News

London 19/12/08-The UK pound is almost at parity with the Euro, a startling slide for the currency. The new lows for the pound came after the British government released official figures showing the budget deficit hit a record high in November.   These figures show that the government will have to go further into debt […]

The Grand Hyatt Bali has reopened following a US$35 million renovation. The hotel undertook complete renovations of all its rooms and suites, as well as to the lobby, restaurants and Grand Club. There are also some new facilities for the property, including the Kriya Spa and an additional Grand Ballroom.   “While introducing contemporary features

Turkish Airlines has extended the deadline of a tender for 105 planes to Jan. 19 at the request of Boeing and Airbus, the airline said on Thursday. Turkish Airlines (THY) announced the planned plane order on Oct. 14 and the tender was scheduled for completion on Dec. 17. The order, worth over $6 billion at

Poland’s economic growth for all of 2008 looks to come in at slightly over 5 percent, according to the country’s Economy Ministry. Growth for the first quarter of the year was 6.1 percent, the second quarter was 5.8 percent and the third quarter was 4.8 percent. That compares quite favorably to EU nations, who saw

The slowing Saudi economy is having an effect on other Middle East countries, according to recent news reports from the region. Saudi Arabia’s central bank recently cut two of its key interest rates by 50 basis points as it battles the effects of the global financial crisis.   The country is key to the region’s

Despite the ongoing political pressures in Thailand, Phuket developments are still going strong. 30 new hotels are at various stages of development and construction in the country’s resort capital, according to information from hospitality consulting firm C9 Hotelworks. Nearly 5,000 new rooms are scheduled to open over the next three years, adding to the nearly

The 2009 Nordic World Championships are coming to the Czech Republic for two weeks at the end of February. Running from 18 February to 1 March 2009, the town of Liberec will see the best skiers in the world compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping.   The World Championships take place every two years

The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, a brand new state-of-the-art race track near Portimão in Portugal’s Algarve region is drawing visitors from far and near. And, according to the annual top 20 survey in the current issue of A Place In The Sun magazine, Portugal is the biggest climber leaping from 12th to 3rd position as

Over the past year, the French city of Nice has seen the biggest increase in property values across the country. This Mediterranean city has had even larger increases, percentage wise, than Paris. Experts have been shouting about the French market picking up for a while now. Trisha Mason from French properties specialist firm VEF said

With lots of early snow, the ski season looks to be a good long one in France. This is also sign for property sales in the region, according to one developer. “The first falls in the French Alps in October prompted potential buyers to get in the mood for skiing and think about having a