Official programme and website for the Centenary of Machu Picchu's rediscovery released

The official programme of Machu Picchu's Centenary celebrations has been released and Australian travellers can enjoy various events this July whilst on holiday visiting the mystical Incan citadel.

The website www.machupicchu100.org.pe, detailing all the centenary events, has recently been launched containing information about the citadel and details of events taking place. You can also take a virtual panoramic tour of Machu Picchu by following this link.

On 07 July the official celebrations and ceremony will be taking place at Machu Picchu, and the city of Cusco will be a hive of festivities with many cultural and artistic shows.  Also, Cusco's Main Plaza will become a focal point as a big screen will be showing the main ceremonies taking place at Machu Picchu, ensuring everyone can take part in the celebrations.  Also, a concert by famous Peruvian musician Micky Gonzales will entertain audiences in the Main Plaza with his fusion rock.

After the main celebrations on 07 July, the festivities continue as throughout July many events will be held including street dancing, a photographic exhibition, gastronomy fairs and competitions, cocktail contest and concerts.

Peru's Tourism Board coordinator for Asia Pacific, Rosana Guinea, asserts that the centenary celebrations will be a very proud and vibrant occasion for everyone in Peru. "Travellers visiting Peru at this time will be taking part in an historic and momentous occasion for Peru.  Many events will be taking place throughout the month so visitors will have a unique insight into the Peruvian culture and history," she said.

For more information on Peru, please visit www.peru.travel

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BUSINESS TRAVEL MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE

Business travel is a driving force behind building new customers and expanding into international markets according to an international report into the role of business travel in today's tourism market.

The report, recently released by the World Travel & Tourism Council and undertaken by Oxford Economics, found a clear relationship between business travel, corporate performance and economic growth, through a survey of business travellers and executives from the US, UK, Germany, Brazil and China.

ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani, said the report Business Travel: A Catalyst for Economic Performance revealed Chinese businesses in particular, valued the opportunity to make face-to-face connections.

Chinese business people prefer face-to-face meetings

"Nine out of ten Chinese executives found face-to-face business meetings were essential to their organisations success and improved their chance of increasing sales," Ms Mariani said.

"This finding has significance for Australian businesses in particular, as almost every industry is looking to China as a booming market for their products.

"The report found a clear relationship between business travel and corporate performance as well as economic growth with business travel not only helping the bottom line, but contributing to the growth in economies, raising incomes and creating jobs."

The report found global corporate productivity yielded a return on investment of 10:1 with one unit of new business travel spending producing ten units of industry sales.

"In a global environment where the value of business travel may be questioned, this report shows just how important it is to have face-to-face contact with potential customers, estimating that around 50% of prospective new customers are converted to new customers with an in-person meeting.

"In fact, more than 1/3 of those surveyed said they thought their customers would switch to a competitor without an in-person meeting."

Other key findings from the report include:

·         Around one third of growth in global trade in the past 10 years has come from international business travel
·         Attendance at trade shows is estimated to generate 15% of annual revenue
·         Executives say 29% of their company's new sales depend on business travel
·         Three quarters of executives believe business travel increases profits, sales, partnerships and innovation

"This report reveals two key issues for the tourism industry; the benefit of business travel to international trade and the value of face-to-face meetings in establishing strong business connections with conversion into sales.

"With Business events travel, a major and high yielding component of our $25 billion tourism industry, Australia has the capacity to benefit significantly from embracing the opportunities the business travel sector brings to the tourism market."

The World Travel & Tourism Council report is available at http://www.wttc.org

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TRAVEL+LEISURE WORLD'S BEST AWARDS - SOFITEL QUEENSTOWN HOTEL & SPA NAMED BEST SPA

SOFITEL QUEENSTOWN HOTEL & SPA NAMED BEST SPA AT THE 2011 TRAVEL+LEISURE WORLD'S BEST AWARD

Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa has been named the World's Best Hotel Spa in this year's Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards.

Travel+Leisure is one of North America's most respected and highest circulating travel magazines with a focus on authentic, innovative, and irresistible experiences across the globe. Survey results are based on readers' ratings, with hotel spas specifically judged on the basis of their ambience, treatments, service and value.

Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa earned the top spot in the overall spa category earning a total score of 98.93 out of 100 eligible points.

General Manager Wouter De Graaf says, "We're ecstatic. To be recognised as the world's very best against thousands of other hotel spas' is a phenomenal achievement. It goes to prove that despite what might be considered a remote location at the bottom of the world in Queenstown our spa service is so exceptional that we still come out sitting at the very top of it. "

Indeed, the boutique Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa beat not only its competitors in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific but all other regions too including Asia, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Hawaii, the USA and Canada.

Launched in 2005 as Queenstown's original five-star hotel, Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa was reborn in 2010 following an impressive $2 million upgrade and extension which transformed the hotel's vacant ground floor to add a new entry area and foyer, cafe, business centre, sit-down reception and luxury lobby with direct access to its LeSpa day spa. Sofitel opened LeSpa in September 2007.

In spite of its distinct French influence courtesy of the Sofitel brand's Parisian origins, Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa's LeSpa is nothing if not true to its geographical location with restful décor on display as inspired by the destination's rugged ranges and glacial lakes. The result is an unequivocally 'New Zealand' sensorial experience with the trimmings including the use of traditional local treatments alongside the use of indulgent Decleor products and private hammam.

LeSpa's signature treatments have a powerful undercurrent of Maori lore offering century-old rituals and traditional therapies, many of which are available nowhere else in the country, let alone the world. Treatments use natural, native ingredients such as Manuka honey, beeswax, shimmering paua shells, and volcanic clay from the North Island's famed Rotorua geothermic region and famously employed by Maori healers.

Among the many decadent spa offerings, Sofitel guests will find traditional Maori rituals including the Ataahua treatment and time honoured 'Pounamu' greenstone massage believed to possess intuitive healing powers.

Mr De Graaf says the Travel+Leisure award is true testament to the hard work and dedication of the Sofitel team in Queenstown who have worked hard to fine tune and develop the product since its launch six years ago.

"At Sofitel Luxury Hotels, our focus is on the guest experience and extending memorable and impeccable service to our guests, and that includes our hotel spa services. We are honored that our commitment has been recognised by the discerning readers of Travel+Leisure themselves."

The Travel+Leisure honour follows Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa's admission into the aspirational Exclusive Accommodation Category of Qualmark™ - New Zealand tourism's official quality assurance system – in April 2011. Sofitel is the only internationally branded hotel to have Exclusive Qualmark status in the accommodation category, and also earned Enviro-Gold Status in the Qualmark™ category for Green operators.

Highlights from the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 readers' survey were announced in the USA on Thursday the 7th of July on NBC's Today Show. Winners will be honoured during an awards ceremony to be held in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 14.

The Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2011 are featured now on TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest and will appear in the August issue of Travel + Leisure magazine (due for release July 22). The complete survey methodology is available on TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest and in the August issue.

Discover Sofitel on www.sofitel.com

Discover A|Club at Sofitel, the worldwide Accor loyalty program on www.a-club.com

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