travel managers say.

But the frugality that took hold in the economic downturn will continue, they say. Companies will opt for coach over more expensive first-class airline tickets.

The tickets will more often be bought in advance rather than at the last minute, which costs more. And videoconferencing will be used if a face-to-face meeting on the road isn’t critical.

“At the end of the day, people have to go see their customers, and they have to see their suppliers, and you can’t do everything over the phone,” says Ron DiLeo, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), an international group of corporate travel managers and executives at the airlines, hotels and others in the industry that supply them. “They’re not going to think twice (about traveling) if they think it’ll help close the deal.”

For every dollar spent on business travel, the average business sees $15 in increased profits, according to calculations by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), a business travel and corporate meetings association, and American Express Business Travel, which offers its clients travel management services and technology.

Seeing an upswing

A September survey of ACTE members found 70% of U.S. respondents expect to spend more on travel in 2011, while 60% anticipated their staffers would be on the road more in 2011 than either this year or last.

While travel budgets were among the first to be cut as companies tightened purse strings to ride out the recession, an NBTA Foundation survey of 170 business travel buyers in North America estimated that they spent 5.5% more on travel on average this year than last, and the amount will grow another 4.45% in 2011.

The upswing in corporate travel began in recent months, as companies began to show at least modest profits, clients began buying again, and competition for new customers started to heat up, business owners and travel watchers say.

“In recent months, soaring corporate profits and strong cash reserves have meant that companies have begun to relax their travel restrictions and allow their existing employees to get out on the road more,” says Suzanne Cook, senior adviser with the U.S. Travel Association. “It shows that companies are realizing the value of face-to-face travel to not only preserve current relationships but to build future business.”

Norm Cardinal, president of an agency of manufacturer representatives in Garden City, N.Y., says that he will travel more next year “because competition is tougher.” “(There’s) less business, therefore you have to go after it.”

But with more people hitting the road for business as well as leisure, corporate trips are also getting more expensive as airlines and hotels raise their prices. The average hotel room rate in the top 25 domestic markets rose 3.5% in August, according to Smith Travel Research, which monitors the industry.

Average corporate airfares from North American markets will be lower to some top business destinations such as Hong Kong next year, but could be as much as 6% or 7% higher to places such as Phoenix or Houston, according to an analysis by travel management company Egencia.

Alternatives encouraged

The economic downturn has left its mark. The ACTE survey finds that 54.1% of corporate travel executives in the U.S. are “encouraging or mandating” alternatives to travel, such as videoconferencing. And a survey by Egencia finds that 56% of North American travel managers say they increased advanced-ticket bookings in the last year to keep expenses in check.

“In general, travel managers and purchasers have decided this new frugality is working well, and it’s allowing them to do a lot with a limited travel budget, and they’re sticking with it,” says Noah Tratt, vice president, supplier relations for Egencia Americas.

That can mean squeezing two or three clients into a trip. Corporate fliers are more likely to be sitting in coach when criss-crossing the U.S., though they might be able to book business class for flights overseas. And business travelers may be asked to use the frequent-flier points they’ve accrued on business trips if they want to upgrade to a premium section.

“We’re also seeing (airlines) coming back with … a middle-of-the-road premium economy cabin that seems to be going over well,” Craig Banikowski, NBTA president and CEO, says of new sections offered on planes that provide more legroom and other perks. “It’s not totally back of the bus, but it’s not the front of the plane. And the price reflects that, as well.”

Tickets bought weeks in advance are usually cheaper than those purchased at the last minute. But they carry penalties if there’s a change to the itinerary, which makes them problematic for corporate trekkers. Still, more travel managers are looking to advance purchases to control spending. Egencia’s 2011 forecast for the first time included an advisory on the potential savings from booking business trips to certain destinations 21 to 30 days in advance.

“If you’re buying a ticket in North America and traveling to Calgary, we believe there’s a much higher savings to be realized than if you’re buying a ticket (in advance) to Boston,” Tratt says.

In any case, Goozé says clients are calling, and he’s heading out on the road to see them.

“Most companies now believe they can do something to help themselves, so they’re slowly starting to invest in activities to try and grow,” says Goozé, who in the past would travel 45 out of 52 weeks.

He’s not back to that pace yet, but getting close.

“‘I guess I’m going to have to get used to you traveling again’ last week, (my wife) made the comment regarding my Travel”

Dubai and Seychelles Service Increases. Starting November 4, 2010, Emirates will increase service between Dubai and Seychelles to seven weekly flights. The airline’s third addition to the route since February, the flight will run Thursday and increase current capacity by 16 percent a week per direction, tailored for vacation and honeymoon travel, particularly from the Middle East.

