OSLO, NORWAY,
is now the most expensive city in the world, replacing Tokyo,
according to the latest findings from the Economist Intelligence
Units worldwide cost of living survey.
Reykjavik, Iceland, saw the largest jump in the relative cost of
living over the last 12 months, moving into third place. Eight of
the 10 most expensive cities in the survey are now in Europe, with
20 western European cities making the top 30. Moscow is the only
city from eastern and central Europe in the top 30, coming in at
No. 29.
CONRAD van
TIGGELEN, director of the Netherlands Board of Tourism and
Conventions, has been elected chairman of the European Travel
Commission, replacing Eugenio Magnani, former director of the
Italian Government Tourist Board. While at the NBTC, Van Tiggelen
initiated a multimedia campaign for several European capital cities
showcasing their contemporary architecture, design, art, fashion
and food and developed a similar campaign for eight European
countries, focusing on art and architecture.
ROCCO FORTE
HOTELS will open the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt on March
1, representing the first of three properties currently under
development in Germany. The 163-room hotel is built around the
existing Villa Speyer and features a three-level spa with a
161-foot, indoor pool; an Italian restaurant; and a
3,228-square-foot presidential suite with an elevated dining room
and separate kitchen. An additional two hotels will open in the
next two years: the Hotel de Rome in Berlin, set to debut in
September, and an as yet unnamed property in Munich slated to open
in spring 2007.
THE FIVE-STAR ROME
CAVALIERI HILTON, which completed a $50 million renovation
last year, is racking up awards: the property was voted No. 1 Rome
hotel by readers of Conde Nast Traveller Italia in its February
issue, and La Pergola restaurant became the first hotel restaurant
in Italy to win three Michelin stars. Also new are the
double-tiered, 53,000-bottle, 2,500-label wine cellar and a
collection of suites featuring leather multimassage chairs,
tropical mist showers with chromo-aromatherapy, hydromassage
minipools, private terraces and plasma flat-screen
televisions. For more info or to book,
visit www.cavalieri-hilton.it/indexx.html.
TRAVEL TO
EUROPE, a Lexington, Mass.-based wholesale tour operator,
unveiled a dedicated Europe travel reference Web
site for travel agents representing 19 countries, with another 15 being added this year.
Access to the country pages is free to agents, but a fee-based TTE
Europe Network membership includes higher overrides for select
products, member-only information on featured destinations and
access to one-day Europe Travel phone seminars. Visit www.agents-traveltoeurope.com.