GLOBAL NEWS

OSCAR REYGO/UNSPLASH

1 Emirates increases DubaiMexico City to daily service Emirates has begun daily flights between Dubai and Mexico City, via Barcelona. The latest decision boosts the frequency of the carrier’s services from six weekly flights to seven. It has therefore increased its average capacity on this sector and now o ers around 2,000 seats per week to and from the capital of Mexico.

2 Choice Hotels to acquire Radisson Hotel Group Americas In a US$675 million deal that will add 624 hotels and 68,000 rooms to its portfolio, Choice Hotels has agreed to acquire Radisson Hotel Group Americas. Choice will take over the franchise agreements and operations of Radisson’s numerous properties across across the US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

3 Yotel to open within Lisbon’s World Trade Centre Yotel will open its second Portuguese property, located within Lisbon’s World Trade Centre. The 127-room Yotel Lisbon WTC is slated to open in 2024 and will o er more than 35,000 sqm of o ice, retail, recreational and hotel space across two eight-storey buildings. The Yotel brand was first launched in 2007 at London’s Gatwick airport. 2

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4 Jumeirah Frankfurt rebrands as JW Marriott property The Jumeirah Frankfurt is now trading as the JW Marriott Hotel Frankfurt. The 219-room hotel is located on Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz in the city’s Zeil shopping district, and is directly connected to the My Zeil shopping centre. Fun fact: the hotel produces its own honey from hives situated on the rooftop of the 25-storey building. 3

5 Intercontinental to debut in Tashkent IHG Hotels and Resorts plans to debut its Intercontinental brand in Uzbekistan’s capital later this year. The newly-built Intercontinental Tashkent will be located in the Trilliant Business Park Development Complex and include 216 rooms. Significantly, it will feature electric charging points for cars, and sustainable landscaping.

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6 Marriott to suspend all operations in Russia Marriott International announced plans in June to suspend operations in Russia, 25 years after entering the market. It stated: “Newly announced US, UK and EU restrictions will make it impossible for Marriott to continue to operate or franchise hotels in the Russian market.” In March this year, it closed its Russian corporate o ice too.

7 Akasa Air receives its rst aircra Akasa Air, a new low-cost carrier in India backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has received the first of its 72 Boeing 737 Max aircraft. It expects the delivery of eight more aircraft by March 2023, and the remaining 54 aeroplanes by 2026. Akasa is slated to commence domestic operations this year.

8 Waldorf Astoria to open in Kuala Lumpur Hilton will open its first hotel under its luxury Waldorf Astoria brand in Malaysia in 2024. Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur, situated in the city’s Bukit Bintang district, will feature 279 suites and 3,390 sqm of meeting and events space. There are currently around 30 Waldorf Astoria properties worldwide, with a further 20 in the pipeline.

DAVID EDELSTEIN/UNSPLASH

9 Japan reopens to international tourists Japan reopened to international tourists in June. However, only those booked on private tour groups approved by the government are permitted to enter. Also, these tourists need to have spent at least 14 days in one of around 100 countries on Japan’s “blue list” (the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain are on it) prior to their arrival date.

10 United to launch nonstop service between Brisbane-

San Francisco

United will launch a new yearround, nonstop service between San Francisco and Brisbane using its 787-9 Dreamliner. Apart from the Brisbane route, United already flies nonstop to Sydney from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and has nonstop flights between Melbourne and the US too.