SBWire

2013 was generally a good year for inbound arrivals in Croatia. With the EU succession timed wonderfully in the high season (1 July), a lot of free publicity was given to Croatia, making it the biggest news of the year. An increase in number of trips of 5% as well as tourist receipts rising by a strong 17% had a positive effect showing good future prospects.

Initial indications suggest that 2014 will be another positive year for the tourism industry in South Africa. With only two months of data (January and February) currently available, we currently see no need to change our forecast of a 6% rise in South African tourist arrivals over 2014, with a concomitant rise of 6.9% in tourism receipts (in US dollar terms). Indeed, the first two months of the year saw total arrivals growth of 8.2%, to 1,781,368. The South African Ministry of Tourism's preferred measure of 'overseas arrivals' - which strip out arrivals from elsewhere in the African continent - reflected growth of 6.4%, to 495,322.

Domestic tourism has increased by 3% from 2012, to a total of 8.5 million trips compared to 8.3 million trips in 2012.

Brickell Travel Management, Miami’s reference in the corporate travel industry, celebrated its 5th anniversary this past Saturday at the National Hotel in South Beach. The party was a celebration for employees and a few vendors that have worked with BTM since the beginning. The festivity was organized by Invitati, Brickell’s travel division responsible for events and incentive travel. The theme was inspired in the thirties and Brickell Travel’s team dressed up in style, reviving the posh nights at the National Hotel.

Malaga is a beautiful, picturesque and vibrant place to visit for a holiday, but if the average tourist guide is to be believed, it’s simply a procession of overpriced nightclubs and thrill seeking experience companies crammed into a single strip of overcrowded land, saturated by binge-drinking lad culture. Malaga Travel Guide is a website that offers a different perspective, an insider’s view, which allows people to get away from the crazed hotspots and enjoy an authentic experience on the Costa Del Sol, including the top hidden Malaga hotels and Malaga wine that rivals the top vineyards in the world. In addition to these many best kept secrets, they have now posted a new editorial explaining how to get the very best rates on Malaga airport transfers.

Renowned Miami Beach Hotel Z Ocean Hotel has been recognized as 2014 Hospitality Champion of the Year by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SFHCC), one of the country’s top five Hispanic commercial institutions.

Village Catering is a catering company based in Philadelphia, PA that offers an assortment of catering services for all sorts of events. Now, the company is offering residential catering services to those who would like to have their party or event catered in the comfort of their very own home this November and December.

A business travel management agency helps people in the corporate sector to find flights and other travel resources quickly for comfortable travel. Travel management companies provide reasonable voyages for every class. In other words, these companies offer regular trips to targeted locations for their clients.

According to the new Travel Flash Report by the New York Advertising firm Criteo, in the first half of 2014, 40% of Americans booked some form of travel – flight, car rental, hotel – on a mobile platform. Mobile bookings have increased by an upwards of 20% in just the first six months of 2014. This is much greater than desktop bookings, which only had an increase in bookings by 2%. This reveals that mobile is quickly becoming a person’s favorite way of booking their next trip and flight.

The Slovenia Beverage Forecast report published by Canadean provides essential information on the prospective trends of the beverage industry in chosen country.

BMI forecasts all the major indicators for the Ukrainian tourism industry - inbound travel in particular - to be negatively affected by the deteriorating security situation and political crisis as well as the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia. We expect to see a deep contraction in the Ukrainian economy in 2014, and investment in the tourism industry will suffer as a result.

When looking for things to do while vacationing in Hawaii this winter, there is plenty of excitement to be found aboard a prominent fishing charter, from the views to the catch. Offering customized charters for fishing in Kauai and a one-of-a-kind experience, Ohana Fishing Charters has been overwhelmed by their high percentage of positive feedback on their TripAdvisor profile. The feedback has earned them a 2014 Certificate of Excellence through TripAdvisor thanks to a 4.5 star rating and 82 reviews.

