The Italian company ENEL concluded a contract with Total International Ltd for the supply of heavy fuel oil from Dunkirk (France) to Milazzo (Italy). To carry out the contract, Total raffinage distribution, now Total France SA, sold the heavy fuel oil to Total International Ltd, which chartered the oil tanker ...

A California state Assembly committee Tuesday rejected a bill strongly opposed by cruise companies that would have placed peace officers on passenger ships sailing from California ports.The bill already had been approved by the state Senate but failed to move past the Assembly's Public Safety Committee on concerns that it ...

As reported by Los Angeles Times the Assembly Judiciary Committee in California voted 7 to 1 on Tuesday in favor of a bill to place peace officers aboard cruise ships, bringing the legislation closer to a full vote in the chamber; it has already passed the state Senate.Meanwhile, in Washington, ...

A USA TODAY survey of eight car rental companies found prices of $7.99, or $8, a gallon at 10 airports surveyed. The prices were levied upon renters who return a car without a full tank of gas or don't prepay for a full tank at the car rental company's set ...

Addressing the Executive Council of the UNWTO, Francesco Frangialli announced that he would be stepping down at the beginning of 2009 to allow for a smooth transition before the normal end of his final term of office. He reflected on the main structural achievements during this period:The creation of a ...

Iceland's Vatnajokull National Park is Europe's largest national park, Icelandic Enviroment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir proclaimed last Saturday. Vatnajokull National Park includes Europe's largest glacier in its entirety, some land bordering it as well as land previously belonging to two discontinued national parks. The initial size of the national park is ...

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have filed an amicus brief with the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to rehear and reverse a flawed decision allowing random and invasive searches of travellers' computers (and other electronic devices) at U.S. borders. ...

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri signed a bill on Friday repealing the state's 32-year-old travel agency licensing and bonding law. It had been the first state law in the U.S. to require either agency licensing or bonding. The law was repealed to save money at the state level and because ...

According to the E.U. Press Room, "The European Commission has decided to launch an in-depth investigation to ascertain whether the loan granted to Alitalia by the Italian State is compatible with the Community rules on state aid. At this stage, the Commission believes that the loan - which the Italian ...

Many Silverjet customers face applying as unsecured creditors to the airline's adminstrator, while others who booked flights as part of a package will be protected.Following a long drawn out review, in April this year the £1 per passenger Air Travel Organisors' Licensing Protection Contribution arrangements began as a financial contribution ...

As reservations for sleeping cars went down more than 45 percent from 2001 to 2007, Italian railway company "Trenitalia" announced to cease overnight railway services on the lines from Rome and Venice to Nice. However, consumer associations claim the enormous decrease at some extent was caused by bad quality of ...

Washington – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today the Interim Final Rule for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), a new online system that is part of the Visa Waiver Program and is required by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. “Rather than ...

As reported by Keith Bradsher, at The New York Times, "Do not bring any printed materials critical of China. Do not plan on holding any rallies or demonstrations in China. Do not think that you are guaranteed an entry visa because you hold tickets to an Olympic event. And do ...

The OFT is warning holidaymakers flying out to Spain about the dangers of bogus holiday club scams which cost UK consumers millions of pounds a year. Research has shown that this is a peak time for consumers being targeted by bogus holiday clubs, with the average victim losing over £3000. ...

Organisations representing substantial proportions of the maritime shipping sector brought an action before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales regarding the implementation in the United Kingdom of the directive on ship-source pollution and the introduction of penalties for infringements. They argued that by establishing a stricter liability ...

In a recent decision (X ZR 49/07 of 11.03.08) German Civil Supreme Court (BGH) held that in case of flight cancellation or denied boarding a passenger cannot claim for compensation against the tour organizer under Reg. 261/2004. Compensation claims granted by this Regulation were solely directed against the operating air ...

CLIA is calling on travel agents to mobilize and vocalize against a bill in the California legislature that would mandate that the state's "ocean rangers" board cruise ships as they enter and exit the Golden State's waters, according to CLIA president and CEO Terry Dale at Travel Trade's 26th Annual ...

Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to require airlines and travel agents to disclose fees many airlines have imposed to check a second bag "in their Internet and print ads and before anyone purchases a ticket."DOT also issued a final rule that requires carriers to "to report new and more complete ...

After completing their tourism policy two years ago, which seems to have taken much inspiration from the generally considered visionary Ugandan tourism policy document, the next stage of development, a new tourism draft law seems to have drawn sharp criticism from the private sector. A consultative committee was therefore put ...

The head of the Transportation Security Administration says a proposed passenger surcharge will raise $400 million for modernizing airport security, even as critics faulted the modernization efforts. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday the four-year, 50-cents-per-flight fee would pay for explosives detectors ...

In some nations, such as Cambodia, the threat of dengue hemorrhagic fever is fairly obvious, but travelers should be aware that the disease can be found all over the globe, including the U.S. In recent years, dengue fever has spread rapidly in subtropical and tropical climates. In addition to Cambodia, ...

Members of Belize's cruise tourism industry on Monday signed a Declaration of Commitment, in which key industry stakeholders - including government, private sector, civil society (NGOs) and the cruise lines – commit to create sustainable cruise tourism practices, such as protecting coral reefs. The commitment is the second such environmental ...

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has today written to more than 100 travel businesses in the UK that it believes may be continuing to sell air packages without the protection of an Air Travel Organisers' Licence (ATOL).In January this year, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) issued ...

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff went to Baltimore-Washington International Airport two weeks ago to inaugurate a program called Checkpoint Evolution. It introduces 600 “whole-body imagers” that replicate, in schematic 3-D, everything a passenger is hiding under his or her clothing — not only hypothetical daggers, pistols, knuckle dusters and cocaine ...

Malaysian travelers may soon face the unpleasant prospects of being barred from entering European countries because of the increase in arrests due to crimes.The 90-day free visa access in European countries that Malaysians are now entitled under the Schengen Agreement may now be in jeopardy following reports of increasing numbers ...

According to the EU Press Room, "EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva today published the mid term report on an EU wide enforcement investigation - involving 15 EU national authorities as well as Norway – against misleading advertising and unfair practices on airline ticket selling websites. The report shows that there ...

A California woman sued NCL, alleging the Miami-based cruise operator failed to disclose it may be impossible to get reservations at specialty restaurants for those passengers not booked in the upscale cabins that get priority access.The suit filed in U.S. District Court Monday by Fort Lauderdale attorney Paul M. Hoffman ...

As stated by the EU Press Room, "Initial plans to set legal limits at European level to the size of carry-on cabin baggage in airplanes have been withdrawn by a Regulation which comes into force today. In October 2006, security experts initially advised the European Commission to limit the maximum ...

California lawmakers last Thursday approved legislation requiring airlines to provide passengers with food, water, lights, air and working toilets when they're stuck on airport tarmacs for long periods of time.The measure cleared the Assembly by a 54-16 vote, with critics challenging whether California has the authority to regulate airlines. It ...

Egypt's Minister of Culture announced last that the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) stopped in the last hour the sale of two ancient Egyptian objects in London and Holland, in an attempt to save Egypt's illegally smuggled heritage. He stated that one of the objects is an inscribed relief removed ...