The TranzAlpine train is the most popular train journey on the South Island, running between Christchurch and Greymouth. This train takes you through the Southern Alps, offering incredible views of the mountains, valleys, and forests along the way. The journey takes around 5 hours and includes stops for sightseeing, making it a great way to explore the South Island’s natural beauty.

Another popular train journey is the Coastal Pacific, which runs between Christchurch and Picton. This train takes you along the rugged east coast of the South Island, offering views of the Pacific Ocean and the beautiful coastal landscape. The journey takes around 5-6 hours and includes stops for sightseeing, making it a great way to explore the South Island’s coastal towns and attractions.

0:00 Introduction
1:24 Boarding the TranzAlpine
7:07 Arriving in Arthur’s Pass
10:48 Boarding the Coastal Pacific
15:12 Reaching the Pacific Coast

The Sydney Easter Show has a rich history, dating back to 1823 when the first show was held. Originally known as the Agricultural Society Exhibition, the show has evolved over the years to become a celebration of all things Australian, showcasing the country’s unique culture, heritage, and way of life.

The 2023 Sydney Easter Show promises to be an unforgettable event, with a range of exciting activities and attractions on offer. One of the highlights of the show will be the spectacular Grand Parade, featuring floats, performers, and marching bands from across Australia.

For animal lovers, there will be plenty to see and do, with a range of farm animals on display, including cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. Visitors will also have the opportunity to watch sheep shearing and cattle judging competitions, and even take part in some hands-on activities, such as milking a cow.

Those looking for some thrills and excitement will not be disappointed, with a range of rides and attractions available. From the classic Ferris wheel to high-speed rollercoasters and adrenaline-pumping drop rides, there will be something for everyone.

Foodies will also be in for a treat, with a wide range of culinary delights on offer. Visitors can sample some of Australia’s best food and wine, with vendors showcasing everything from traditional Aussie fare to international cuisine.

For families with young children, there will be a dedicated kids’ zone, with a range of activities and attractions designed especially for little ones. From face painting to petting zoos, and interactive exhibits, there will be plenty of fun for the whole family.

Overall, the 2023 Sydney Easter Show promises to be an unforgettable event, showcasing the best of Australia’s culture, heritage, and way of life. Whether you’re a local or a visitor from overseas, there will be something for everyone to enjoy at this iconic Australian event. So mark your calendars, and get ready for a truly unforgettable experience.

The 2018 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, supervised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF); the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier); the WTA International tournaments; the Fed Cup (organized by the ITF) and the year-end championships (the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Elite Trophy). Also included in the 2018 calendar is the Hopman Cup, which is organized by the ITF and does not distribute ranking points.

The area of Sydney’s Darling Harbour and the marina in adjoining Cockle Bay, managed to fit on display almost 800 boats undercover and 150 on the marina. Visitors had been able to see superb line-up of recreational boats across all boating lifestyle segments. Whether your interest is in fishing, sailing, water skiing, canoeing or kayaking, or simply just cruising around, the show had something for everyone. For future boat shows visit: www.sydneyboatshow.com.au

“The numbers are in, social media was buzzing and the emails keep coming – the IAPCO Annual Meeting in Tokyo was an all around success. This was in large due to the outstanding organization by our Japanese friends, who took care of every detail and truly captured the “IAPCO spirit”‘ says Mathias Posch, President of IAPCO.Based on participant feedback the meeting scored second highest of all time, narrowly missing the top spot by a mere fraction of a percent.

The successful collaboration between IAPCO and the host, Congress Corporation, in co-operation with other IAPCO members, JCS and JTB, all of whom worked hard to bring the vision for the meeting to life. JNTO and various cities throughout Japan provided valuable support and offered popular fam. trips to various cities, pre and post conference.

The Tokyo Annual Meeting programme was packed full of inspirational keynotes, engaging teamwork exercises, an excellent panel discussion entitled “Lost in Translation” focusing on the cultural nuances that will make all the difference to international clients/PCOs when bringing meetings to Japan alongside a spectacular cultural social programme which allowed for plenty of networking.

IAPCO brand awareness and membership growth in Asia was a key focus of the strategic plan. Holding the Annual Meeting in Tokyo and the excellent relationships this has created has been a big contributing factor to meeting these goals. Jan Tonkin, Immediate Past President of IAPCO said “Looking back on my two years as President I am particularly proud of the increased reach IAPCO has achieved in Asia Pacific. It is an incredibly diverse region where the meetings industry continues to grow in strength rapidly. We have welcomed new members from the region, raised our profile at the key industry trade shows and have held educational seminars in Kuala Lumpur, Suzhou and Taipei with more taking place in both Suzhou and Taipei in April.”

