Slovakia lights up the sky

AT the Rostec International Fireworks Festival in Moscow, Slovakia was the  winner of the festival which is one of the world's greatest events related to fireworks. Second place went to Greece, and the USA took third place. All three teams took part in the festival in Moscow for the first time. 

The Rostec International Fireworks Festival was held for the fourth time this year and teams from Austria, Andorra, Bulgaria, Italy, the UK, Greece, Slovakia and the USA took part in it.

The teams presented programs consisting of two parts: fireworks in the colors of a national flag with national music, which was a participant's presentation; there was also a free program on the theme of goodness and magic.  A world-class jury monitored the technical aspect of the performances including eminent pyrotechnicians from the USA, Romania, Portugal, Canada and Spain.



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Wellington is a winner

DEUTSCH Bank’s most recent Liveable City Index has named New Zealand’s cool little capital #Wellington number one for the second year in a row! The Deutsche Bank Liveable City Index, ranks world cities in categories such as safety in the city, health care, cost of living, pollution and climate. Wellington has topped the table against bigger and arguably better-known cities including Zurich (2nd), Copenhagen (3rd), Edinburgh (4th) and Vienna (5th).

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Three Wins for Sheraton Resort in Bali

THE Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort has been named the Country Winner for Best Luxury Rooftop Hotel at the 2017 World Luxury Hotel Awards and also bagged 2 Regional awards : Luxury Ocean View Resort and Luxury Family Resort.

The resort is located right next to Beachwalk – a luxurious shopping destination, presenting over 200 retail outlets in an open-air style and designed architecture inspired by the design of Bali’s rice paddy field. The resort is also centrally located at the heart of Pantai Kuta and just five kilometers away from Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS).

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Cheapflights UK Travel Awards Celebrate Best In UK Travel

THE UK travellers’ favourite airlines, airports, travel brands and destinations were honoured at the inaugural Cheapflights UK Travel Awards. Winners in 20 categories were revealed at a ceremony held in central London last week, ranging from favourite airline cabin crew and airport for duty-free shopping, to best travel blog and favourite short and long-haul destinations.

Andrew Shelton, Managing Director of Cheapflights commented: “In what we can describe as turbulent times it is apparent that the UK has far from lost its appetite for travel, as we’ve seen a near 50 per cent year on year increase in users of our core flight search product, which we expect to number 25 million in 2017, more than a quarter of a million people are using our app every month and we now have over four million subscribers to our mailing list. These are exciting times for the brand and we are looking forward to working closely with new and existing partners as we grow further in 2018.”

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Whistler named best ski resort in the world

FOR the third consecutive year, #Whistler has been named the best ski resort in the world in the prestigious ULTRAS awards. The ULTRAS are presented by Ultratravel magazine and honour the best in luxury travel from around the globe.

Ultratravel is luxury travel magazine, distributed with the best-selling UK daily newspaper, the Daily Telegraph. The winners of the 2017 ULTRAS awards were determined by Ultratravel readers who voted across 19 categories ranging from the best in airlines, hotels, tour operators, golf resort and more.

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VisitEngland Awards for Excellence winners

THE prestigious awards, now in their 28th year, celebrate those businesses and individuals who continuously raise the bar of England’s tourism offer. 

The 25 award winners, from Afternoon Tea of the Year to Sustainable Tourism Award, Tourism Pub of the Year to Business Tourism Award, span the length and breadth of the country from Yorkshire to Devon, Warwickshire to Northumberland.

Afternoon Tea of the Year:  Countess of York, Yorkshire 

Sustainable Tourism Award: Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant, North East 

Business Tourism Award: Warwick Conferences, West Midlands 

Tourism Pub of the Year: The Anchor Inn, South West 

and some of the other award winners . . .

Glamping Provider of the Year: The Dandelion Hideaway, East Midlands

 

Self-Catering Property of the Year: Cottage in the Dales - The Byre, Yorkshire 

Guided Tour of the Year: Shiverpool, North West 

Family Friendly Accommodation of the Year award - sponsored by Family Traveller: Bosinver Farm Cottages, South West 

Bed & Breakfast of the Year Award: St Cuthbert’s House, North East 

Boutique/Guest Accommodation of the Year award: Glazebrook House Hotel, South West

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Monkey Haven, South East 

Dog Friendly Business of the Year: Letheringham Water Mill Holiday Cottages, East of England

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Baros Maldives wins nine awards

BAROS #Maldives has won an incredible nine awards in the recently announced TripAdvisor Awards for hotels rated the best in the world in 2016. The winning hotels were chosen from millions of reviews posted by guests last year on the popular TripAdvisor website.

