Abu Dhabi based Rotana has announced it will embark on a $750 million investment plan in 2012 designed to help the group maintain its position as the largest hotel brand in the Middle East. The hotel management group – recognised as the Middle East’s Leading Hotel Brand by the World Travel Awards - will open eight new hotels in 2012 including its first properties in Bahrain, Jordan and Oman and its second hotel in Qatar.

The recession, the record high unemployment, the gloom, the encroaching cold, the ever circling bouts of flu, none of it’s looking terribly inviting, particularly, one imagines, if you’re a fresh graduate. Still, not to worry, you can just pop out and get a nice job… Oh no, hang on, there’s grads fighting in pits for a chance to stack shelves. Truly, there’s never been a better time to go traveling. Adventure, warmer climates and the exotic aromas of night markets and those hammocks that swing lazily over turquoise seas. Ride out this recession far away and then ease back in when it’s all blown over: wiser, bolder and more attractive.

Qatar Airways’ corporate jet division, Qatar Executive, has written another chapter in its success story following a year marked by fleet expansion, the introduction of its own dedicated maintenance hangar and a significant boost of its service portfolio. In the two years since its inception, Qatar Executive has built a solid foundation for its future development, rapidly becoming a lucrative business backed by the global expertise and track record of its award-winning parent carrier, Qatar Airways.

It can be hard to watch the endless succession of disaster and calamity that makes up our news. Sat comfortably in your arm chair it’s easy to decide that you can’t make a difference to such huge problems. The truth is that you can, and an incredible amount of positive life affirming stories just never get reported. In fact, living situations in the poorest parts of the world have been improved dramatically over the last few decades for many people and this is at least in part due to an increase in people taking time out from their busy lives to volunteer their time.

Ahead of the World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala Ceremony in Qatar, Breaking Travel News caught up with Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways to find out how the award winning Middle Eastern carrier has faced the challenges of 2011 and to see what next year might hold.

The Arab Air Carriers Organisation recently closed the doors to its annual general meeting in Abu Dhabi on a positive but cautious note. BTN caught up with AACO Secretary General, Mr. Abdul Wahab Teffaha, to discuss the impact that Government taxation and restrictive regulations have had on global and Arab airlines, the importance of IT and telecommunications for airline passengers and his future predictions for Arab aviation.