JEDDAH, 28 August 2004 — Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) recently completed its first ladies familiarization trip to Switzerland, in partnership with Switzerland Tourism. Ruth Badertscher, wife of Swiss Consul General Urs Badertscher, accompanied 11 ladies, who represented sectors like health care, education, travel and tourism. During their five-day tour, the group visited Geneva, Montreux, Zermatt and Zurich. The itinerary of the trip included a cruise on Lake Geneva and bus tour of the city, Clinic La Prairie and the Givenchy Spa at Le Mirador Kempinski hotel, a visit to Klein Matterhorn, the highest mountain station in Europe, and a guided stroll of the Old Town of Zurich. “The whole program was excellent. It made me feel like we were away for five weeks not five days,” said Alia W. Soufi of Elaf Travel & Tourism’s ladies branch.
A-I Has New Airport Manager
JEDDAH, 28 August 2004 — T. Vijayakumar has assumed charge as Air-India’s manager at King Abdul Aziz International Airport. He succeeds S.T. Norbula who has returned to India at the end of his term spanning three and a half years as the Indian national carrier’s airport manager in New Delhi. Vijayakumar, who was in the A-I team that came from India to handle the outbound phase of Haj pilgrims last year, finds his first overseas posting “interesting.” He said: “That one month experience gave me good experience in handling pilgrim traffic, and am happy to be here.” He sees the new responsibility as a challenging one, as the airport is ever busy with incoming and outgoing passengers. “Moreover, there is a strong presence of Indians in Jeddah and the rest of the Western Province, some of whom regularly travel by A-I.” Vijayakumar, who joined A-I 20 years ago as assistant manager, holds degrees in science and business management. He was passenger sales manager at Bangalore for five years before coming here. Earlier, he served the airline in Madras for 10 years.
InterContinental Hotels’ New Appointments
RIYADH, 28 August 2004 — InterContinental Hotels Group has stepped up support for its global sales office by making new appointments to handle operations in Central and Eastern Saudi Arabia and northern Gulf. Hilal Saade has been appointed global sales manager for the Central and Eastern Saudi Arabia. Based in Riyadh, he will be providing ‘on the ground’ sales support to travel agents, as well as business and leisure travelers, from the region making bookings for the group’s properties around the globe. Ibrahim Saba has taken on the same role in northern Gulf and, though based in Kuwait, will also be responsible for Qatar and Bahrain. Both global sales managers bring with them a solid background in hotel and leisure industry management roles. “I’m pleased to welcome Hilal and Ibrahim to the team. We’ve a strong team out in the region making sure that our hotels and services are easily accessible for local agents and travelers alike across the Middle East,” said Mara Campi, director of global sales, Middle East, InterContinental Hotels Group.
Ice-Cream Fair at Le Gulf Meridien
ALKHOBAR, 28 August 2004 — Le Gulf Meridien Alkhobar has announced an ice-cream promotion at its 24-hour Al Nakhil lounge located at the lobby level. Varieties of ice-cream combinations are on display up to early September. The range includes banana skipper, blue lagoon, fruit paradise and Manhattan, according to Prashant Sharma, assistant director of sales and marketing at the hotel.
Qatar Airways Gets Best Cabin Crew Award
DOHA, 28 August 2004 — After having been awarded the prestigious five-star ranking by Skytrax earlier this year, Qatar Airways’ cabin crew has now been recognized as the best in the Middle East. Independent aviation quality monitor Skytrax has recently announced the results of its annual survey of some 130 worldwide airlines’ cabin staff, ranking Qatar Airways first in the Middle East region and fifth in the world. Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker said the 2003-04 Cabin Staff Survey by Skytrax attracted more than two million eligible votes, from passengers comprising 93 different nationalities, and assessed the cabin crew on criteria such as service efficiency, attentiveness, friendliness, presentation and consistency, among other criteria, and on all levels. Qatar’s cabin staff has remained in fifth place worldwide, and it is the leader in the Middle East. Al Baker added that that Qatar Airways was the only airline in the Top 10 rating to have a multi-national cabin crew.