ΔΙΕΘΝΗΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝΙΚΗ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΠΟΙΚΙΛΗΣ ΥΛΗΣ - ΕΔΡΑ: ΑΘΗΝΑ

Ει βούλει καλώς ακούειν, μάθε καλώς λέγειν, μαθών δε καλώς λέγειν, πειρώ καλώς πράττειν, και ούτω καρπώση το καλώς ακούειν. (Επίκτητος)

(Αν θέλεις να σε επαινούν, μάθε πρώτα να λες καλά λόγια, και αφού μάθεις να λες καλά λόγια, να κάνεις καλές πράξεις, και τότε θα ακούς καλά λόγια για εσένα).

Τετάρτη 31 Ιανουαρίου 2018

ASEAN Recognises Its Best Sustainable Tourism Products


Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για ASEAN Recognises Its Best Sustainable Tourism Products





CHIANG MAI, THAILAND – Seventeen winners of the inaugural ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards (ASTA) received recognition at a dedicated awards event at the end of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, 26 January in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

The new awards will now take place every two years as partial fulfilment of the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, much of which seeks to advance sustainable tourism objectives.

The nine winners in the Rural Sustainable Products category were Sothy’s Pepper Farm in Cambodia, Desa Wisata Nglanggeran in Indonesia, Tree Top Explorer in Lao PDR, KOPEL Kinabatangan Wildlife Corridor in Malaysia, the Pindaya Region in Myanmar, Walk on the Wild Side in the Philippines, Kranji Countryside in Singapore, the Kao Yao Noi Community Based Ecotourism Club in Thailand, and the Stay with Tay Ethnic Village in Viet Nam.

The eight winners in the Urban Sustainable Products category were Wat Phnom Historical and Cultural Site in Cambodia, the Nusa Dua in Indonesia, Phousi Mountain in Lao PDR, the KL Forest Eco Park by KL Tower in Malaysia, the Kayin State’s Natural Limestone Caves in Myanmar, the Palina Greenbelt River Cruise Experience in the Philippines, the Marina Bay Precinct in Singapore, and the Phuket Natural Experience in Thailand.

“I congratulate all 17 ASTA recipients,” said Mr. Sounh Manivong, the Director General of Tourism Marketing in the Lao PDR Government. “I encourage tourists to experience these products first hand. They are all shining examples of sustainable tourism in Southeast Asia.”

Entries to the awards were assessed by the National Tourism Organization in each ASEAN member state. Judging criteria and scoring was standardised throughout the nine ASEAN countries that participated. Auditors took inspection visits to all short-listed sites.

For more information about ASTA and its awardees, please click 
here.

The next ASTA will take place at ATF in Brunei Darussalam in 2020.


Tags:ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards

Guest loyalty, smart hotels and data mining to trend until 2022, says new ATM report









Live debate with expert panellists during ATM 2018 to examine, reinvented hotel loyalty programmes, technology and data mining over the next five years


A new approach to loyalty programmes, smart technology, will define the hospitality industry landscape to 2022, according to data released ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25.
The predictions, published by Colliers International, indicate, a rise in ultra-personalised guest services, and technology-led changes to the physical configuration of hospitality spaces with new job roles to accommodate these changes.

The trends will be explored at ATM 2018, during a panel discussion titled The Hotel Landscape of The Future. Chaired by, Content Inc director, Gemma Greenwood, discussion will span high-tech hospitality, new hotel concepts and the brands and hotels due to arrive in the region.

Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “The trends identified in this report will define innovation and growth across the regional hospitality landscape in the coming five years. The findings demonstrate that today’s hotel guests don’t want to be part of the crowd – they want a unique experience, personalised to their tastes and expectations and, preferably, in an unexplored, or emerging, destination.

The data predicts eight major global trends will also play out in the regional market. These are: fresh and communal themed design; destination experiences; personalised loyalty benefits; “co-everything” shared spaces; multi-role jobs for hotel associates, empowered by technology; authentic experiences; data and smart hotels.
While the period 2016 – 2017 saw heightened merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, the trends predicted for the coming five years are expected to focus on concepts, design and marketing, as well as associate job descriptions.
Driving evolution across operations, responsibilities will merge as associates shift from micro-tasking to multi-tasking, transitioning to multi-function roles, enabled by technology. As data applications advance, the traditional “yield manager” could be replaced by data scientists, who mine and analyse data on consumer behaviour.

