"Goa tourism industry against govt norms over night parties"

"Goa tourism industry has expressed its reservations over the stringent norms to be implemented by the state against noise created by late night parties.
'The norms should not be implemented in letter but spirit,' Travel and Tours Association of Goa (TTAG) president Ralf D'Souza said on Thursday.
With the beginning of tourist season in the state, the administration has geared up to lower noise pollution created through loud music during parties. As per Madhya Pradesh noise pollution act, there is a ban on parties playing music over 55 decibels after 2200 hrs.
However, tourism industry feels that such a stringent act would discourage tourism trade in the state. 'People come here to enjoy night life.... You can't expect them to go to bed at 10 in the night,' D'Souza said." Read more>>

Source: Newindpress.com

World Tourism Day

Today we're publishing the speech delivered by Francesco Frangiali, Secretary General of UNWTO:

"The evolving role of law in aerospace activities"

The Daily News publishes a very interesting article of Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne, Coordinator of Air Transport Programmes at the International Civil Aviation Organisation, containing excerpts from a legal lecture of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Montreal Branch, delivered on August 3, 2007 at ICAO Headquarters, Montreal, that is available in full text.

"New tourism law introduces site management - Jordan"

"The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project (Siyaha), has developed a new tourism law due to the need for rapid development, imposed by the global tourism industry and in response to the goals of the National Tourism Strategy.
The main concepts of the new law were presented to an audience of government and industry stakeholders on Sunday.
The new law is part of a reform effort to augment the role of the private sector and its contribution to expanding and developing the country's tourism sector, as well as raising performance standards of tourism professions, according to a Siyaha statement.
The legislation completely differs from all previous laws related to tourism as it introduces tourism site management and planning concepts. It changes the ministry's role from that of an operator to one of a regulator and also sets more transparent and efficient systems for licensing of tourism professions and protecting the interests of tourists, the statement said.
The Tourism Law covers four areas: Management and growth of tourism assets, regulating and upgrading tourism professions, tourism marketing, and vocational training." Read More>>

Source: MENAFM/The Jordan Times

"Mergers: Commission clears proposed creation of Moneydirect joint venture between Amadeus and Sabre"

According to the EU Press Room, "The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation by Amadeus of Spain and Sabre of the US of Moneydirect, a full function joint venture which will be active in the field of payment processing and clearing systems. Both parent companies also provide electronic travel distribution services to the travel industry through a global distribution system (GDS). The Commission has concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it."

This Press Release is available in full text.

"Rules for tourist home stays under way"

As reported by Wangui Maina, at Business Daily Africa, "The Ministry of Tourism is considering guidelines to encourage home stays to address bed shortage.
The move will see home owners with extra space get registration to accommodate tourists on their premises, at a cost, and under guidelines stipulated by the ministry.
Currently, there are no proper guidelines on where home stays can be licensed or even a star rating for the facilities as is the case in destinations like South Africa.
Speaking to Business Daily, Mr Mwangi Gakunga, the public relations officer at the Ministry of Tourism, said there was no data on how many home stays there are in the country. 'So far, there are also no clear guidelines on where home stays can be found. However, we are working toward putting them in place,' he added." Read more >>

"State aid: European Commission opens investigation into support to Alghero airport, Italy"

As stated by the EU Press Room, "The European Commission has decided to launch a formal investigation into support that would have been granted by the Sardinia Region and SOGEAAL SpA, the publicly owned company operating Alghero airport, to various air carriers, and by the Sardinia Region to SOGEAAL SpA. The investigation will allow the Commission to assess whether such support falls afoul of EU State aid rules.
The Commission's investigation will focus around three separate aspects. Firstly, the Commission will investigate agreements between SOGEAAL and Irish air carrier Ryanair concerning marketing support and other contributions. In this regard, one of the main aspects of the Commission's in-depth inquiry will be to assess whether the support provided could have been granted by a market economy investor, in which case such support would not fall under EU State aid rules.
Secondly, the Commission will investigate a number of handling fee rebates which are apparently granted to low-cost air carriers at Alghero airport.
Finally, the Commission considers that financial support and compensation granted to SOGEAAL SpA for its operating losses and capital increase might constitute State aid in favour of the airport operator.
Should the formal investigation lead to the conclusion that one or several of these measures constitute State aid, the Commission will need to assess whether they can be declared as 'compatible State aid'.
The Commission has launched this formal investigation following a complaint from a competing airline."

"Black list of banned airlines: the European Commission adopts new measures"

According to the EU Press Room, "The European Commission today adopted the fifth update of the Community’s list of airlines banned in the European Union; this was first drawn up in March 2006 and last amended in July. The new list replaces the previous one and can already be consulted on the Commission’s website [1]. With this update the Commission is banning in the European Union two new airlines that have been found to be unsafe: Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines from Ukraine and the Iranian company, Mahan Air.
'This latest update illustrates once more that the black list is a dynamic instrument which the Commission can use whenever necessary, without having to wait for the quarterly reviews', said Jacques Barrot, Commission Vice-President in charge of transport.
On the basis of notifications from several Member States, the Commission questioned the two carriers (Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines and Mahan Air) and the respective national civil aviation authorities responsible for their supervision. It also consulted the committee of Member State air safety experts, whose task it is to assist the Commission in such matters and who unanimously approved the bans."

UK: Tour operators lose 'stealth tax' legal challenge

A group of tour operators has lost its High Court challenge against the Government's Air Passenger Duty (APD), a controversial £2 billion a year levy branded a “stealth tax of the skies”.
Dismissing a legal challenge brought by the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) and two of its member companies - Tui UK and Kuoni Travel – a judge ruled that APD was a lawful charge.
The judge also upheld Gordon Brown's decision earlier this year to double APD, leaving holiday companies with a “shock” bill of some £50 million they could not pass on to customers because of insufficient notice of the increase.
Dismissing the case, which was an application for a judicial review, a mechanism through which interested parties can attempt to challenge Government decisions through the courts, Mr Justice Stanley Burnton, said had has “some sympathy” for the tour operators. However, claimants had not established any of their grounds for challenging APD or its increase.
The FTO was refused permission to appeal, but can still ask the Court of Appeal directly to consider its case. It said it was “disappointed” with the outcome and was considering a possible appeal.

Source: timesonline; read full article here. FTO's statement to be found here.