Travel / Lifestyle

John Keells Hotels acquires fifth Resort in the Maldives

Travel Club (Pte.) Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of John Keells Hotels Limited has obtained a 14-year lease for the Ellaidhoo Tourist Resort in the Maldives for USD 12.5 million.

Ellaidhoo Tourist Resort, in North Ari Atoll, is approximately 40 km from Male. The island which is 300 meters long and 280 meters wide, houses 78 standard rooms and 16 garden rooms, a restaurant, bar and a health club.

The resort also has additional capacity to house 17 water bungalows, the construction of which would be undertaken next year. Some of the best diving sites in the Maldives are found in the vicinity of Ellaidhoo such as Fish Head, Maya Thila, Halaveli Wreck and Fesdhoo Wreck.

This investment will further increase our exposure to the lucrative Maldivian leisure industry and is the second investment to be made in the Maldives during the financial year 2006/07.

John Keells Hotels Limited is a 89.07% subsidiary of John Keells Holdings Limited.

Etihad adds another feather to its cap

Etihad Airways has triumphed again at the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA), not only winning the title for being, the world's leading new airline for the third year in a row, but also the award for the world's leading flat-bed seat.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan said, "It is incredible to think that Etihad Airways is not even three years old, yet we have achieved so much in that time. Etihad now operates services to 35 international destinations across four continents, offering Guests the award winning flat-bed on many of the routes,".

Etihad's revolutionary Diamond zone suite, offers guests a seat that sets new industry benchmarks. Not only can it recline 180 degrees into a flat bed, but it can also rotate 180 degrees enabling guests to hold meetings, dine and converse with one another. Guests can relax and enjoy an extensive range of in-flight entertainment on the 23" personal LCD video screen.

The award-winning Pearl zone business-bed, the world's leading flat-bed seat, is available across Etihad's new fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

The seat reclines a full 180 degrees into a flat 6 ft. 1 inch bed and also has a built-in massage facility.

With an 88-inch pitch and direct access to the aisle, the Pearl zone seat also offers individual lighting and a reading lamp.

The 15-inch personal LCD screen, is the largest in comparable cabins in the industry.

Guests travelling in the Pearl zone on an Etihad Boeing 777-300ER can also stay connected through wi-Fli, the high-speed in-flight interest access system.

Cathay Pacific 'Paint the Town Green'

Cathay Pacific Airways created history again in the local aviation industry when they came up with an innovative branding campaign called "Paint the Town Green."

The campaign was carried out in the form of a competition with the participation of local travel agents. The competition gave an opportunity to its top travel agents to bring out their creativity and team spirit by promoting Cathay branding at their respective venues.

The agents were requested to decorate their premises using green, Cathay corporate colour and other branding material. Travel agencies had to bring up their utmost creativity into decorating their offices with Cathay colours and corporate branding, while strictly following the Cathay logo guidelines. They were provided with cut out models, posters and model aircraft and other display material.

Sales and Marketing Manager for Cathay Sri Lanka, Ms. Manori Jayasekera said, "The challenge was well received by travel agents and a number of agencies took part in the competition with a lot of eagerness and enthusiasm. They said this was a novel experience for them and an opportunity to get a break from their busy schedules and have fun and spend some quality time with their colleagues. As a result, everybody came up with unique concepts and the results were truly amazing."

Country Manager for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Julian Lyden said, "The enthusiasm showed by the agents is remarkable and the response was very encouraging.

They have diverse talents and very high levels of creativity. Our mystery shopper found it extremely hard to select the winners."

The lucky winner of the competition was Himpras Travels and they were awarded seven return Air tickets to Singapore or Bangkok. Managing Director of Himpras Jude Condrad said, "This is a very innovative campaign by Cathay, which helped to strengthen the relationship between the airline and the agents.

Activities of this nature also help to build team spirit and unity among the participants, while bringing out the hidden talents in them."