The weekly news roundup: Celebrating New Year eve twice in same night, AccorHotels’ restructuring of Australia’s hotels, HNA Aviation’s partnership with Sabre
DESTINATIONS: Where to usher in 2017 twice in one night
Cross this borderline between Queensland and New South Wales to welcome 2017 twice in a night. (Image credit: igorcorovic/iStock)
For those of you who do not want the New Year eve’s celebrations to end, the good news is there are a few destinations where you can do just that – more than once on the same night without having to fly across oceans.
According to Dean Wicks, chief flights officer at travel search site Wego, it takes 26 hours for the New Year to hit each of the 39 local time zones.
“You can’t travel faster than time, but you can come close by moving backwards across the International Date Line. Depending on where you’re located, a nearby border crossing can deliver you two New Year opportunities and easier than you might think,” he said
These are the destinations Wego picks, which will allow you to drink in 2017 more than once.
Australia
The invisible border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland on Australia’s east coast is one of the easiest ways to have yourself two strokes of midnight. With New South Wales observing daylight savings time, which Queensland does not, a one hour time difference means you can easily cross over from Tweed Heads (NSW) into Coolangatta (Queensland) and get double the dose of fireworks.
The runway at Gold Coast Airport actually straddles the state border of Queensland and New South Wales, so technically your landing time may jump an hour although it’s registered at Queensland time.
Cyprus
In September this year the Turkish Republic of Cyprus (in the north) announced they would follow mainland Turkey’s time zone and not join the southern part of the island, Greece’s Republic of Cyprus, in daylight saving time.
The island has now been split into two time zones, with a one-hour time difference during winter. Nicosia is now the last divided capital in Europe and the only world capital that follows two time zones – a UN buffer zone that separates the Turkish-Cypriots in the north and the southern Greek controlled Cyprus.
The major shopping area of Ledra Street in the central part of the city is divided into two, and a viral ‘Dual Time Zone New Year Party’ is planned.
Spain and Portugal
In just 20 minutes you can drive between Extremadura (Spain) and Alentejo (Portugal) and have a double New Year’s eve. Begin in Badajoz then pop across the River Guadiana to the gorgeous Portuguese town of Elvas for a second midnight run. Apart from registering a double New Year whammy, both these areas are brimming with beauty and ooze historical charm.
United States
In the north west of Florida both Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Central Standard Time (CST) split the corner of the state. You can enjoy New Year number one at Port St Joe on the beach, then travel five minutes away to Mexico Beach for New Year number two. The New Year double is supported by free shuttle buses and has become quite the end of year attraction.
California and Nevada are also split by time zones (Mountain Standard and Pacific Standard Time), so you can chase time from Arizona Village for your first glimpse of 2017, then cross the Colorado River to see it once again in the tiny California town of Needles.
Sweden and Finland
Sweden’s Haparanda and Finland’s Tornio are neighbouring towns, separated by time zones and borders. Begin in Tornio for your first 2017 welcome, then just wander by foot (five minutes) over a bridge for round two, all in magical Scandinavian surroundings.
So what are you waiting for? Book that ticket and get ready to welcome 2017 in the best way possible – in a foreign land at twice the fun!
Have a fab new year from all of us at WIT.
HOTELS: AccorHotels restructures 31 hotels in Australia
Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, one of the hotels being restructured (Image credit: AccorHotels)
AccorHotels is carrying out a restructuring exercise of 31 hotels (4,097 rooms) in Australia through an agreement with their owner, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The hotels, purchased in 2013, are operated by AccorHotels.
AccorHotels will convert 15 triple-net leases into 50-year management agreements, and extend the management term of one hotel also to 50 years (total 16 hotels);
HotelInvest (AccorHotels’ subsidiary) will acquire the real estate of the remaining 15 ibis and ibis Budget branded properties for A$200 million.
The hotels are located in prime locations including Sydney’s Darling Harbour, Sydney Olympic Park and in Canberra, Australia’s capital city, as well as across New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. They include the Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis Budget brands.
John Ozinga, COO of HotelInvest, said the deal was in line with the hotel group’s strategy to optimise the generation of cash flow, as well as to reduce restructure lease contracts into owned and managed hotels.
“The acquisition of the economy hotels in key locations is a signal of our continued focus on supporting the Group’s growth strategy by holding a selective portfolio of profitable hotel property assets,” he added.
The acquisition will be accretive to AccorHotels’ EBIT in 2017. Completion of the acquisitions is subject to the usual conditions for this type of transaction, as well as regulatory approvals.
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: HNA Aviation inks deal with Sabre to boost revenue and efficiency
Sabre technology for HNA Aviation (Image credit: shansekala/iStock)
HNA Aviation Group has entered into an agreement with Sabre Corporation to provide its airlines with software, which will help create more revenue opportunities while operating more efficiently.
Sabre said in a statement that HNA would harness its AirVision Planning and Scheduling and AirCentre Movement suite of products.
“The AirVision Planning and Scheduling solution will enable HNA to accurately forecast demand and deliver profitable schedules across their network all while enabling its airlines to capture more revenue.
“It also takes a comprehensive view of the airline to deliver solutions on time and on budget while providing around-the-clock global customer care.”
The AirCentre Movement Manager and Recovery Manager will help HNA enhance cross-functional operations control through integrated workflow and systems that intuitively manage daily operations and disruptions to protect on time performance and passenger experience.
HNA Aviation is a leading global aerial transportation operator, which focuses on air transport enterprise cluster and integrates all kinds of trip elements. It holds 18 airline companies with aircraft fleet of more than 700 carriers.
• Featured image credit: Wego