The Sydney International is currently noted as an ATP 250 points tennis event on the men’s tour and a WTA Premier event on the women’s tour. The tournament is held annually in January immediately prior to the Australian Open as a lead up tournament and as part of the Australian Open Series.

Current champions (2018)
Men’s singles Russia Daniil Medvedev
Women’s singles Germany Angelique Kerber
Men’s doubles Poland Łukasz Kubot and Brazil Marcelo Melo
Women’s doubles Canada Gabriela Dabrowski and China Xu Yifan

Filip Boyen, CEO & Chairman of Small Luxury Hotels of the World summarised the event’s performance for the company: “For me, ILTM Asia is all about quality and the opportunity to get a feel of what’s really happening here in Asia, as well as catching up with my peers and contacts in the industry. The quality of the buyers is second to none and the Chinese mainland buyers are just getting better and better all the time”.

Caroline Goux, Director of Global Sales, Oetker Collection also summed up their participation and the changes taking place in luxury travel itineraries. “It’s been an exciting show for us, we’ve seen a real increase in Chinese buyers looking for more authenticity, more opportunities for their clients to immerse themselves in a destination and be recognised as individual travellers – perfect for hotels like ours”.

The ILTM Asia education seminar – presented by Agility Research & Strategy – also focused on the changing needs of the Asian luxury traveller, revealing research from China, Hong Kong and Singapore, which showed how growing numbers of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) expect a highly customised travel experience, how travel and shopping go hand in hand, and how “Singaporeans are now spending the highest percentage of their personalised wealth on luxury travel.”

Alison Gilmore, ILTM Portfolio Director said: “Insights from exhibitors and buyers last week showed how influential Asia Pacific is as an inbound and outbound market. With the announcement that 2018 will see 3 ILTM events in Asia Pacific, we are creating even more opportunities to our clients who want to do business with this part of the world through events dedicated events in Japan, China and Singapore“.

Philip Ho, Senior VP Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, The Leading Hotels of the World said: “We have grown our presence year on year here in Shanghai because of the strong interest from this market inbound to Europe, which has meant more of our hoteliers want to attend. The new emerging markets in South East Asia make sense for the move of creating ILTM Asia Pacific in Singapore. We will be there! At the same time, what ILTM is doing makes sense here in China – it is no longer an emerging market, their needs are very different from the rest of Asia, so this is now a necessary and logical development to have ILTM China”.

Amy Bjarnason of Tourism Whistler also celebrated the news and talked of how this week had provided real business value saying: “ILTM Asia 2017 has been a great investment for us, allowing us to meet with so many high quality, truly qualified buyers in a short amount of time to really make great use of our diaries. Our market focus is on China, so having a dedicated ILTM China really makes sense to us.”

David Miro, Asia-Pacific Director of the Catalan Tourist Board summed up the views of many of the exhibitors present: “I think it’s a great idea to separate the shows: the market here in China is evolving fast and it has different needs that a dedicated show will be able to address.”

The dates of all ILTM events in 2018 across Asia are:
· ILTM Japan: Conrad Hotel Tokyo, 26 – 28 February

· ILTM Asia Pacific: Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore, 21 – 24 May

· ILTM China: Shanghai Exhibition Centre, 31 October – 2 November

For further information on all ILTM events, please visit www.iltm.com and follow @ILTM_events

The Oman Cancer Association, the National Oncology Centre at the Royal Hospital Muscat, both members of UICC, as well as the Oman Convention Bureau and the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) joined forces to submit a complete and high quality application which resulted in them winning over strong international competition.

Professor Sanchia Aranda, President of UICC, said: “After an extensive evaluation and review of the submitted bids, we are pleased to announce that the city of Muscat, Oman, has been selected to host the 2020 World Cancer Congress and the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit. We appreciate that such bids involve considerable work, and we thank our members and the other applicants for their enthusiasm and commitment to organising such important global cancer control events in the region, in collaboration with UICC.”

The bid was submitted by Dr. Wahid Al Kharusi, FRCS, President of Oman Cancer Association, Dr. Basem Al Bahrani, Director and Dr. Zahid Al Mandhari, FRCPC, Deputy Director, National Oncology Centre, with the support of HE Dr Ahmed Mohammed Obaid Al Saidi, Minister of Health of the Sultanate of Oman.

“The World Cancer Congress aims to strengthen the action and impact of the cancer and the wider health community on national, regional and international levels through a multidisciplinary educational programme and high-calibre attendees,” said Dr. Wahid Al Kharusi.

