Hot-air balloon crash in Brazil kills at least eight people
At least eight people were killed after a hot-air balloon carrying 21 passengers crashed on Saturday in Brazil's southern state of Santa Catarina, local and state officials said.
The tourism balloon caught fire during the flight in early morning hours, crashing in the city of Praia Grande, according to the state fire department.
Thirteen survivors were transported to nearby hospitals, according to the fire department.
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Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Philippines' financial center taps tourism department to become halal hub
MANILA: Philippine business leaders in Makati City are collaborating with the Department of Tourism to make the country's financial center an all-encompassing halal hub for both trade and tourism, the head of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Makati chapter said on Saturday. Makati City in Metro Manila is popularly known as the Philippines' central business district, hosting the highest concentration of banks and corporations in the country, as well as foreign embassies. For the last few years, the predominantly Catholic Philippines — where Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the nearly 120 million population — has been working to raise 230 billion pesos ($4 billion) in investments and generate around 120,000 jobs by expanding its domestic halal industry by 2028. The DoT signed on Friday a memorandum of agreement with PCCI Makati to pool efforts and encourage the implementation of halal standards across hotels and restaurants in the city, as part of an effort to attract Muslim tourists. 'The memorandum signed yesterday with DoT is really to encourage the local establishments in Makati City to participate or embrace the halal standards,' PCCI Makati President Nunnatus Cortez told Arab News. 'These are the initial steps to turn the city into a halal hub; that's the main objective.' PCCI Makati has been a leading figure in efforts to make the city a halal hub. Friday's agreement follows a memorandum of understanding the chamber signed last year with the Department of Trade and Industry, which sought to position the city as a central point for innovation and business in the halal sector. 'Halal, after all, is now a way of life. From the DoT's point of view, this is how we complete the loop — the entire ecosystem required to support both halal trade and tourism,' Cortez said. Earlier this month the Philippines was recognized as a rising Muslim-friendly destination at the Halal in Travel Global Summit, after having achieved a similar feat in previous years. The country's halal drive has included efforts to cater to Muslim tourists, by ensuring they have access to halal products and services. Cortez believes Makati City is at an advantage to boost halal travel as it is the location of many foreign missions, including that of Muslim nations. 'Almost all Muslim embassies are in Makati. We know that foreign delegates, embassy staff, and even their citizens often visit here — and Makati is usually their starting point,' he said. 'What we're doing now is trying to capture the attention of all Muslim embassies. If their VIPs or citizens come to Makati and make it their base for activities, then everything else will follow.' He believes that efforts to turn Makati into a halal hub will have a ripple effect across the archipelago nation, as the city is widely perceived as a trendsetter for other regions in the Philippines. He added: 'If we can begin by making places like malls and hotels halal-compliant, that would already be a meaningful first step. We believe that whatever Makati does, other cities will follow its lead. That's our mindset.'
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
‘We will make our country proud': Joy as Saudi graduates take first professional steps
JEDDAH: Hundreds of Saudi students on Thursday graduated from a specialized program targeting job creation in the Kingdom's fast-growing tourism sector. The Red Sea Global Vocational Training Program, held in partnership with King Abdulaziz University and the Human Resources Development Fund, celebrated the graduation of 466 Saudis, the scheme's third cohort of students, across specializations including wellness tourism and hospitality. The ceremony was attended by Jeddah Gov. Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi and John Pagano, CEO of the Red Sea Development Company. The two officials delivered a speech highlighting the importance of achieving Saudi Vision 2030 by empowering the nation's youth, building a thriving Saudi industry, and showcasing the Kingdom's natural beauty and hospitality to the world. Pagano said: 'We are proud to see our skill development initiative empower youth and transform lives. By providing access to high quality and job-oriented training programs, we empower the students with the tools they need to confidently enter the workforce and contribute meaningfully to the tourism industry of Saudi Arabia.' RSG is committed to offering employment opportunities for outstanding graduates within its workforce or with partners, he added. The graduation, held at King Faisal Auditorium, saw the signing of an agreement between the Human Resources Development Fund and Red Sea Global to train and employ 1,000 young Saudi men and women in specialized fields, including wellness tourism, hospitality, tourism security and technical services. Turki bin Abdullah Al-Jawini, HRDF director general, said that the fund helped more than 153,000 Saudi men and women find employment in the private sector during the first half of 2024. Al-Jawini showcased the fund's most prominent campaigns, and said that the HRDF develops its programs in partnership with various sectors, with the aim of improving job opportunities and developing human capital. The event also included a keynote address by Raed Al-Basseet, group chief environment and sustainability officer at RSG. He praised the graduates for their resilience, hard work and dedication. 'From the first day you entered the Red Sea Vocational Training Program, you've proven to us that ambition has no limits, and that those with determination and passion can go further than they imagined. Your hard work has become an accomplishment. Your efforts are the beginning of a great professional journey, filled with opportunities and successes that exceed our expectations,' Al-Basseet said. 'Don't stop at this achievement; let it be the beginning of a great and prosperous future. We are always behind you, and we are proud of you.' Later, graduates Naif Najmi, Mishari Al-Jehani, Ghala Al-Buhairi and Ghada Al-Jehani gave thank-you speeches on behalf of their cohort. They highlighted the importance of the support they received, reflected on their journeys and described their hopes for the future. The ceremony was full of emotion and joy among students and their parents. Amer Al-Marawani, a graduate student of tourism security, told Arab News: 'I'm feeling really happy and excited for the beginning of my new journey. In the future, I hope I can contribute to the tourism sector of my country.' Hala Nadri, a graduate specializing in hospitality, said: 'After graduation, it is an outstanding honor for us to serve the country, we are really looking forward to join the workforce anywhere in our touristic sites.' Meanwhile, Jood Majed, a graduate of tourism safety, praised the program's technical depth and encouraged other Saudi women to apply: 'The training programs have been a resounding success and we learned a lot from it. Now, it is our time to pay back our leadership who supported us all these years by working hard, and eventually, we will make our country proud.' Yousef Al-Amri, a graduate in information technology, said: 'I consider myself very lucky to be equipped with these invaluable skills and I am forever grateful to RSG and KAU.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
North Korea Opening Tourist Site on East Coast Next Week
North Korea next week will open a signature tourist site on its east coast that it called a prelude to a new era in its tourism industry, though there is no word on when the country will fully reopen its borders to foreign visitors. The Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone has hotels and other accommodations for nearly 20,000 guests who can swim in the sea, play sports and other recreation activities and eat at restaurants and cafeterias on site, state media said, according to The Associated Press. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured the site and cut the inaugural tape at a lavish ceremony Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. He said its construction would be recorded as 'one of the greatest successes this year" and called the site 'the proud first step' toward realizing the government's policy of developing tourism, according to KCNA. The Wonsan-Kalma zone will begin service for domestic tourists next Tuesday, KCNA said. But it didn't say when it will start receiving foreign tourists. Kim has been pushing to make the country a tourism hub as part of efforts to revive the ailing economy, and the Wonsan-Kalma zone is one of his most talked-about tourism projects. KCNA reported North Korea will confirm plans to build large tourist sites in other parts of the country, too. But North Korea hasn't fully lifted the travel curbs, including a ban on foreign tourists, that were imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting from February 2024, North Korea has been accepting Russian tourists amid the booming military and other partnerships between the two countries, but Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled. In February this year, a small group of international tourists visited the country for the first time in five years, but tourist agencies said in March that their tours to North Korea were paused.