In the world category of hotels, Baros Maldives was ranked Number 14 out of the Top 25 Luxury Hotels in the World, and 22nd in the Top 25 hotels in the World for Romance. The Resort was also recognised as 4th in the Top 25 Luxury Hotels in Asia and 2nd in the Top 10 Luxury Hotels in the Maldives.

The romantic atmosphere of Baros Maldives is acknowledged by guests’ comments with the resort being acclaimed as Number 6 out of the Top 25 Hotels in Asia for Romance, and the first of the Top 10 Hotels for Romance in the Maldives. Other awards were for being Number 11 out of the Top 25 Best Service Hotels in Asia and Number 2 of the Top 10 Best Service Hotels in the Maldives, as well as Number 8 in the Top Ten of all hotels in the Maldives.

Baros Maldives, a private, Maldivian-owned island of 75 overwater and beach villas, was also acclaimed as the World’s Most Romantic Resort in 2016 and The Maldives’ Leading Boutique Resort in 2016 by the World Travel Awards

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Picture Credit: nattu 33345813@N00/1385100375 The Way to Paradise via photopin

La Manga named Spain's best golf resort sixth year in a row

THE prestigious resort in Murcia, south-east #Spain, was the overwhelming first choice of readers of the UK’s best-selling #golf magazine, receiving nearly 10 per cent more votes than its nearest challenger at the 2017 Today’s Golfer Travel Awards.

The new accolade extends #LaManga Club’s amazing record of having won the coveted title every year since it was introduced, and is further confirmation of the resort’s status as one of Europe’s most popular golf resorts.

Set across an area of 1,400 acres, La Manga Club has been at the forefront of European sports and leisure destinations for more than four decades.

Featuring three 18-hole golf courses, a nine-hole academy course and outstanding practice facilities, La Manga Club has enjoyed a rich golfing history since its inception in 1972, while its array of other outstanding sports and leisure amenities, bars and restaurants has helped establish it as a firm favourite with golfers worldwide.

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Picture Credit: lamangaclub.com

Bristol in Rough Guides Top Ten Cities

#BRISTOL made it to number four in the Rough Guides Top ten cities to visit beating Atlanta and Osaka to make it in the top 5.

Here are the top ten:

1. Paris, France

2. Isfahan, Iran

3. Nairobi, Kenya

4. Bristol, United Kingdom

5. Antwerp, Belgium

6. Medillen, Colombia

7. Atlanta, USA

8. Osaka, Japan

9. Guadalajara, Mexico

10. Palma, Mallorca

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Picture Credit: Ali Mannan 69752950@N04/28700545590 #Bristol via photopin

Up in the air . . .

LOW-cost airline Norwegian continues its climb in Ireland by receiving the Aircraft Operator Award at the 2016 Aviation Industry Awards in Dublin.

Norwegian was awarded two World Travel Awards in 2016 and was named the ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Long-Haul Airline’ for the second consecutive year and ‘Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe’ for the fourth year in a row at the renowned Skytrax World Airline Awards.

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Double Albatross

GOLFASIAN, Asia's largest #golf tour operator handling over 12,500 golfers annually has been awarded the Asia Pacific Golf Tourism Pioneer, Thailand's Best Golf Tour Operator & Vietnam's Best Golf Tour Operator.

In recognition of providing golfers the best golf travel experience in the industry Golfasian has been singled out by the #Asia Pacific Golf Group as a pioneer in golf tourism at the 2016 Asian Golf Awards. They also scooped for the 3rd time in a row the 2016 Thailand and Vietnam Best Golf Tour Operator award at the World Golf Awards. 

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Best in Devon 2016

WINNERS in the 2016 Food & Drink Devon awards programme included Chunk of Devon, Ottery St Mary: Pork, Apple and Scrumpy Sausage Roll, Pork & Chorizo Sausage Roll, Steak & Ale Pie, Steak Pasty, Steak & Blue Pasty, Squealer Pork Pie (Gold award winner) and the The Well Hung Meat Company, Buckfastleigh (Best Producer).

