BANYAN TREE
HOTELS AND RESORTS signed
agreements with two Mexican developers to manage luxury resorts in
Acapulco and the Riviera Maya. In Acapulco, Banyan Tree will manage
a 60-villa resort and spa in the Punta Diamante region thats
scheduled to open by the end of 2006. The resort will be part of a
mixed-use development with private residences, a golf course and a
marina. The second resort, scheduled for completion in 2007, will
be part of the upscale Mayakoba development in the Riviera Maya. It
will consist of 100 villas, a spa and private residences. Mayakoba
will encompass some 1,600 acres of beachfront real estate
approximately 40 miles south of Cancun near the town of Playa del
Carmen. In addition to Banyan Tree, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts are set to open luxury properties
in Mayakoba next year.
CONTINENTAL
AIRLINES said it plans to launch
nonstop service four times a week between Houstons George Bush
Airport and Huatulco, effective Dec. 17. The service is pending
Mexican government approval. With the addition of Huatulco,
Continental will serve 29 cities in Mexico and will offer the only nonstop service from the U.S.
to Huatulco. The Continental Express flight is scheduled to depart
Houston at 9:30 a.m., arriving in Huatulco at 12:29 p.m. The return
flight is scheduled to leave Huatulco at 1:30 p.m., arriving in
Houston at 4:22 p.m. Continental will operate the flights aboard
Embraer jets with room for 50 passengers.
SUNTRIPS relaunched its
popular fare sale for the Northern California and Colorado markets.
SunTrips fare sales are only available for a limited time and sell
out quickly. SunTrips fare sale information can be found every week
at www.suntrips.com or by calling (800) SUNTRIPS. This
weeks fare sale features seven-night all-inclusive packages
starting at $399 per person, double, from Denver and $449 from
Oakland. A seven-night, all-inclusive package at the Riu Jalisco in Puerto
Vallarta sells for $499 from Denver and $519 from Oakland. At the
Riu Palace Las Americas in Cancun a seven-night package sells for
$899 from Denver and $929 from Oakland. These packages, which
include roundtrip air fare and airport transfers, must be booked on
Aug. 25 or 26.
APPLE
VACATIONS, which is celebrating
its 35th year anniversary, launched its Destination You tradeshow
series for travel agents on the East Coast. Each event begins with
a tradeshow from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. during
which agents can meet Apples key hotel partners, including
resort companies in Mexico. Representatives from tour companies,
tourist boards and airlines also will be present. The tradeshow is
followed by a presentation of Apples Winter Sun 2005 product line.
The tradeshows run from Sept. 20 (Embassy Suites Cleveland Rockside
in Ohio) to Sept. 30 (Baltimore Airport Marriott in Maryland).
Agents can RSVP by calling (800) 727-3400.
FUNJET
VACATIONS is offering travel
agents and their customers incentives for booking a seven-night
air/hotel charter from Buffalo, N.Y., to Cancun. The incentives
include $50 off per reservation for clients, $50 additional co-op
fund per reservation for the booking agency and a $50 gift
certificate to Target for the booking agent for every five
Buffalo-to-Cancun charters booked. The promotion applies to
bookings made via VAX VacationAccess through Oct. 15 for travel
Jan. 22 to April 16. Agents must enter promotional code
BUFCUN50.