InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) confirmed plans to double its presence in greater China to over 250 hotels over the next five years. This follows the recent opening of two InterContinental hotels in Nanjing and Shanghai and the signing of a deal with HNA Hotels and Resorts last month for five hotels. IHG is currently the largest international hotel company in Greater China with 131 hotels (45,940 rooms) open and a further 146 hotels (47,848 rooms) in the development pipeline.

Brazil hopes its tourism industry will contribute up to 4.5 percent of its gross domestic product by 2014, the year it hosts the FIFA soccer World Cup, a government minister said.

The La Reserve Hotel on the island of Praslin is among the first group of hotels on Praslin to be connected with iSurf - the latest and fastest prepaid wireless Internet service in the Seychelles, introduced by Cable & Wireless Seychelles (CWS).

A new government priority—to produce “the best marketing plan that any country has ever had” around 2012—was set out by UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt in his first key-note speech on tourism policy.

The Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB) is pleased to announce the launching of a re-vamped web site, with a new sleek design and which is available in English, Dutch, and Spanish.

Berlin has positioned itself in the top ranks of the international congress market. According to recently released International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) statistics, the city in 2009 reached fourth place worldwide as a destination for association congresses.