Other major predictions include authentic over obvious luxury,   adopting a genuine and more personalised style, and in-room destination guides offering curated and branded experiences. The introduction of personalised benefits through hotel loyalty schemes, will see hotels offering bespoke and personalised benefits, based on customer buying behaviour.
Press added: “Using the trends of recent years as a springboard, the hospitality industry will start to pursue new lines of business in 2018, placing a focus on engagement, with personalised and bespoke attention now crucial to the luxury experience. “

Olivier Harnisch, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Hospitality Group, said: “The predictions on the hospitality landscape underline the need for the stakeholders to look at existing systems and processes, and prepare for a highly evolved industry that leverages the newest tools in digitisation. With enhanced guest experience as the bottom line, we have already rolled out our digital transformation plan with three key projects that will reshape the way we serve our guests.”

ATM – considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2017 event, including 2,661 exhibiting companies, signing business deals worth more than $2.5 billion over the four days.
Celebrating its 25th year, ATM 2018 will build on the success of this year’s edition, with a host of seminar sessions looking back over the last 25 years and how the hospitality industry in the MENA region is expected to shape up over the next 25.

New research shows Americans fail to plan, letting millions of vacation days go to waste



Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για New research shows Americans fail to plan, letting millions of vacation days go to waste



WASHINGTON - Fewer than half of Americans (49%) take the time to plan their vacation days out each year, according to new research from Project: Time Off, held back by lack of certainty with personal schedules (64%), work schedules (57%), and children's schedules (50%).
The findings, from The Power of Vacation Planning report, offer an in-depth look at why Americans' planning behavior based on GfK survey research of 2,076 U.S. employees who earn paid time off for National Plan for Vacation Day. The national observance is dedicated to encouraging Americans to plan their vacation days for the rest of the year at the start of the year. By failing to block the calendar, Americans are creating a stockpile of 662 million unused vacation days and a $236 billion missed opportunity for the U.S. economy.
Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για New research shows Americans fail to plan, letting millions of vacation days go to waste
"At the beginning of the year the calendar is still full of possibility and there is no better time to start planning vacation days," said Katie Denis, chief of research and strategy at Project: Time Off. "Americans who want to use more of their vacation time can put themselves in a better position to do so by planning ahead - and their request is more likely to be approved by the boss."
The lack of planning has implications in the office. Managers are near universal (91%) in saying they want to approve vacation requests, but a significant 43 percent say they are sometimes unable to because their employees did not provide enough notice. Nearly half (48%) of employees give six weeks or less notice when taking at least a week off; just 19 percent give three months or more.
Employees may be intimidated to give more notice. About a quarter of employees fear that their boss would not approve of them asking about all their plans for the year up front (27%). But an overwhelming majority of managers say it would be helpful to know their direct reports' vacation plans for the year at the start of their company's fiscal year (78%) and think that employees who share their plans that far in advance are being responsible (88%).
Better advanced planning could help alleviate the mountain of work employees fear returning to. As it stands today, the majority (57%) of employees are leaving all or more of their work for when they return or taking it with them on vacation.
"No one wants to spend their precious time away with work stress hanging over their head," added Denis. "The more time you have to prepare before you leave, the more enjoyable the vacation experience - it's no wonder that planners are happier people."
Planners have a distinct advantage over non-planners. According to Project: Time Off's The State of American Vacation 2017, workers who set aside time each year to plan out their vacation days use more of their vacation time, take longer breaks, and report greater happiness than non-planners with their relationships, health and well-being, company, and job.
Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για New research shows Americans fail to plan, letting millions of vacation days go to waste
To help Americans plan, Project: Time Off launched a vacation planning tool that lets employees enter in the number of days off they earn, plot out how they want to spend them, save to their calendars, and export to their friends and family - and even their bosses. Travel organizations are also offering discounts, giveaways and sweepstakes, and itineraries for vacations.
"It's time for Americans to reclaim their calendar and vacation time," said Cait DeBaun, director of communications for Project: Time Off. "Make 2018 the year you check an item off your travel bucket list…not just your to-do list."

ASEAN undertakes cruise tourism development



Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για ASEAN undertakes cruise tourism



Endorsing a common set of priorities in the development of cruise tourism in the region ASEAN tourism leaders have adopted the ASEAN Declaration on Cruise Tourism.

