The reluctance of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, to sack a gay minister with a past as a sex tourist in Thailand will certainly please Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, his wife.

She had suggested appointing Frdric Mitterrand, a friend, as culture minister and the governments support for him, despite his confession to having paid boys for sex, is partly a sign of Sarkozys eagerness not to offend his first lady.

The General Assembly unanimously elected Taleb Rifai as Secretary-General for the period 2010-2013 and welcomed his new management team. Mr Rifai called for greater transparency and accountability, and for the Organization to become more programme-based and results oriented, as reflected in his Management Strategy presented to the Assembly.

All the cities in the HotStats European Chain Hotels survey suffered a drop in RevPAR during August compared to the same month a year ago. But the rate of decline for most cities was slower than for the first eight months of the year.

As the world faces one of the worst years in history for international tourism, ministers and representatives from 142 countries met in Astana for the at the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations World Trade Organization to encourage people to travel again.

The 15th flight simulator engineering and maintenance (FSEMC)

Will be held in Conrad hotel in Cairo 5-8 October and hosted by Egypt Air; FSEMC is the biggest event worldwide in the simulator industry where all the simulator manufacturers, simulator parts vendors, aircraft manufacturers and civil aviation authorities from all

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today announced international scheduled traffic results for August. Compared to August 2008, passenger demand was down 1.1%, (an improvement compared to the 2.9% decline in July), and freight demand fell by 9.6% (also an improvement compared to the 11.3% drop in July).

MCLEAN, Va. Sept. 23, 2009 Hilton Worldwide (formerly Hilton Hotels Corporation), the leading global hospitality company, today announced the launch of its new corporate name and logo. Hiltons new name, Hilton Worldwide, signifies the companys global breadth and reach, and the logo incorporates key design elements that reflect Hiltons rich heritage, vision for the future and commitment to excellence in service.

HANGZHOU: China has seen an 8.2 percent drop in visitors from outside the mainland in the first six months of this year, due largely to the global economic recession and the H1N1 flu epidemic, a top tourism official said Monday.

On September 17, five Islamic monuments were officially inaugurated in the Al-Darb Al-Ahmar area of Cairo. The Al-Imam mosque, the Al-Laythmosque, the Al-Set Meska mosque, the Ali Labib house and the well zone of Youssef at the Salah El-Din Citadel have all been undergoing restoration work, which cost around LE 9.5 million. These monuments including the first phase construction of the new lighting system of the Salah El-Din Citadel were inaugurated at the ceremony. The ceremony took place at the

Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as "the rose-red city, 'half as old as time,'" and which provided the climactic backdrop for "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."