On the road
SWISSAIR is to launch Alpine World ski packages from tomorrow which include economy round-trip air fare, seven nights accommodation, full or half board, ski lift tickets, transportation between package sites, and a side trip to Paris, Rome or Vienna, before or after the ski-ing.
The prices start at $12,388. Contact Swissair's Hong Kong office, tel 520-1035 or the Memory World of Travel Ski Information Hotline, tel 316-1673.
MEANWHILE, value-added tax, 6.5 per cent, takes effect in Switzerland from January 1. According to The Switzerland Adviser, a value-oriented newsletter, the VAT will have little effect on most goods, but will raise prices on services including movie tickets, banking fees, hotel rooms, and ski passes.
CROSSING the Pyrenees between Toulouse, France, and Barcelona, Spain, has been made easier with the opening of the Tunnel du Puymorens. The tunnel has taken four years to complete and cost about US$186 million.
Cars and trucks can now drive through the five-kilometre tunnel in five minutes, avoiding the 20-minute, twisting climb over the mountain pass on a road that is often snowbound in winter.
CATHAY Pacific has negotiated improved rates for its Stay-A-While hotels in Ho Chi Minh City. The hotel rates are being reduced by 15-26 per cent. Refunds will be paid to those passengers who have already booked. For more details contact Cathay Pacific Holidays, tel 747-1100. NEW York's new 'Twins' restaurant has a strict employment policy: it only hires twins who will agree to work in pairs and dress identically.
