Airline Hackathon for Dublin
The International Air Transport Association will be hosting an NDC Hackathon from May 19th-21st in the Convention Centre. The round-the-clock event is to help airlines enhance the New Distribution Capabilities for airlines to improve retailing to customers. There will be mentors on site that will guide you through the Hackathon. Entrants should be over 18 and entry is free. You can book a place on eventbrite.com. Details for Hackathon are here: http://ndc.developer.iata.org/hackathon/dub17/.
Longest route to Australia
Qantas will fly the first non-stop from London to Perth next March. The route will be the world's third-longest and link Britain and Australia non-stop. Originally the Kangaroo Route used to take four days and seven stops. Next year it will be a single hop. The flight will take 17 hours in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The flight will continue on to Melbourne and replace the airline's existing London-Dubai-Melbourne. Return fares will start from £1,096, and will drop during deal periods.
Cycle in your hotel room
Cycle loving business travellers can keep up their sport when staying in Westin Hotels. The hotel is teaming up with Peloton to install stationary bikes in some hotel rooms in the United States. Westin already has workout-ready bedrooms in their properties and you can hire workout gear. Join in with live studio classes online from your hotel room.
Business travel will grow for next decade
The World Travel and Tourism Council are predicting a growth in business travel of 3.7 per cent per year in the next decade. No surprise to hear that China will lead the way with 9.5 per cent annual growth followed by Myanmar 8.7 per cent, Hong Kong 8 pe cent and India 7.2 per cent. In Africa, Rwanda and Gabon will lead with 8.5 per cent and Tanzania by 7.9 per cent. In the past five years, business travel spending has advanced rapidly in emerging markets. In Qatar it rose by 25 per cent, Azerbaijan by 21 per cent and Mozambique by 19 per cent. The largest business travel markets are the US, China, the UK, Germany and Japan.
jscales@irishtimes.com