The member states agreed to work towards greater capacity building and exchange of industry best practices  as a part of the declaration and partnering in the cruise industry to raise travel trade capabilities and understanding port infrastructure and technical requirements to raise competencies.

Royal Caribbean International’s Mariner of the Seas at Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore also agreed to accelerate cruise tourism development, with a focus on effective destination management  considers issues of environment and social sustainability.

Applying fair business practices like transparency in business transactions; and ensuring the consistent application of national laws, regulations, policies and guidelines to minimise confusion for cruise ships calling at different ports within each country were among the other goals.

At the recently concluded ATF in Chiang Mai, led by Singapore, the trade bloc’s lead coordinator for cruise development  the declaration was enclosed.

Sim Ann, Singapore’s senior minister of state, Ministry of Trade and Industry said that this builds on the previous work like the inaugural ATF Cruise Dialogue last year and the launch of the Cruise Southeast Asia brand in 2016.

Marking  the first major economic deliverable undertaken by Singapore since it is assumed that the ASEAN chairmanship for 2018 will deepen regional connectivity and position ASEAN as a region for seamless economic activity.

Carnival Miracle kicks-off tear-round seven-day schedule from Tampa, doubling xapacity at Port Tampa Bay




Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Carnival Miracle kicks-off tear-round seven-day schedule from Tampa, doubling capacity at Port Tampa Bay



MIAMI – Carnival Cruise Line’s 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle kicked off a year-round program of seven-day cruises from Tampa this weekend, doubling the line’s capacity at the port and further bolstering its position as the leader in Caribbean cruising. 
Carnival Miracle will offer the only year-round longer-length cruise program from Port Tampa Bay, offering an unbeatable mix of destinations that appeal to a broad range of consumers, including families seeking an attractive and affordable vacation option.
Carnival Miracle joins Carnival Paradise which operates year-round four- to eight-day voyages from Tampa to the Caribbean and Cuba.  Together, Carnival Miracle and Carnival Paradise will carry an estimated 280,000 passengers annually from Tampa – the most of any cruise operator.
“Carnival Cruise Line has been sailing from Tampa for nearly 25 years and we’re thrilled to add a second year-round ship to provide our guests with an even greater variety of fantastic cruise vacation choices from this convenient homeport,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We would like to recognize our partners at Port Tampa Bay and the Tampa community, as well as our valued travel agent partners, for their efforts in making Tampa one of our most popular and successful embarkation ports,” she added.
“We’re delighted that Carnival Cruise Line will have two year-round cruise ships dedicated to the Tampa market,” said Paul Anderson, President/CEO Port Tampa Bay. “It speaks to the record-breaking demand of passengers in the Tampa Bay area wanting to get on a Carnival cruise.”
Seven-Day Sailings from Tampa
On its week-long Tampa-based cruise program, Carnival Miracle departs Port Tampa Bay Saturdays or Sundays calling at four popular western Caribbean ports: Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Mahogany Bay (Roatan) and Belize, each known for their world-class beaches, varied shore excursion opportunities, centuries-old historical sites and excellent dining and shopping experiences.
These voyages from Tampa are part of Carnival’s exclusive Cozumel Plus program, which feature extended stays that provide guests even more opportunities to experience and explore one of the Caribbean’s most diverse vacation destinations with a variety of exciting and unforgettable excursion choices, many taking place on Mexico’s mainland.
New Six- to 14-Day Cruises to the Caribbean, Panama Canal
Carnival recently added several six- to 14-day sailings aboard Carnival Miracle visiting spectacular ports throughout the Caribbean as well as an unforgettable opportunity to experience a partial transit of the Panama Canal. During the transit, guests will experience one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and sail on Gatun Lake, one of the largest man-made bodies of water in the world.
The new six-day voyages feature day-long stops at Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya or Mahogany Bay. Departure dates include Sept. 2 and Nov. 11, 2018, and Jan. 27 and March 31, 2019. 
Eight-day Panama Canal cruises depart April 14 and Sept. 8, 2018, and Feb. 2 and April 6, 2019, and include a partial transit of the Panama Canal along with stops at Limon (Costa Rica) and Grand Cayman. There’s also an eight-day, five-port Caribbean cruise that departs Nov. 17, 2019, and visits Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay, Belize and Grand Cayman.
Carnival Miracle will also offer a 14-day Carnival Journeys Panama Canal cruise round-trip from Tampa Dec. 2-16, 2018, featuring Cozumel and Limon prior to a partial Panama Canal transit followed by visits to Cartagena (Colombia), Aruba, Curacao and Montego Bay (Jamaica). Guests sailing on Carnival Journeys cruises enjoy unique local dining and entertainment experiences and a number of shipboard enrichment activities.   
Signature Carnival Innovations
Guests sailing aboard Carnival Miracle can enjoy a wide range of onboard choices, the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub, the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, Nick and Nora’s steakhouse located atop the ship’s 10-deck-high atrium, a luxurious 14,500-square-foot spa, and a Serenity adults-only retreat.  Of the ship’s 1,062 staterooms, 80 percent offer either an ocean view or private balcony.
Family-friendly options include Seuss at Sea, an exclusive partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Hasbro, The Game Show, with larger-than-life adaptations of the company’s iconic games and complimentary programming for children in three age groups - Camp Ocean (ages 2-11), Circle “C” (12-14) and Club O2 (15-17).

