Marseille will be the only French destination for charter flights from Korea

13 Jan 2014  2035 | World Travel News

SYDNEY - Sydney Festival 2014 opens today in an explosion of exceptional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, film and more that will bring the harbour city to life from January 9-26.

Sydney Festival 2014 is comprised of 106 events, 21 of which are free. With 372 performances across 33 indoor and outdoor venues, Sydney Festival 2014 features 722 artists from 80 companies across 17 countries, in 10 world premieres, 4 Australian premieres and 13 Australian exclusives.

In Sydney's famous outdoor venue The Domain, two fantastic free events are set to delight, kicking off with Chicago's R'n'B, soul and disco diva Chaka Khan on the opening weekend, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing Gustav Holst's astrological suite The Planets, conducted by Hamburg State Opera Artistic Director Simone Young, in Symphony in the Domain.

Against a backdrop of some of the world's greatest theatre and dance, new Australian works of magnitude and cultural importance dominate this year's theatre program. The world premiere of Black Diggers (directed by Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright) unfolds the untold stories of 1000 Indigenous soldiers who fought in World War One, whilst Michael Kantor and Tom E. Lewis' indigenous re-working of King Lear in The Shadow King has recently premiered to a rousing reception by audiences in Melbourne, Australia.

A highlight of the 2014 program is Henry Purcell's romantic tragedy Dido & Aeneas in Sasha Waltz's wondrous reimagining of the great opera, featuring stunning choreography, a prologue performed in a giant fish tank underwater, and celebrated Baroque orchestra Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Shaun Parker returns to Sydney Festival with the world premiere of Am I, whilst Halina Reijn performs the lead role in the retelling of the 1927 monologue by Jean Cocteau in La Voix Humaine. Philip Glass presents a live score to Godfrey Reggio's visitors following its premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and after a five month sell out season on London's Southbank LIMBO returns to heat up the 1920s Speigeltent in the wildly expanded Festival Village.

In Parramatta in Sydney's west, the favourite free event Parramatta Opening Party is back with free music and festival fun, and everyone's favourite yellow friend Rubber Duck is back too!MARSEILLE - 2013 was a year of success for Marseille, France’s second largest city. Being named Europe Capital City of Culture, Marseille attracted attention from all over the world. Over eight million visitors came to the Southern city in 2013, including 15% of foreigners. The new Museum of European and Mediterranean Culture –MUCEM- an iconic complex of historical and contemporary buildings overlooking Marseille’s Old Port attracted alone some two million visitors.

According to Marseille Provence Airport 1.2 million of foreigners came to the city and over a million people who overnight in Marseille came by plane. And for the first time, Marseille recorded as well over a million cruise passengers.

The travelling public around the world finally has a positive image of Marseille, thanks to a strong partnership between local tourism authorities (District and City), MP 2013 – the authority in charge organising the European Capital City of Culture events-. Marseille Provence Airport also partnered last year with local authorities to target ten priority markets around the world.

Asia inbound is among the targeted markets, especially due to the high popularity of the Provence region among Chinese and especially Japanese travellers. And surprisingly, for the first time, Marseille airport will have a direct flight to Asia during the spring time 2014. “We received last year a delegation of Koreans from the tour operating company Hanjin Travel and its subsidiary KALtour. To our surprise, they chose Marseille Airport as their base to bring Korean travellers for a circuit in Southern France”, indicated Marseille Provence Airport CEO Pierre Regis, during the traditional airport press conference. “It will be a weekly charter flight every Saturday offering a 8-day circuit. It seems very little. But Koreans have only a week holiday”, told Julien Boullay, Marketing and Communication Director at Marseille Provence Airport.

But Marseille Airport is proud to be only one of three destinations in Europe to welcome charter flights. “Only Zagreb in Croatia and Oslo in Norway receive leisure flights from South Korea”, added Julien Boullay. According to Airport CEO Pierre Regis, the series of charter flights could eventually be extended for another month or two.

But hopes are high among Marseille Airport authorities. The new flight could finally open new perspectives to Marseille which one day could have a permanent flight to Asia. “Hanjin is also the main shareholder in Korean Air, Korea’s national carrier. We have to watch out this development. The KALtour charter will only bring Korean travellers. But Seoul is also a perfect gateway towards China and Japan”, added Mr. Regis.

“For now, we must prepare ourselves to provide the best possible service to Koreans this spring time. It will be of utmost importance for the future”.

Meanwhile, Marseille airport also hopes to have soon a daily flight to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines. “Turkish Airlines offers one of the most comprehensive network to Asia out of its Istanbul hub. We should get a fifth weekly frequency this summer season instead of four weekly services last year. Ultimately, a daily and then two daily flights would ideally help us to provide rapid connections all across the Asian continent”, concluded Julien Boullay.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews

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