BCD Travel has earned an award nomination in the prestigious 2009 Buying Business Travel Magazine Diamond Awards in the category of Best Business Travel Management Company.

The award nomination represents a significant accolade for the corporate travel management company, which operates in 90 countries across five continents with a staff of more than 12,000 dedicated corporate travel management employees.

With US$12 billion in total sales, BCD Travel is the world’s third largest corporate travel management agency. In Australia, it has offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne servicing local clients with domestic and international corporate travel requirements.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association’s (PATA) Annual Travel Monitor 2007, published by the Association’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC), states that almost 376 million IVAs (international visitor arrivals) were recorded last year – up from around 347 million in 2006.

The strongest year-on-year growth performance in 2007 was in Southeast Asia, a region which includes traditional tourist and traveler hotspots such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, with a 12.2 percent increase. However, all destination sub-regions in Asia showed encouraging levels of growth.

The top ten performing destinations in 2007 were led by Papua New Guinea, although the recorded growth of 34 percent against 2006 is off a relatively small numeric base. Interestingly, four Pacific island nations make the 2007 top ten.

PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Director John Koldowski is full of praise for destinations across the region. ‘We’ve witnessed some very imaginative and inventive promotional campaigns from NTOs, airlines, hotels and tour operators – all keen to grab a bigger slice of the Asia Pacific travel cake - and these campaigns are reflected in some very positive numbers.

It’s not all good news for Asia Pacific destinations however. Sri Lanka for example, showed an alarming dip in arrivals with an 11.7 per-cent decrease on 2006, reflecting increased regional competition and certain domestic issues which influenced traveller choice.

Source: travelindustrywire.com

The future of travel has arrived at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3. Introducing our new Upper Class Wing with our enhanced Drive Thru Check In service.

If you’re traveling in Upper Class and arrive at the airport via our Drive Thru service, you’ll be able to check in from the comfort of your chauffeur driven car. Your bags will be whisked away and you’ll be handed your boarding pass. You’ll then whizz through to the new Private Security Channel* leaving you free to enjoy the unparalleled luxury of the award winning Clubhouse.

That’s Limo to Lounge in 10 minutes!**
If you are making your own way to the airport when flying in Upper Class, you will be able to use VirginAtlantic’s priority lift in Zone A that will take you straight through to our new Private Security Channel* and onto our award winning Clubhouse. Plus if you’re a Flying Club Gold member, even if you’re flying in Premium Economy or Economy, you and a guest can enjoy the Private Security Channel*.
Just remember to enter your membership number at the time of booking to enjoy these great benefits.

With a quick, three step process through to your gate, you’ll be in the air in no time.
Step 1: Check in at our new Upper Class Wing from your chauffeur driven car, or at the Upper Class check In, in Zone A.
Step 2: Breeze through our Private Security Channel*.
Step 3: Relax and unwind in our award winning Clubhouse.

Our Premium Economy offering now rivals the business classes of many airlines. With chauffeured car transfers, a fully flat and horizontal 6′ 7.5′ long bed with a proper mattress, sit-down bar, a-la-carte dining in a trolley-free
cabin, as well as pyjamas.

Virgin Atlantic’s signature Upper Class cabin is the business.
A clever angled seat design in a 1-1-1 configuration means that all Upper Class seats face forward, have direct aisle access and an ottoman foot rest that doubles as a seat for a guest. Highest sit-down bar on the planet. The next highest sit-down bar is Cloud 9, a mere 87 floors above the streets of Shanghai. Freedom to dine anytime. No annoying trolleys to impede your progress to the bar.Σ