Peach Aviation to use AI to Offer Customer Service in Seven Languages





Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Peach Aviation to use AI to Offer Customer Service in Seven Languages

Peach Aviation Limited has announced that its customer response service on the Peach website, the automated response system “Desse*1” provided by SCSK ServiceWare Corporation, which is dedicated for chats through the use of AI.
It has been offered in Japanese, has now become available in all the languages spoken at Peach destinations (Japanese, English, traditional and simplified Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, and Thai).
This will be the first time that automated chat features that leverage AI and are available in seven languages, including Japanese and English, will be offered by an airline in Japan.
Peach introduced “Desse” for its automated Japanese chat feature on its website in a bid to improve its customer responses in November 2013 and began offering an automated response service for questions received from customers on its website. With a backdrop of rapidly increasing inbound demand in recent years in line with the expansion of its international routes, Peach has revamped “Desse” in a major way to offer smooth responses for customer inquiries from Asia and is now offering service in all the languages that are spoken at its destinations.
The system accumulates patterns of questions that are received from customers through their smartphones or PCs as data which may be periodically reviewed and analyzed to improve the quality of Peach’s customer responses in a continuous manner.
Out of approximately 100,000 inquiries received in seven languages during a trial month period (between Dec. 22, 2017 and Jan. 24, 2018), the system was able to offer automatic responses for 87%*2 of the queries. The automated chat feature uses AI and also contributes to workstyle reform by improving work efficiency, including a reduction in the number of hours worked by operators at the Contact Center.
Peach and SCSK ServiceWare will continue to push forward their innovation leveraging AI as they aim for further improvements in customer satisfaction.
*1 “Desse” is a web agent that was developed by SCSK Corporation which uses AI for dialogue.
Web agent “Desse” for dialogue through AI: https://www.scsk.jp/product/common/desse/
*2 Remaining 13 percent handled by human operators.

Ghana Tourism is all set to construct ‘Iconic Tower’ at Tema





Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Ghana Tourism is all set to construct ‘Iconic Tower’ at Tema




Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture of Ghana, Catherine Ablema Afeku has unveiled willingness of Government to develop an “Iconic Tower” to point out that “Ghana is the centre of the World”.
 
The proposed tower will be built in Tema under the initiative of Tourism Ministry in partnership with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Tema Golf Club and the Tema Community One Presbyterian Church.
To quote the Minister while she was speaking at a press briefing on Monday, “Ghana is the centre of the world. It is not what we say: it was determined by the authorities and powers of this world, at a meeting which took place almost a century before Ghana became a nation.”

 
According to Catherine, the Golf Club and the Tema Community One Presbyterian Church are located on the accurate location marked as the “centre of the world”, therefore, “We are going to take advantage of that and construct a National Iconic Tower there to attract tourists”.

 
She noted that once the tower is finished, it would attract greater number of tourists into the country.

 
“Already, people are finding their way to the Presbyterian Church at Tema to pray at the centre of the world and very soon with good marketing and advertising people could be attracted to have their weddings, set up businesses and advertise that their goods were manufactured at the centre of the world,” she stressed.



Barbados boasts of world heritage status by the UNESCO with broadened scope for tourism



Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για The UNESCO designation of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison as a World Heritage siteΑποτέλεσμα εικόνας για The UNESCO




The UNESCO designation of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison as a World Heritage site brings in business opportunities in Barbados, related to its rich history. Besides heritage tourism, many visitors came for health reasons, such as George Washington and his brother in 1751. Visitors were interested in places from Sam Lord’s Castle to St. John’s Church, St. Michael’s Cathedral to St. Nicholas Abbey. Hotels like the Atlantis, the Crane and the “lovely lost lady”, the Marine, were the hosts.