“Hence the theme of our bid: ‘Shed Some Light and Make a Difference’. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that incidence of cancer in the Middle East will double by 2030, so felt it was crucial to keep raising awareness of the disease, especially across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) and Africa. Welcoming the WCC in Oman will certainly foster our work to educate the local population, and help the global cancer community to further make a difference,” added Dr. Zahid Al Mandhari.

Khalid Al Zadjali, Director of Oman Convention Bureau, commented, “This is a great success story for Oman and the new Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre as it demonstrates that our country is a strong contender when it comes to securing international events. The WCC is a key global forum for knowledge exchange around cancer and hosting it in Muscat will benefit not only Oman but the entire region. Oman has so much to offer, ranging from a brand new world class convention & exhibition centre to attractive hotels, easy access to places of interest and a brand new airport. In addition, the government is very supportive of the initiative, and traditionally Omanis are very hospitable.”

Trevor McCartney, General Manager of OCEC, stated, “We are very excited to host such a renowned international event at the Oman Conference Convention & Exhibition Centre, winning against other international cities and venues. We now join the ranks of well-established Business Events destinations such as Kuala Lumpur and Paris in the list of host cities for the WCC.”

The Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC), the pillar project of Oman officially opened for business in October last year when the exhibition centre, hospitality suites and concourse opened and this will be followed the convention centre and associated facilities in December 2017.

OCEC is located in its own fully integrated precinct only four kilometres from Muscat International Airport. Owned and developed by Omran, the centre forms part of phase 1 of Madinat Al Irfan, an exciting new urban centre.

The precinct includes a JW Marriot (five star hotel) linked to the Convention Centre and a Crowne Plaza (four star hotel) both opening in 2017. The area is surrounded by a nature reserve, which is a haven for Oman’s exotic birdlife, together with parklands and a wadi (valley) park, are also part of this picturesque precinct.

Features of the Centre include a tiered theatre seating 3,200 people, plus an additional 450-seat auditorium and 20 dedicated meeting rooms, two luxurious ballrooms, hospitality suites and 22,000 square metres of exhibition space – that is more than 55 different meeting space options.

Compared to last year, Denmark made progress in all but one dimension. Denmark made outstanding progress in the use of digital technologies by enterprises and citizens, leading the EU and the world rankings.

“Denmark is one of the most creative and innovative countries in Europe and has fostered global success companies such as Skype, Unity, Trustpilot, Zendesk, Momondo, JustEat and Vivino. Denmark is pushing a progressive digitisation agenda in the public sector and making data accessible for companies, which makes Greater Copenhagen a leading hotspot for innovative tech startups and smart city solutions”, says Claus Lønborg, CEO, Copenhagen Capacity.

Also, it is the sixth time in a row when Denmark takes the top spot among the European countries in Ease of Doing Business Index. Worldwide, Denmark ranks number three, outperforming its Nordic fellow countries; Norway (no. 6), Sweden (no. 9) and Finland (no. 13).

The World Bank ranks Denmark as number one in Europe and number three in the world in the just released 2017 Ease of Doing Business Index, ranking 190 nations worldwide.

“The World Bank ranking confirms that Denmark offers one of the world’s most dynamic and attractive business environments. Greater Copenhagen offers innovative companies and industry clusters, a highly skilled workforce, very competitive taxes and business costs, and a famously flexible labour market”, says Claus Lønborg, CEO, Copenhagen Capacity who assists foreign investors, businesses and talent in setting up and growing their business in Greater Copenhagen.

Easy trading across borders and flexible labour market regulation
Denmark scores top on the Trading Across Borders indicator, ranking time and cost to export and import. The country also performs very well on Dealing with Construction Permits (no. 6), Paying Taxes including ease of administrative burdens (no. 7), Resolving Insolvency (no. 8) and Registering Property (no. 12). Denmark’s flexible labour market regulation with a non-regulated approach to fixed-term contracts and no restrictions on overtime work.

Europe’s 10 easiest countries for business:
Denmark (no. 3 globally)
Norway (no. 6 globally)
United Kingdom (no. 7 globally)
Sweden (no. 9 globally)
Macedonia (no. 10 globally)
Finland (no. 13 globally)
Germany (no. 17 globally)
Ireland (no. 18 globally)
Austria (no. 19 globally)
Iceland (no. 20 globally)

About the Doing Business 2017
Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports, benchmarking the regulations that affect private sector firms, in particular small and medium-size enterprises. The report presents quantitative indicators on 11 areas of business regulation for 190 economies. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking:

Starting a business
Registering property
Trading across borders
Getting credit
Dealing with construction permits
Getting electricity
Protecting minority investors
Paying taxes
Enforcing contracts
Resolving insolvency.

This press release is distributed by Copenhagen Capacity.