Latin Business Traveler
Weekly Latin American business travel news  
July 5, 2013  

  

 

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In This Week's Issue:
Frequent Traveler: Jorge Saade Scaff

One of Latin America's most in-demand concert artists on the music, food and ceramic plates that occupy his travels

  

By Mark Holston

 

Guayaquil, Ecuador-based violinist Jorge Saade Scaff spoke with LBT while in Cuba to perform with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra and to judge the Havana National Violin Competition. When not on tour, Saade Scaff is busy attending to his duties as Guayaquil's cultural director for the Ecuadorian Ministry of Culture and as the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Belgium. He travels frequently from the port city of 2.3 million people, and shared some of his travel highlights with us.

 

After a long concert, you must look forward to a good night's rest. Where do you love to stay?

Actually, I usually don't stay in hotels very often, as many of my concerts are organized by our embassy, and I stay there. But I travel frequently to Lima, and I like to stay at the Hotel Ariosto in the Miraflores neighborhood. It's a hotel with a family tradition and has very good food.

 

Does one airport stand out as being exceptional?

Yes, Guayaquil's own Jos� Joaqu�n de Olmedo International Airport. It is perfect - not too big, not too small, and with good duty free shopping and easy access.

 

Which airport do you find the most lacking?

Caracas, because it is a big airport with nothing to do! It doesn't have good food or shopping, and if you have a long wait, it's very boring.

 

Grilled grouper at CALA.
Photo courtesy TravelFreak.com.

As a noted gourmand who has dined in many of the region's finest restaurants, does one stand out?

Without a doubt it is CALA in Lima, which combines excellent fusion cuisine with great service and a fantastic ocean view.

 

What do you like to bring home from a trip to another country?

My wife Gina and I collect ceramic plates from each city in which I have performed a concert or recital. We have close to 80.

 

What do you always do before traveling somewhere - and what do you advise other travelers to do?

First, get information on the best restaurants in the city! Also, as a musician, I always check to see if there are concerts; sometimes you will find that a great artist is performing in the city. As in any major urban area in the world, even though I have always felt safe, be careful of where you go. Only drink bottled water. And as for the rest, just have fun and enjoy the Latin groove! 


News from our Partners
(Click the headlines to read full stories)

 

  Delta

Delta Air Lines marks 15 years of uninterrupted service to Costa Rica with new service to San Jose and Liberia: Daily Los Angeles, California-San Jose, Costa Rica flights began July 1. 

 

U.S. Department of Transportation tentatively awards Delta Air Lines additional daily non-stop Atlanta - S�o Paulo flight; flight awaits final government approval and could start as early as Oct. 1. Second Detroit - S�o Paulo flight also awarded.

 

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Keeping Track of Your Bag

Tracking technology aims to make it easier to keep an eye on your luggage.

 

By Mark Chesnut

 

Every frequent flyer has experienced the headache of lost luggage. And while standing in line at the baggage claim office may still be unavoidable, a few 21st-century gadgets make it simpler to track down the exact location of that all-important item.

 

High-Tech Tracking

Among the options is the battery-operated Trakdot Luggage device, which uses location technology to track bags. Simply pop it into your Trakdot bag before checking it, and the device sends a text message or e-mail to you after landing, indicating that the bag has arrived successfully. If your luggage doesn't show up on the baggage claim, the company's optional mobile app can pinpoint the city where it actually is. The app even lets you know when the device is within 30 feet of your cell phone - which can be helpful amidst a sea of look-alike Samsonites. The required service works anywhere in the world where a cell phone functions and costs US$49.99, plus a one-time US$8.99 activation fee and US$12.99 annual service fee.

 

Lugloc, which costs between US$49 for a three-month subscription and LugLoc US$99 for a 12-month contract, operates in a similar fashion. Place the device �- which weighs just under three ounces - inside your checked bag. If the bag doesn't arrive at baggage claim, call Lugloc's 24-hour alarm center, which uses tracking technology to locate the missing item, and then communicates directly with the airline to arrange its return.