Service will start with Flight EK 705 from Dubai at 2:30 a.m. to arrive in Seychelles at 7 a.m. From Seychelles, Flight EK 706 will depart at 8:30 a.m. to arrive in Dubai at 1 p.m. Both flights will be operated by an Airbus A340 – 500 aircraft with 12 seats in First Class, 42 seats in Business Class and 258 seats in Economy.

Present at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), featuring joint promotional activities in the Middle East, were Jean Paul Adam, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles, and Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ DSVP Planning and Research. Among the 157,541 tourists who visited the archipelago last year, the majority came from France, Italy, Germany, UK, South Africa, Russia and so many countries.

Seychelles, Vacation Paradise unidentified To Americans. I have been told that the only way to go to heaven while still actually alive is by visiting the beautiful island of the Seychelles.

It is an island country consisting of 115 smaller –mostly uninhabited– islands. It is located off the east coast of Africa, northeast of Madagascar, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It has a small population, just over 87,000 people; but is big on hospitality.

President James Michel has made a serious investment in his country’s most valued asset-it’s people. They speak Creole, French and English. With tourism being their largest source of revenue, he has impressed upon his people the importance of being great hosts to all visitors.

President Michel has also put in place a solid infrastructure to ensure the long term economic and political viability of his country for years to come. Now that President Michel has gotten his “internal” house in order, he is looking outward. The Seychelles is launching a series of Investment Forums in different countries. The first one will be next Tuesday in New York City in the U.S.

I was asked by a friend, Mr. Peter Sinon, to help organize this event. The Honorable Peter Sinon is the Minister of Investments & Natural Resources. He last served his country as Executive Director of the African Development Bank.

Over the past year, I have become more aware of the possibilities of the Seychelles expanding its presence as a destination spot for American tourists. With them having a very stable government and economy, they are also a fertile country for possible investments.

America presents a great, untapped market for the Seychelles in terms of additional tourists, but also as new sources of investment. Most Americans have never heard of the Seychelles and most have never visited. I strongly encourage the country to develop an awareness campaign to educate Americans to the opportunities present within the Seychelles.

The U.S. millions of high net worth individuals, celebrities, athletes, and businessmen who can well afford to take their vacations in this beautiful country. But, thusfar, there has been no effort by the Seychelles to reach out to this population of Americans. I think their upcoming Investment Forum is a great first step.

It will be in Tribeca, in lower Manhattan, New York. They have a high powered delegation coming to the U.S. It is being led by their Vice President, Mr. Danny Faure, the President of the African Development Bank, Mr. Donald Kaberuka, and Mr. Peter Sinon, to name a few.

Since of air travel, the world is constantly shrinking and we are becoming a more global society. Americans, because of our wealth, have a plethora of choices when it comes to discretionary dollars for vacations. It is incumbent upon the Seychelles to increase it’s visibility to targeted demographic groups within the U.S. This can best be accomplished with a well thought out marketing campaign that touts the virtues of making the Seychelles a must see destination.

Wayne Rooney is clearly the front-runner for the PFA Player of the year award this season. In an ordinary year, the baby faced, man headed Man United striker would also be the front-runner for the World Player and Ballon D’or trophies too.

You may not like or agree with all their actions, always, but you still end up loving them, somewhere deep down. Over the years, however, it has become increasingly difficult to extend your unstinting support to some of these sportsmen as the list of their misdemeanours keeps growing.

Almost all the lovable sons, and in some cases even daughters, have been caught in one wicked web or the other. Diego Maradona had his addiction to cocaine, George Best and Alex Higgins had their troubles with wine and women; Tiger Woods, too, was caught cheating. A serious compilation of such player misdemeanours will take up all 40 pages of this magazine.

So stepping aside, we look at the latest victim caught by the prying eyes of the tabloids, Wayne Rooney.

Now, the lad from the poor Croxteth neighborhood of Liverpool is no stranger to Page 3. His love (or lust) for a 48-year-old “The Auld Slapper” during his rookie days at Everton is all too well documented. But then, in his defense you could say that he was not married to one lovely Coleen McLoughlin and wasn’t the father of a 10-month-old son, Kai.

Despite his rash, abrasive nature and an irksome tendency to rub the hypocritical English yellow Press the wrong way, the 24-year-old Manchester United forward is and will be by a long stretch the golden boy of English football for quite some time to come. He has gleefully taken over the ball, and like Gaza, Owen and Beckham before him, the hopes of a success-starved English nation unsympathetically rest on his broad shoulders.

