Travel News

The Al Habtoor Leighton Group, through the Dubai division of Al Habtoor Engineering, has been awarded an AED 740 million contract for the construction of Olgana and Hilliana Towers in Dubai for Abyaar Real Estate Development.

The project forms part of Abyaar’s prestigious Acacia Avenues development in Jumeirah. It comprises two hi-rise residential towers – Olgana and Hilliana.

Olgana Tower comprises two levels of basement car parking, three podium levels and 36 levels of residential apartments. It includes:
• 30 one-bedroom apartments
• 61 two-bedroom apartments
• 28 three-bedroom apartments
• 14 four-bedroom townhouses
• An exclusive four-bedroom penthouse suite
• Communal pools, health club, spa, squash courts
• Children’s play areas
• Cafes and shops

Hilliana Tower consists of three basement and three podium levels of basement parking, and 40 levels of residential apartments. It comprises:
• Six floors of five-star Angsana serviced apartments
• 36 studio apartments
• 30 one-bedroom apartments
• 69 two-bedroom apartments
• Nine three-bedroom apartments
• Nine four-bedroom apartments
• Four levels of penthouse suites

Work on the project will commence in July, with construction expected to be completed by July 2010.

Tags: dubai, real estate
Posted in Local News | Comments (0)

The National Business Travel Association Government Travel Group presented the first-ever National Travel Forum Icon Award to Becky Rhodes, deputy associate administrator; Office of Travel, Transportation and Asset Management; U.S. General Services Administration. The award was presented at the 2008 National Travel Forum, the largest industry event for government travel professionals, held last week in Atlanta. Read the complete release.

Tags: Becky Rhodes, NBTA
Posted in Local News | Comments (0)

Travel industry insiders applauded government officials and major car rental firms for coming to an agreement to drastically reduce refueling charges. Douglas F. Gansler, attorney general of Maryland, had begun probing rental car refueling fees earlier this year and found that some companies had significantly increased their fees, far exceeding gas prices. The accord calls for the companies to bring the charges more in line with the price of fuel.

Tags: Maryland
Posted in Local News | Comments (0)

Atlanta (June 5, 2008) — More than 1,100 government travel professionals, including over 800 travel managers, or buyers, filled the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta this week, attending the 2008 National Travel Forum. The conference, hosted for the first time by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and its Government Travel Group (GTG), opened Tuesday evening with a reception and continues through Friday.

Recognized as the largest and most important event for the government travel community, the National Travel Forum features experts from the General Services Administration (GSA), the Defense Travel Management Office and the Department of Defense, and brings together representatives from many branches of the federal government, as well as states across the country. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Atlanta
Posted in Local News | Comments (0)