In the news: Public holidays in the world, Ctrip and Amadeus collaborate, Vistara inks deal with Travelport.
India has the most public holidays, Mexico the least, reveals Wego
Have holidays, will travel. (Image credit: TPopova/iStock)
If you live in India then you should be very happy as the country has the most number of public holidays at 21 each year, and more depending on where you live.
However, Mexicans may not share the same feeling as their country has only seven public holidays each year, the lowest in the world, although the government permits a few more “optionall” public holidays at the employer’s discretion.”
These were the findings by travel search site, Wego, which listed public holidays around the world in an infographic (see below).
Residents in Asia Pacific have reasons to rejoice too, as the countries in the region enjoy long public holidays with the Philippines leading with 18 days. It is followed by China and Hong Kong with 17, Thailand 16, Malaysia and Vietnam 15, Indonesia 14, Taiwan and South Korea 13, 11 in Singapore 11, and Australia and New Zealand 10.
Joachim Holte, chief marketing officer of Wego, said: “China is not only one of the fastest growing travel segments in the world, their government makes it easy for workers to take longer breaks. Should the year’s public holidays fall on a weekend the government swaps the official dates with weekdays, maximising time off.”
This means that for China this year the 17 public holidays equates to 28 days off. Similarly the Taiwanese’ 13 public holidays result in 29 days off inclusive of weekends.”
In Europe, Sweden and Lithuania have the most public holidays at 15 (the latter with an additional 28 days of paid leave). Slovakia followed with 14, Austria, Belgium and Norway 13, and Finland and Russia 12. Spain and the UK are not so holiday minded, with only eight.
In the United Arab Emirates, another fast developing travel market, thee are 11 public holidays this year.
Some countries, however, provide statutory holiday leave that can top up public holidays. For example, the Philippines 18 public holidays is increased with an additional five days mandatory holiday leave.
Australian workers receive around 10 public holidays depending on which state they live in, but annual holiday leave entitlement totals an additional 20 working days.
“Travel is like a reward for all those hard working days we spend at the office, but the amount of paid leave is what restricts us from making the most of those opportunities. Combining public holidays with your annual leave is the best way to maximise time off, take trips and preserve a healthy life/work balance,” added Holte
Wego has developed a downloadable public holiday calendar for APAC, India and the UAE, so travellers can plan ahead, and by having something to look forward to, ease back into a brand new working year.”
Ctrip collaborates with Amadeus to power its international expansion
The signing of a partnership.
Amadeus has inked a multi-year agreement with China’s Ctrip.com International, which will include the provision of all air content for points of sale outside of mainland China.
The agreement will initially cover Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and the USA, with future plans to move into markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand.
Ctrip will implement Amadeus Master Pricer TravelBoard (including multi-merchant capability) as their low fare search engine, as well as Amadeus Mini Rules and Amadeus Ticket Changer, with the aim to adopt more of Amadeus’ powerful online search solutions in the near future.
Xiong Xing, Ctrip CEO of air ticketing business unit, said via Amadeus’ blog: “This is a major milestone in our relationship and we truly feel that it will provide Ctrip with cutting-edge solutions coupled with unique benefits, enabling us to become a one-stop international travel service platform.”
Sebastien Gibergues, Amadeus head of leisure online and travel media, added: “Amadeus has built a solid and successful relationship with Ctrip over the last few years, so it is a natural next step to grow our partnership through Amadeus Flight Search and our merchandising portfolio in the global online travel market.”
Vistara hops on to Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform
Vistara, India’s newest airline. (Image credit: Vistara.com)
India’s newest full service carrier, Vistara, has inked a new distribution and merchandising agreement with Travelport, which will see the airline distribute all of its fares and offering through Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform.
Travelport-connected agents worldwide will have seamless access to search, compare, and book Vistara fares and ancillary services through their existing desktop workflow, offering their customers more options for air travel within India.
As part of this new agreement, Vistara will participate in Travelport’s suite of airline merchandising solutions via the Travelport Merchandising Platform.
Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons Limited, will become the 85th carrier to leverage Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding technology to establish and increase its brand presence across the globe.
The post The Wrap: India has the most public holidays, Mexico the least, reveals Wego appeared first on WIT.