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Welcome to our destinations UNLIMITED Spring Newsletter. We are continuing to refine
the type of information that we send to you to ensure that is both brief, yet effective.
Our regular newsletter, like this one, will continue along in a more concise format
as will our ‘First Impressions’ series, introducing you to destinations
in a simple and informative way and in today’s frantic world, our specimen
programmes and costings series will be expanded for those last minute enquiries
when it is impractical to expect a detailed proposal within the time frame available.
To ensure that our information remains concise and relevant we will be breaking
down the news and views on a regional level with information coordinated by each
of the dUTeam as follows: Natalie (Jenkins) Northern Europe and North and South
America , Danielle (Fraser) Southern Europe, Australasia, Middle East, Asia and
Far East, Nikki (Mitchell) dUNewsletter and David (Buse) Africa and Caribbean.
Welcome Danielle. I would like to introduce to you the latest member of the dUTeam,
Danielle Fraser. Danielle joins us from Meetings Fare and will be supporting Nikki
and myself. Her e-mail address is
danielle@dudmc.com
Finally following numerous requests the dUPhoto+Gallery is no longer password protected.
Just click on Photo gallery from our home page and you will find a wide selection
of photos that are not copyrighted if used in conjunction with one of our DMCs proposals.
The Partner DMCs attending IMEX this year are:
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- Australia – Tour Hosts - A010
- Austria - AIMS International – E020
- Egypt – Egypt Incentives & Events - D720
- Germany (Berlin, Hamburg & Dresden ) – CPO Hanser – C625
- Greece – Conceptours - E705
- Iceland – Iceland Travel – F210
- Ireland – Wallace Travel – E650
- Jordan – Karma House – D670
- Kenya - Destination Kenya - C440
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- Latvia – Con-ex – G220
- Malta – EC Meetings – D140
- Mexico – Sat Mexico
- Prague / Czech Republic – AIMS –G400
- Rumania – Accent Travel – G500
- Southern Africa - Green Route – TBA
- Sweden – Risbecker Int. – E705
- Switzerland – MCI - E140
- Turkey – The DMC Istanbul – F30
- USA West Coast – Agentours - C145
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LATVIA
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The name Con-ex (Conference Expert) created 1997 is now used for all our PCO and
DMC activities and our e-mail addresses are now FirstName.LastName@con-ex.com instead
of @latviatours.lv which are still functioning.
Con-ex has now grown and their offices are now represented in Riga , Vilnius and
Tallinn providing your clients and you with the best experiences and solutions in
the New Europe.
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Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga May 5th -21st, 2006 The event
will take place in the newly built ARENA RIGA with total capacity of 12500 seats,
which opened in February 15th, 2006. Have you booked the tickets and hotels already?
If not, contact us right away!
We have special offers for tickets to most of the matches and hotels both in Riga
and outside.
Ticket prices start from EUR 27; hotel prices are from EUR 50 up to EUR 125 per
person per night in shared double room. We have good hotel deals in both the city
centre and the seaside resort Jurmala!
Send your request to
info@con-ex.com and we’ll make a special offer for you!
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More flights to Lithuania
The Lithuanian air company “flyLAL” starts up 16 new scheduled direct
flights from Vilnius Airport and Palanga Airport . Among the destinations are four
new countries; Greece , Turkey , Croatia and Norway.
Palanga Airport will launch routes to the five German cities Hamburg , Hanover,
Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt .
These flights are aimed at Germans wanting to relax in Baltic coastal resorts and
business travellers.
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Monika Hotel
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New HOTELS in Riga
Hotel Monika an 80 room 4* property opened at the end of last year.
It is located opposite to the Kronvalda Park in the “Quiet centre”,
near the embassy quarter, a few steps from the Congress Hall and the International
Business Centre. Only 10 minutes walk and you find yourself in the narrow streets
of the mediaeval Old Town.
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Europa Royal Hotel
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Europa Royale Hotel Riga 4* - a 60 room, including suites, the
property is due to open this month (April). Set in a beautiful renovated building
from the beginning of the 20th century that once belonged to the "King”
of the Latvia n the Press, Anton Benjamini. It also offers 5 meeting rooms for up
to 200 persons. It is located within comfortable 5 minutes walk from the Opera House
next to the historic and picturesque Verman Park. |
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Reval Hotel
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Reval Hotel is expanding. From this April the hotel will have in
total 587 rooms and 20 conference halls with a total capacity of 3000 seats with
the biggest hall being able to accommodate 1200 delegates (theatre style), making
it the largest and most modern Conference & Event centre in the Baltic states.
New conference space This winter the multi-functional hall Arena
Riga was opened. It is specially designed for the Ice Hockey World Championship
taking place in May in Riga , but is also suitable for congresses and conferences.
The arena is able to accommodate congresses with up to 10,500 people.
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SOUTH OF FRANCE
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LES PARCS DI GRIMAUD
The Hotel Les Parcs de Grimaud opens its doors this April. Situated on a golf course
opposite Saint Tropez’s legendary harbour and famous bay it offers breaks
in a 16-hectare natural park between the Maures and the Mediterranean sea . The
stunning palm-lined drive and restored old pergola are in an outstanding haven of
peace conducive to thinking and relaxing just a short walk from the beach and unbelievably
is only rated a 3* property with prices to match.
The hotel has 120 renovated, comfortable and air-conditioned rooms in a privileged
location opposite the golf course. The private heated pool and solarium are wonderful
places to relax.