The UNESCO branding intersects with a whole new era of tourism – the re-birth of the intimate inn and development of Airbnb. This massively growing business, now worth more than a billion dollars, is based on the same principal as the little family run, intimate hostelry or bed and breakfast.

In the old days in Barbados, visitors used to put up in small hotels and guest houses, originally in the historic core of Bridgetown, made famous by Rachel Pringle, who hosted a party for Prince William Henry, and by the 1880s they opened by the sea – at Hastings (the Seaview, now The Savannah, and the Ocean View), the Crane and the Atlantis on the dramatic East Coast. Initially, they were small, family run hotels, just like the intimate historic inns in many other countries.

Modern hotels here are now rarely family run, and international “chain” hotels have streamlined the business, with common standards and chain details. Many visitors want a local experience, and this is where both the UNESCO branding, emphasising Barbados’ rich history and Airbnb come in.

Barbados already has more than 1,000 properties and it’s growing. They range from a modest room or two with a family to a beach side luxury villa and this broad range of hostelries – from simple to sophisticated – has become a full part of Airbnb.


Global Wellness Institute releases landmark report




Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Global Wellness Institute releases landmark report


NEW YORK, NY – The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) released its much-anticipated report Build Well To Live Well, the first research to size and analyze the global and regional wellness lifestyle real estate and communities market. The 150+ page report finds that real estate and communities that intentionally put people’s health at the center of design, creation and redevelopment are the next frontier in residential real estate. The global market is growing fast: over 6% a year from 2015-2022. Consumer demand for healthy homes is outstripping supply: in the U.S., for example, there are an astonishing 1.3 million potential buyers each year but with a pipeline of 355 projects – and that pipeline leads the world.
While the market is tipping from niche to mainstream, this report fills a major knowledge gap: few investors, developers, consumers, or policymakers understand what wellness lifestyle real estate and communities are - or should be. It’s packed with info: from data on global and regional market sizes, price premiums, and consumer demand – to case studies on the wildly diverse themes and business models – to studies documenting the impact on both human health and investor ROI – to a full global pipeline list – to regional trends – to tools that help execute successful projects: from the certification/design systems that support building “well” to a dashboard that can measure the human health impacts. Seven key trends that will shape this market’s future are also identified: from new developments that blur the line between home, work and wellness to the rise of multigenerational and affordable wellness communities.
Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για Global Wellness Institute releases landmark report
“Collectively, we must shake up our thinking: healthy homes are as important as immunizations; parks, paths, and plants are as beneficial as prescriptions; friends and neighbors are far more important than Fitbits,” said Katherine Johnston GWI Sr. Research Fellow. “All the industries that create our home environments - real estate investors, urban planners/designers, architects, transportation planners, the construction industry – play a massive role in human health. And they need to partner to meet the desperate need – and fast-rising demand – for healthier homes and communities.”
Key Findings
Strong Market Growth 
Wellness real estate grew 6.4% annually since 2015, to reach $134 billion in 2017, and will expand 6% yearly through 2022 to reach $180 billion. Comparison: that’s 1.5% of the annual global construction market, and half the size of the global green building industry ($260 billion). The U.S., along with a few key Asian countries (China, Australia, India) and Europe (UK, Germany), account for three-quarters of the market.
Each market is distinct. The U.S., the goliath, has seen projects proliferate in “Sun Belt” states (Arizona, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, etc.) where “wellness living” has become a key differentiator in red-hot real estate markets; The U.S. also invented the  “agrihood” concept (communities revolving around farms), and is a major innovator in urban, senior living, and affordable wellness concepts. Australia is also a trailblazer, but with more centralized, larger-scale developments with greater guidance from public policy – and developments that put a bigger focus on sustainability. With its fast-growing middle/upper class deeply concerned about unhealthy urban air pollution and sprawl, China’s pipeline will see massive growth.
Top 10 Countries for Wellness Real Estate – Market Size
Country Market Size (US$ millions)
  1. U.S. $52.5 bil
  2. China $19.9 bil
  3. Australia $9.5 bil
  4. UK $9 bil
  5. Germany $6.4 bil
  6. India $6 bil
  7. France $5.8 bil
  8. South Korea $4.2 bil
  9. Canada $2.4 bil
  10. Japan $2.2 bil
A Powerful Pipeline 