 

Low-Tech Tracking

United Kingdom-based Trace Me Luggage Tracker offers a more low-tech way of keeping track of luggage. It's a credit-card-sized tag with a unique serial number and barcode that attaches to each piece of checked luggage. Just before traveling, you activate the tag online, which allows airlines and other entities to quickly scan the tag's barcode and bring up your contact information, should you and your bag wind up in different cities. Scanning your bag also automatically sends you a text message and email with the location of the bag. The tag is priced at 12.5 British pounds.

 

Even luggage manufacturers tout options for keeping track of those prized possessions. Travelers who purchase certain pieces of luggage from Victorinox, makers of the Swiss Army brand, can make use of the company's Swiss Tracker Bag Tracking System. It provides a unique tracking ID number for your bag, along with a prominently displayed telephone number that anyone who finds your bag can call. Of course, in that situation, you're relying on the goodwill of the individual who finds your bag.  

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Travel News
New Airline Routes and Route Changes

TAM Airlines will change the time on its flight from S�o Paulo to Mexico City, beginning August 21. The flight will depart from S�o Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport past midnight, at 1:35 a.m. (it currently departs at 9:35 in the morning), and land at Mexico City's Benito Ju�rez International Airport at 9:15 in the morning. The Mexico City to S�o Paulo leg is unchanged.

 

Aeromexico added a second daily round-trip Mexico City - Orlando, Florida (U.S.) flight for the North American summer season. It also added a fourth daily round-trip Mexico City - Miami, Florida (U.S.) flight for the season. The airline also added six weekly Mexico City - Los Angeles, California (U.S.) flights for the summer.

 

JetBlue launched daily round-trip service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (Florida, U.S.) and San Jose, Costa Rica.

 

Airline Alliance News

Avianca Group carriers TACA and Avianca Brazil launched unilateral codesharing, placing TACA's route code on flights within Brazil on nine routes from airports in Rio de Janeiro and S�o Paulo.

 

U.S.-based American Airlines expanded its codeshare with Malaysia Airlines, putting American's code on Malaysia Airlines' routes from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to four cities in Southeast Asia.

 

Other Airline News

The European Union will remove restrictions banning Conviasa, the Venezuelan state-owned airline, from EU airspace. The EU put the restrictions into affect last year due to safety concerns.

 

Hotel News

Marriott International launched a mobile app that its Marriott Rewards subscribers can use to check in at hotels in North America. Users can process the check-in the afternoon before arrival, and pick up a pre-programmed key at a special desk. The app is available for Android and iOS operating systems. Travelers should be able to check via app to all Marriott-branded hotels in North America by the end of the summer.  

Holiday Inn Guayaquil
Holiday Inn Hotel Guayaquil Airport
 

The 122-room Holiday Inn Hotel Guayaquil Airport opened in Ecuador, adjacent to Jos� Joaqu�n de Olmedo International Airport. The seven-story, new-build property includes a business center, restaurant, outdoor pool, free airport shuttle service and eight meeting rooms with capacity for more than 200 people. Its top-level Executive Floor has a separate front desk, lounge and meeting room.

 

 

The 179-room Wyndham Guayaquil opened in the Ecuadorian city's downtown area, near the convention center and waterfront. The full-service, new construction property is the first Wyndham Hotels and Resorts property in Ecuador, and is owned by Nobis.

 

The all-inclusive Sugar Bay Resort & Spa in St. Thomas hired Dallas, Texas-based Aimbridge Hospitality to manage the property, which has not had a management company since July 2011. Aimbridge will oversee a renovation beginning later this year, including a new lobby, guestrooms and restaurants. The 294-room hotel is the nation's second-largest.

 

Hotel Pipeline

Hilton Worldwide plans to open the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Santa Fe in the state of Morelos, Mexico in mid-2015. It will be part of the Field of Golf Santa Fe development in the town of Xochitepec, and will be within quick walking distance of the Science and Technology Park of Morelos and the World Trade Center.

 

The company also plans to open the Hilton Garden Inn Coatzacoalcos in the state of Veracruz, Mexico in early 2016. The hotel will be near business centers including the PEMEX complex and the L�zaro C�rdenas refinery.

 


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