The “Les jardins de Grimaud” restaurant, which has a huge terrace and
can accommodate up to 280 people and offers Provencal cuisine and themed buffets.
For your meetings, the Raimu room has air-conditioning and can accommodate up to
100 people on the garden level. Olympiads, challenges, treasure hunts, regattas
and more can be organised for your pleasure….
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KENYA
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Just to remind everyone that Destination Kenya has phased out the desken@africaonline.co.ke email
address.
The new emails are general contact
safaris@desken.com John Glen direct
john@desken.com
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MOROCCO
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Unitours now have their new website on line. It contains detailed
information on Marrakech and has a separate area for Organisers headed ‘Pro
Access’ this is entered by a user name and password. For the time being this
can be obtained from Paula Breton on
pbreton@unitoursmaroc.ma.
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SOUTHERN AFRICA
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Most top safari lodges are restrictive for incentive groups and feature 8-12 lodges.
The new Elephant Valley Lodge in Chobe , Botswana , features 20 meru-tent style
lodges – so now 40 pax can take a superb camp exclusively for less than US$300
per person per night, all inclusive of accommodation, taxes, all meals & teas
and two safari activities. And some of the greatest wildlife on earth is just 80km
from Victoria Falls . More information
sa@dudmc.com
News flashes for serious planners:
- A new 72 room thatched safari lodge opens on the banks of the Zambezi near Victoria
Falls , Zambia , in July 2007.
- Green Route is the DMC for the global launch of a new Jaguar sports coupe in cape
Town (can we bid for your unique launches?)
- Marie Connolly, wife of famous explorer Paul and fluent in French, joins Green Route
full time at Victoria Falls.
- A new 72 room thatched safari lodge opens on the banks of the Zambezi near Victoria
Falls , Zambia , in July 2007 at the very attractive rate of around £100 per
person per night for dinner, bed and breakfast
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INDIA
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TCI, Travel Corporation India, India ’s premier Destination
Management Company won the National Tourism Award for MICE. The award was presented
by the Minister for Tourism and Culture at a function held in Delhi on Friday, March
17th.
TCI’s MICE Division has so far handled about 1250 national and international
conferences ranging from 25 delegates to over 10,000. This division ensures smooth
operations for conferences from overall planning to implementation. Services include
selection of venue, hotel negotiations, airline reservations, pre and post conference
tours, local transportation, spouse programmes, special events and more.
Some of the prestigious conferences handled by TCI in the past year include FDI
Annual World Dental Congress, International Gem & Jewellery Exhibition, 2nd
International Diabetes Conference 2005, 2nd Indian International Conference on Artificial
Intelligence (IICAI - 2005), 49th All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- AICOG 2006, International Plastic Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgery (IPRAS)
and many more.
TCI’s dedicated conference website www.tciconferences.com offers various
online facilities like registration, accommodation, abstract/paper submissions,
online visa assistance, online promotion etc. TCI also has its own Web designers
and software developers for developing websites and software to ensure seamless
operations.
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CENTRAL ASIA
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NEW DESTINATIONS: Certain destinations are not and probably never
will be major incentive and conference destinations, yet there are times when the
need arise for such destinations, Central Asia and the peripheral countries to India
are a case in point. We have a new Associate Partner DMG Intercontinental who have
not only covered such regions for many years, but have opened a UK office to cover
Europe . The destinations covered are: AROUND INDIA: Pakistan ,
Bangladesh , Bhutan , Sri Lanka , Nepal , Tibet . CENTRAL ASIA:
Uzbekistan , Kyrgyzstan , Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , Mongolia . Contact dmgi@dudmc.com for information regarding any
of these destinations.
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SURROUNDING REGIONS OF INDIA
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£1 per passenger charge CAA starts ATOL reform consultation
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The Civil Aviation Authority has started consultation on proposals
to replenish the Air Travel Trust Fund and reform ATOL bonding through the introduction
of a £1 'Consumer Protection Charge'.
Under the CAA proposals, ATOL holders would collect the £1 charge for at least
the next 3 or 4 years and probably beyond from each passenger when booking to help
build up a £250 million fund to enable bonding to be removed.
A consultation document sets out the CAA’s views on the potential reduction
in regulatory burden that would arise from a reform of bonding. It also outlines
the principal issues associated with such a reform and its preliminary views on
how these might be tackled.
The authority said the emphasis of the consultation is on simplification - the current
system based around bonds is complex, and the CAA considers that a reform of bonding
will bring "significant de-regulatory benefits" to tour operators.
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THE END OF AN ERA. And finally, Terminal 2, Heathrow's oldest
terminal that opened in 1955, is to close in two years time, BAA has announced.
The terminal, which handled European short haul flights, will shut when Terminal
5 opens in March 2008. BAA said its decision was mixed with "sadness and nostalgia."
The move was regarded as inevitable as a reshuffling of airlines at Heathrow will
see fewer than 1.5 million passengers use the terminal once Terminal 5 opens, down
from the current nine million. BAA also wants to begin work on a new development
known as Heathrow East that will handle 30 million passengers.
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Well, that’s all for now, please contact us for whatever your need. Best wishes
from the THE dUTEAM
E-mail:
info@dudmc.com Tel: +44 (0)1425-461311 Fax:
+44 (0)1425-480260 /
www.dudmc.com
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