The English fans and the country’s overzealous Press had pinned their faith on his immense talent to work miracles in South Africa. They even predicted his elevation as the “rightful” Balloon d’Or winner for 2010. But a few months later, and after yet another miserable excursion at the biggest tournament of the game, the very same pundits are now slitting his throat, adding him to the long list of English prodigies who never quite made it past the initial billing, falling victim to a heady mix of fame and money and an easily available self-destruct button.

Paul ‘Gaza’ Gascoigne, much like Rooney, came in like a great revolution to an otherwise static English game in 1984, playing for Newcastle United. He was a great success in his first major international appearance at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where England made it to the semifinals (the country’s best performance since winning the trophy at home in 1966).

Comparisons with Gaza were quite natural as Rooney took Euro 2004 by storm and scored a hat-trick on his Manchester United debut. His class was never in doubt, but his constant peaks and troughs of form were always worrying.

His opening goal in a 3-1 win over Bulgaria on September 7 this year in a European Cup qualifier was his first in a competitive match (either for England or Manchester United) since March 30. He was far from his best.

Rooney at his finest understands completely the game’s fluid geometry. He carries the entire picture of the field in his head, which then plays out the frames ahead of real action. With his endless imagination, dynamism and immaculate touch, Rooney’s every move bristles with dangerous intent. But that night at Basle, he was still wary of his own talent, looking nervous on the ball, his first touch betraying inhibitions, and Theo Walcott and Glen Johnson had to come to his aid, to enable him to end a long barren spell. As Johnson pulled his delivery back across the goalmouth, Walcott and Defoe sold a dummy and took the defenders with them to allow Rooney the time and space to race in and knock the ball home.

But such sudden and at times long goal droughts have not been new to Rooney’s career. During the first half of the 2006–07 season, he went without scoring for 10 games but came back strongly, scoring a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers.

Even towards the middle of the Premier League season last year, Rooney was going through another of his lean spells and though he was scoring with the odd tap-ins, he was far from his natural predatory self and murmurs were running thick and fast, about him missing Cristiano Ronaldo who had just left for Real Madrid. It was quickly signalled that Rooney couldn’t mount the goal-scoring saddle alone as Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov showed no signs of adapting to his new surroundings at Old Trafford.

But no sooner had the four goals come against Hull at the turn of the year followed by another brilliant run against Arsenal and a match-winner in San Siro against AC Milan than the cult of Rooney was reignited with all its madness and fanfare. But inevitably a blip followed as he suffered an ankle injury during a Champions League quarterfinal encounter against Bayern Munich, and talks of burnouts took over again.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who kept Rooney out of a clash against his first club Everton recently and who sees and works with him at close quarters is still waiting to certify him as one of his many finishers of the highest quality. “Solskjaer and Andy Cole and Rudd van Nistelrooy are far ahead. If he (Rooney) got to that level, he’d be the best in the world,” Ferguson said, earlier this year, after Rooney had one of his best seasons, scoring 26 times in 32 games during the 2009-10 EPL season.

“All the great strikers, Denis Law, John Charles, had that courage to be in there (the penalty area), get the battering, take the hits, score the goals, be in the right place, at the right time. There’s more there, more to be developed, and I know he (Rooney) can do that,” Ferguson said, truly understanding the talent he has at his disposal.

That to everybody should be the crux of the matter; Rooney is still not the best player in the world, or even the best forward or the greatest English player ever. But he definitely has the game and also the correct foundation to win a Ballon d’Or eventually. But to reach great heights you need more consistency and also an uncanny knack of putting your best foot forward in the most important games. But Rooney’s two Champions League final appearances so far have been nothing but subdued and so have been both his FA Cup finals. And then there is the disappointing World Cup story, where he hasn’t scored in two editions.

Rooney has done well for himself so far, staying away from drugs, unlike Gaza. But to go any further, he needs all the support and not brickbats.

So I can’t see it happening personally. Even my most optimistic side sees England crash out valiantly in the semi’s, probably in a penalty shootout. So unlucky Wayne. I’ll be rooting for you, but you’ve got a hell of a lot to do this year, even if by the time the ceremonies roll around in the winter, you’ll still be the most deserving. And a tip for any promising young stars hoping to follow in their heroes’ footsteps and claim those coveted golden trophies; don’t choose a World Cup year to hit your prime, unless you can win the thing.