In five short years, the pipeline for wellness lifestyle real estate and communities has gone from a handful of projects to over 740 built, partially built, or in development, across 34 countries today. Among these 740+ projects, GWI estimates that there are over 1.5 million units/homes either already built, or planned to be built out, over the next couple decades. They encompass over 560,000 acres of land and will house more than 4.1 million people. The regional leaders: North America with 372, Asia-Pacific with 293, and Europe with 61, projects in their pipeline.
Top Ten Countries - Projects in Pipeline 
  1. U.S. 355
  2. Australia 189
  3. UK 42
  4. China 39
  5. India 17
  6. Canada 17
  7. Malaysia 12
  8. Singapore 9
  9. Vietnam 6
  10. Indonesia 6
7 Future Trends
GWI predicts that seven emerging wellness living concepts will drive future development - and push this market to the next level.
Blurring the lines between home, work, and leisure
Strategic co-location and integration of homes, co-working facilities, and ample wellness programming (in both cities and suburbs), all in response to the rapid rise of remote and freelance work, the sharing economy, and mounting issues of loneliness and work-life balance. Example: WeWork’s movement into co-living (WeLive) and wellness (Rise by We).
Making healthy homes affordable
Contrary to the belief that wellness real estate is only for the rich, developers will increasingly collaborate with governments to bring more wellness-infused residences to lower-income populations who are at the highest risk for many health conditions. Examples: The Center for Active Design (U.S.) is a real leader; Via Verde (South Bronx, NY) is an affordable “well” community integrating everything from low-VOC materials to improve indoor air quality, design encouraging walking, green roofs with community gardens, a fitness center, and ample community spaces, including an amphitheater.
Bringing back multigenerational and diverse neighborhoods
More wellness real estate projects will cater to people seeking communities with a much greater diversity of ages, life stages and social classes - recognizing that segregation is unhealthy and that real-world (and not age-segregated) social connections are essential for our wellbeing and society. (For instance, many Baby Boomers reject the idea of living only with other older people as boring.) Examples: more wellness communities like The Interlace (Singapore) are integrating senior homes and assisted living with mixed-age/family-friendly neighborhoods…so all can “age in place.” More wellness developments will combine senior and college student housing, like Humanitas, the Netherlands.
Catalyzing medical industry clusters and health services to build wellness communities
More world-class wellness communities will be created by combining a geographic concentration of cutting-edge medical industry companies and research organizations (the economic concept
of “industry clusters”); a concentration of high-quality hospitals and health services for
consumers; and holistically-designed wellness-focused homes and neighborhoods. Examples:
Lake Nona (Florida) is anchored on more than a dozen world-class research hospitals, medical centers, human performance and sports training facilities, and tech companies clustered around its wellness-focused homes. Serenbe’s (Georgia) new Mado hamlet is on the cutting edge by integrating an impressive array of alternative, preventive, and healthy lifestyle services in its thriving residential neighborhood.
Moving from green to regenerative living
Moving beyond green building certifications to create innovative, regenerative residential communities of green, biophilic, sustainable and healthy design – that will produce their own healthy food and renewable energy, clean the air, recycle their water, and be net positive for people and the planet. Examples: various projects in development in China and Europe take green, biophilic and healthy design to the next level, like the Liuzhou Forest City and Moganshan 1,000 Trees projects in China, and Italy’s Bosco Verticale towers, which cover entire buildings and cities with plants and trees to improve air quality, biodiversity and renewable energy. The ReGen Villages being piloted in the Netherlands go a step further by combining sustainable and biophilic design with off-the-grid, self-sufficient energy and organic food production.
Leveraging technologies to create smart-healthy homes and cities
More projects will harness futuristic technologies – including advanced telemedicine, smart homes, sensors, artificial intelligence, etc. – to bring state-of-the-art on-demand wellness into homes, neighborhoods and cities. More model city projects will showcase futuristic energy and green technologies (like China’s Tianjin Eco-city, Energy City Qatar, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City). But the next wave will put health/wellness technology front-and-center, like The Connected City project (Tampa, FL) where highest-tech wellness spans self-driving cars, telemedicine, smart home technologies, virtual learning, the first Crystal Lagoon in the U.S., a hospital with a medi-spa and a health/performance institute.
Rediscovering hot springs as a wellness living anchor
More wellness residences will revolve around natural thermal and mineral springs (both primary and vacation homes) as people rediscover the therapeutic benefits of communal bathing. Examples: In Europe, there is immense opportunity to redevelop historic spa towns as holistic wellness communities, like Kemeri Park in Latvia, which is renovating a Soviet-era health resort/thermal bathing facilities to regenerate the nearby village following wellness community design principles. At California’s Goco Retreat Temascal Valley, residences are now being built with the redeveloped Glen Ivy Hot Springs as their anchor (opening 2019).
 
