tourism news 11 feb 2012-middleast

Airline lets fliers vet seatmates through Facebook

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has introduced a social-media service that enables passengers to pick their seat buddies based on their profiles on Facebook and LinkedIN. When a passenger shares his or her profile via a ‘meet & seat’ service, KLM notifies the person via email about whether other passengers on the flight have shared their details. The service is currently available for flights from Amsterdam to San Fracisco, New York and Sao Paulo, with plans to roll the initiative out to other destinations 
“ JW Marriott Marquis to be world's tallest hotel

The 355m JW Marriott Marquis Dubai will become the world’s tallest hotel when it opens in quarter four, taking the title from the existing holder, the Rose Rayhaan Rotana. The 1608-room twin-tower development on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road will open in two phases; the first phase features 804 rooms as well as numerous restaurants and lounges. The property will target business travellers and the “growing” MICE market, the hotel’s general manager revealed at a press conference on Wednesday. “The potential to cater for the growing needs of the global business community is huge and we believe the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is uniquely placed in that regard,” said Rupprecht Queitsch. “The hotel will fill a long identified gap in the market where groups, meetings and conventions of up to 1000 people can meet, sleep and dine under one roof, in one location. There are businesses of this size choosing various cities around the world in which to meet, but until now, Dubai has not had a single location of this size to accommodate this type of group. In simple terms, we will establish Dubai on the global conference market landscape." Queitsch said that to give the local market some context, the United States’ MICE segment, which will be one of the key targets of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai team, contributes US $106 billion to that country’s GDP – higher than automotive manufacturing ($78 billion), performing arts/spectator sports/museums ($71 billion) and information and data processing services ($76 billion). He explained: “As for general business, Dubai is perfectly positioned, with its proximity to huge growth markets such as India and the fact it has literally billions of people within a five-hour flight range. What those business travellers are looking for is a hotel that has everything they could possibly need under one roof and we truly believe this iconic new property will set a new standard in business hotels, not just in the region but globally." Alongside its 5000 sq m of events space, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai will have nine restaurants and five lounges, as well as a spa, health club and two ballrooms.