Travel News

Boeing 767-200ER / Image via wikimedia

Russian airline Transaero launches new service to Varadero, Cuba

HAVANA - A Boeing 767 from the Russian Airline "Transaero" carrying 200 passengers on Monday arrived at the Varadero Airport, 250 km east from Havana, a Cuba's tourism official said on Monday.

The Russian airliner will send visitors twice a week to the Varadero Resort, said Ramon Fundora, a specialist from the Ministry of Tourism. The flight also marks the resumption of Moscow-Caradero airline.

The travels are coordinated by the UkranianTour Operators Lanta Tour and Coral Travel, and the Russian Havanaturrussia, said Fundora.

He added that last week the Brazilian airline Wets Jets also started direct flight to Varadero.

Cuba has seen an increase in its tourists arrival this year despite the global financial crisis. While fewer tourists visited Cuba from major tourist source countries like France and Spain, the opening of new markets such as Venezuela and Russia, has helped raise the total figure.

Some new airline companies started direct flights to the island, specially those from Mexico, Japan, Russia and Brazil.

The Cuban tourism authorities have also launched a promotion campaign entitled "Authentic Cuba" in Europe to open up new market.

Tourism is Cuba's second largest industry contributing about 20 percent of the island's total foreign currency annual earning, according to official figures. / Xinhua

Image via welcome2siberia

NEW YORK, NY - The World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) continuing its meeting in Brasilia, today inscribed the Putorana Plateau in Russia to the list of World Heritage sites. This Siberian plateau contains pristine tundra, forest, and cold-water lakes and is the site of a major reindeer migration route.

Announcing its decision, the committee noted that the Putorana Plateau, which lies about 100 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, "harbors a complete set of sub-Arctic and Arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra, and Arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems."

The committee also approved an extension to the Monte San Giorgio site in Switzerland, which has been on the list since 2003. The extension is contiguous with the existing site, but on the Italian side of the border with Switzerland. The mountain is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic period, which took place between 245 million and 230 million years ago.

Today's additions to the World Heritage List join 27 other natural, cultural, and mixed sites that have been inscribed or extended during the current session of the committee, which wraps up tomorrow. / UN

Michelle Obama with daughter Sasha / Image via sulekha

US State Department cancels "racial prejudice" travel warning for Spain

As Spain prepared Wednesday to receive First Lady Michelle Obama, the U.S. State Department rescinded a warning to travelers in Spain that cautioned Americans to beware of "racist prejudices."

Obama and her nine-year-old daughter Sasha are expected to begin a four-day vacation Wednesday in a five-star hotel in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol.

The President will remain in the U.S. to celebrate his 49th birthday with his older daughter Malia, 12.

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department was still advising tourists that "racist prejudices could lead to the arrest of Afro-Americans who travel to Spain." The website of the Office for Consular Affairs also mentioned "isolated reports" of racially-motivated arrests of tourists.

The travel advice has since been removed.

"The note has been removed. It was 15 months old and out of date. Somebody forgot to remove it," the U.S. embassy in Madrid said. "We are in no way suggesting Spanish police are racist. This is an isolated incident."

Obama booked 40 rooms in the Hotel Villa Padierna, a golf and spa resort in Marbella. / nypost

SAS öppnar en ny direktlinje från Luleå till London.

Rutten öppnas den 6 november och kommer att trafikeras varje lördag med en Boeing 737-600. Därmed har SAS varje vecka 120 platser till Heathrow från Luleå. Vi är väldigt glada över att erbjuda en direktlinje mellan norra Sverige och London.

Det gör det enklare och smidigare för många norrlänningar att ta sig till London, samtidigt som det finns ett stort intresse i England att besöka Lappland och de fantastiska turistupplevelser som finns i närheten av Luleå, säger Robin Kamark, kommersiell chef, SAS. / AG