Other winners were:

Me & Mrs Jones, Torquay – Best Café

The Lamb Inn, Sandford – Best Pub

Goierri Foods, Chudleigh – Best Street Food / Takeaway

The Cove Café Bar, Hope Cove – Best Bistro (Winner in 2015)

Old Vienna, Torquay– Best Fine Dining Restaurant      

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Picture Credit: Jayembee69 flickr.com/photos/93448689@N02/8647921775 Hope Cove via photopin.com

Carnival winners

FOR the second consecutive year, Carnival Cruise Line has been named Most Trusted #Cruise Line in #America by Reader’s Digest, based on a poll of more than 5,000 Americans nationwide who were asked to rate products they trust across 40 different categories in areas such as quality, value, and reliability.

Earlier this year marked the debut of the line’s newest, largest and most innovative ship, Carnival Vista, which offers such groundbreaking features as the SkyRide aerial attraction, the first IMAX Theatre at sea, the RedFrog Pub & Brewery that includes the line’s first on-board brewery and the fleet’s largest water park highlighted by the 455-foot-long Kaleid-o-Slide.

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Picture Credit: Carnival Cruise Line

Virgin Trains win coveted award

VIRGIN Trains on the east coast took home the coveted ‘Most Innovative Caterer’ award in the Onboard Retail Category at the annual International Rail Catering Group awards.

The menu includes award winning dishes such as lemon and herb roasted chicken and flavoursome chicken curry developed in the chef’s kitchen. James Martin also developed an exclusive range of jams produced by Yorkshire based The Fruity Kitchen and a premium Black Pudding served at breakfast in the full-English.

Alison Watson, Head of Customer Experience for Virgin Trains on the east coast said: “We are so pleased to see our menu get the recognition it deserves at the International Rail Catering Group awards. We believe in providing an outstanding service to our customers onboard and working with James Martin to develop this menu has been a key part of this."

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World Travel Awards Winners

SAINT PETERSBURG has won the title of Europe’s Leading Destination for the second year at the World Travel Awards, which were held in Sardinia,Italy.

Other winners included:

Europcar - Europe’s Leading Car Rental Company

Madeira Islands - Europe's Leading Island Destination.

Lyon, France - Europe's Leading City Break Destination

Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts - Europe's Leading Luxury City Resort.

Lufthansa - Europe’s Leading Airline for the second year in a row.

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Accolade for Combermere

COMBERMERE ABBEY in Shropshire has been named winner of the 2016 Restoration Award presented by the Historic Houses Association and sponsored by Sotheby’s. The house, owned by the Callander Beckett family since 1919, had suffered severe deterioration over a number of years. The award has been given for the most recent full restoration of the North Wing, but also in recognition of the 24-year project to bring the whole house back to life.  

The house is at the heart of 1,000 acres of farmland, woodland, and park, with a 150-acre lake. Its origins date back to the 12th century, and its history has encompassed Royal purchase, the dissolution of the monasteries, the impact of England’s 17th century revolution, and extensive re-modelling in the early 19th century. Combermere was placed on the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register in the 1970s.

Since then, the stable block has been converted to create nine holiday cottages, and the library, formerly the Abbot’s Hall, the North wing and ancillary buildings have been restored.

Sarah Callander Beckett says: ‘We are absolutely thrilled to have won this very prestigious award and to have been recognized by our peers in this way. The restoration of this wonderful place has been my mission since inheriting it in 1992 and has taken my family and me on an extraordinary journey over the past 24 years. To finally see the abbey without scaffolding, standing proud in the landscape as it was designed to be makes it all very worthwhile and I hope will give encouragement to others in a similar situation fighting to save these remarkable treasures.’

www.combermereabbey.co.uk
www.hha.org.uk

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Award for The Enchanted Forest

THE ENCHANTED FOREST, Perthshire’s sound and light show, has staved off competition from 38 Scottish tourism providers to take home the Tourism & Hospitality Award in the Scottish Rural Awards. 

The show, which will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year, drew more than 62,000 visitors to the Highland Perthshire area in 2015 over a 32-night run, a 33% increase on the previous year.

The event’s impact on the local tourism economy is now expected to be in the region of £2.75 million a year, with more than 50% of all visitors to the event choosing to stay overnight in the area after their visit, and 90% citing the event as their main reason for visiting the area in the autumn.

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