Two capitals, one flight

Two capitals, one flight

Singapore Airlines will introduce Flight SQ291 in September connecting three cities – Singapore, Canberra and Wellington – in one flight. The new flights from Singapore will connect the capitals of both Australia and New Zealand and will be operated with 266-seat retrofitted Boeing 777-200s fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats. Singapore Airlines will be the first airline to offer flights between Canberra and Wellington as well as the first to operate regularly scheduled international services to and from Canberra. Visit www.SingaporeAirlines.com

 

Seoul’s got soul

Join South Korean student volunteers for the Seoul Free Walk Tour around the historic centre of Jeong-dong and Bukchon as well as some areas on the eastern side of Gyeongbokgung Palace. The Jeong-dong tour starts at Gyeongbokgung Station and visits sites around Deoksugung Palace, many of which are related to early Western involvement in the country in the late Joseon era. The Bukchon tour starts at Anguk Station, moves to the Bukchon Cultural Centre and then to Gyedonggil for a glimpse of 1970s and ’80s Seoul. Other stops include a craft centre and scenic spots in Bukchon Village. A tour of Seolleung was planned, but development has been put on hiatus, organisers said. For more information and to sign up for a tour, visit http://SeoulFreeWalkingTour.wix.com/seoul.

 

Nepal sees major drop in tourists

Tourist arrivals to Nepal fell to a six-year low of 538,970 in 2015 as the April 25 earthquake and subsequent Tarai district unrest kept visitors away, according to the statistics just released by the Department of Immigration. The inbound figure includes rescue personnel and volunteers who converged on Nepal to help the earthquake victims and were counted as tourists. Nepal received 251,148 fewer tourists last year, representing a sharp drop of 31.78 per cent over the 2014 figure. The impact of the deadly earthquake is another major disaster for Nepal’s tourism industry with arrivals plunging 55.59 per cent to 97,510 during the four-month period (May-August) following the quake.

 

There’s an app for that

Emirates airline has launched a Thai mobile site (emirates.com/th), enabling Thai customers to enjoy more convenient and better quality services. The Thai-language site provides information on booking and seat reservation, check-in, flight timetable and real-time flight status. Emirates customers can access these functions on the Emirates mobile site anytime and anywhere with their mobile devices. Visit www.Emirates.com/th.

 

Rooms with a view

Located in the Central Business District of Kunming, Yunnan Province, the new Sotitel Kunming occupies the 27th to 52nd floors of a tower and offers travellers a unique hospitality experience that incorporates French elegance and art de vivre with distinctive elements of Yunnan’s colourful ethnic cultures and traditions. The hotel houses 400 guestrooms, three restaurants and two bars. The rooms feature unique designs inspired by a beautiful peacock symbolising Yunnan’s Dai minority, and handcrafted leather wall coverings that conjure up a chic Parisian apartment in the centre of Kunming.