“Our existing built environment has a massive and increasingly negative impact on our physical and mental health. We will never address skyrocketing chronic disease and health costs without dramatically transforming where and how we live,” said Ophelia Yeung, GWI Sr. Researcher. “We’ve got to shift investment into the places that give us the most outsized health returns…our homes and communities.”

New Direct Flights from Tallinn to Stockholm and Oslo



Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για New Direct Flights from Tallinn to Stockholm and Oslo


The new direct flights from Tallinn to Stockholm and Oslo will offer convenient connections between the two cities.
airBaltic will launch the new direct services and base a second aircraft at Tallinn Airport starting from October 28, 2018.
Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “By offering a mix of 9 direct services from Tallinn and convenient connections via Riga, airBaltic will offer the best connectivity to and from the Estonian capital. The increased number of direct services and a decision to base a Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft in Tallinn shows our strong commitment to the Estonian market.”
RouteFlight frequencyStart datePrice*, BasicPrice*, PremiumPrice*, Business
Tallinn – Stockholm12 flights weeklyOctober 28, 201835 EUR69 EUR379 EUR
Tallinn – Oslo2 flights weeklyOctober 28, 201829 EUR75 EUR379 EUR
*Lowest fare (one way), including taxes, fees and service charges, on www.airBaltic.com, subject to availability
airBaltic will fly from Tallinn to Stockholm 12 times weekly. The scheduled flight time to Stockholm is planned to be 55 minutes. One-way ticket price starts at 35 EUR, including airport fees and transaction costs. The flights to Oslo will be performed 2 times weekly and the scheduled flight time is 1 hour and 45 minutes. One-way ticket price to Oslo starts at 29 EUR.
In addition, airBaltic will continue to offer direct flights from Tallinn to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Vilnius as well as convenient connections via Riga. airBaltic will also launch a new direct service from Tallinn to London Gatwick Airport on March 27, 2018.
In 2017, airBaltic has transported over 360 000 passengers to and from Estonia. The airline has carried 20% more passengers in Estonia to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East than in 2016.
For the summer season of 2018 airBaltic will also offer new services from Riga to Malaga (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Split (Croatia), Bordeaux (France), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Gdansk (Poland) as well as Sochi and Kaliningrad (both in Russia).
Tags:airBaltic

In last 3 months, sea arrivals in Kenya Ports have increased tremendously!




Αποτέλεσμα εικόνας για In last 3 months, sea arrivals in Kenya Ports have increased tremendously!


On Monday, Kenya Ports Authority or KPA has explained that the number of overseas visitors pouring into Kenya through the sea has greatly increased ever since the inception of the cruise ship tourism season back in October 2017.
 
KPA Head of Corporate Bernard Osero explained that ever since the commence of the season, the port of Mombasa has welcomed over five cruise ships filled with international guests from countries like Britain, the United States, Canada and other nationals.

 
“Approximately 3,681 international arrivals have come to Kenya through the port of Mombasa within the three months, since the first cruise ship on Oct. 23,” Osero.

 
He talked about it after receiving MS Silver Spirit that harbored at the port of Mombasa with almost 890 visitors, which had 496 passengers and 394 crew members. On Monday, the cruise was coming from Zanzibar and heading to Seychelles. At the Kenya coast, the vessel spent a night as the visitors explored Maasai Mara, Shima Hills, Fort Jesus, Amboseli and other attractive sites in the country.

 
This was for the second consecutive time that MS Silver Spirit is coming to Kenya in two months time. It was here on Dec. 21 2017 with around 472 visitors and 365 crew members.
Speaking at the reception of the tourists at the port, Osero stated that the return of cruise ships is very hopeful.

 
“Six years ago, we use to have zero cruise vessels docking into this port. It is encouraging to see us rekindling the old spirits and being a key player in attracting passengers by sea,” said Osero.