TUI AG and Carnival Corporation will withdraw their anti-trust filing with the relevant authorities for a joint venture to develop a new cruise brand. TUI and Carnival had planned a joint venture and had filed this with the relevant authorities.

Direct foreign investment, tourism and trade opportunities between the Bahamas and China topped the agenda during bilateral discussions between Bahamian and Chinese officials on Thursday. Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, led the Bahamian delegation at the talks, while Chen Jian, Vice Minister of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce, headed the Chinese delegation.

As part of marketing strategy and continuous efforts towards promoting Dubai as an international trade and tourism destination, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) Director General, Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, received a high-profile delegation of businessmen and investors from Brazil at the DTCM Head Office recently.

The Board of Directors of Accor, France’s leading hotel company, met in late August under the chairmanship of Serge Weinberg and approved the financial statements for the six months ended June 30.

Airlines generated 3.6 billion euros in online booking value through Amadeus e-Retail engine, Amadeus’ online booking solution for airlines, during January-June period this year. This is 38 percent more than in the same period last year.

Total bookings grew by 6.7 percent to 281.5m for Amadeus with online air bookings growing by 20.4 percent and now represent 17.4 percent of total air bookings according to the business results for the six months ending 30 June 2007 released by the company.