As the holiday season approaches, there is no better getaway than an end of year vacation to a tropical destination with a warm climate. Offering some of the most spacious property rentals with private beaches and relaxing atmosphere, Anna Maria Luxury Beachfronts is announcing the availability of renting their LaCasa Costiera before the New Year arrives. The island was recently chosen as one of the top 30 islands in the world by readers of Conde Nast Traveler, and offers plenty of entertainment and luxury for its guests.

The TourPal travel guide app is now featured by Apple on the iTunes homepage (main featured page) in over 15 countries. TourPal has previously been featured in the App-store several times, but only in the Travel category. This is the first time TourPal is getting featured on the iTunes homepage.

Port Grimaud is one of Europe’s little known treasures.

Popular Pakistani owned travel agency introduces even lower fares for departures from the UK to all over Pakistan - including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Sialkot.

Escape Artist Vanuatu was established 18 years ago with the goal to give all people an opportunity to escape from the ordinary and choose where to live, work, play, invest, and retire. Thousands of people have joined the Escape Artist community and changed their life into their most exciting adventure. The company now offers Vanuatu Survive and thrive relocation package for individuals, who would like to live in the exotic Republic of Vanuatu.

Wholesale Miles, Inc. is now offering cash for miles at the best industry rates. The company has developed a unique concept where one can buy or sell miles as per their needs. If someone has excess miles and does not need them in the near future, they can sell miles to Wholesale Miles, Inc. and earn good cash in return. On the contrary, they can also buy miles from Wholesale Miles, Inc. and save a great deal of money when purchasing their air tickets. The buying and selling process is fast with Wholesale Miles, Inc. Just fill out an online form and then one of the representatives from the company will contact the customer and reveal the various options available so the customer gets the best deal.

Spanish consumers still seek the expertise of a travel agent when booking travel and tourism products and services; they are increasingly likely to book through travel agents only when booking long outbound trips outside of Europe, becoming less inclined to do so for domestic trips and short breaks to other countries in Europe. Furthermore, many Spanish consumers are becoming more likely to conduct some research about their travel and tourism options online before eventually booking their trips...

Medical tourism in Spain increased in current value terms by 1%. Many inbound tourists travel to Spain for knee and back prosthesis from Germany and for dental surgery from the UK. Russian and Arabic patients normally look for beauty treatments. The global economic downturn had little negative effects on demand for health and wellness tourism in Spain in 2013. Treatments are also cheaper than in other European countries. Health and wellness services attempted to attract more consumers by keeping the prices on a comparable level to the previous year and by introducing promotional offers in 2013.

To contribute to economic growth and combat poverty, the government has undertaken to equip the travel and tourism market with appropriate regulations and to engage in a programme of capacity development. The programme includes the development of tourist sites and strengthening hotel and leisure facilities, as well as human resources and promoting tourism and recreational activities.

For those who are planning to visit Orlando, FL in 2015 there is a great opportunity to win a complimentary round-trip transfer from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to any hotel or resort in Orlando (family or group up to 6 people).

Great news for travelers planning for Vietnam visa, the leading Vietnam visa company, Vietnam-Immigration.org has assured fastest visa approval within 48 hours through online visa service.

Those who love oriental food will find that the Shanghai Tokyo Café offers some excellent choices, including delicious sushi rolls. When it comes to College Park sushi , this restaurant offers some of the best in the entire area. Authentic sushi rolls can be difficult to come by, but the Shanghai Tokyo café has received high praise from customers for this particular item as well as many other dishes. This restaurant offers a number of other options to choose from, including chicken tempura, sushi combo platters, and a variety of rolls.

When it comes to the important matter of travelling, individuals need to take care of a lot of things and one of the most essential ones is to decide how much luggage should they carry in the first place. For vacations with the family, the best suggestion is to actually not go for a huge amount of luggage as that can be hard to carry in the long run. A lot of other factors have to be taken into thorough consideration before choosing the right kind of luggage for traveling and this include the size, appearance and other things such as space.