Last Thursday chief executive of Qantas Alan Joyce said the airline does not expect to resume international travel, apart from with New Zealand, until late October, when the Australian population is vaccinated against Covid-19. Prior to this announcement, the airline had been selling seats on international flights from July 1, 2021.

Luc Longley AM, the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States, has signed exclusively with Saxton Speakers. Mr Longley joins the speaker bureau after an impressive career which saw him play as the starting centre for the Chicago Bulls between 1995 and 1998. During the talk Luc will share insights on what he’s learned on leadership, building a diverse team, resilience, high performance and mindset, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from his career.

New research by Roy Morgan conducted on behalf of BESydney has found that 51.6 per cent of Australians are now comfortable attending business events with up to 50 delegates. The research, which saw 1007 Australians interviewed earlier this month, also found that New South Wales (NSW) is the most confident state when it comes to attending business events, with 48.9 per cent of respondents feeling comfortable enough to do so.

This April, Newcastle will present Newcastle Food Month (NFM), a 30-day celebration of its dining scene. The event will kick off with Le Diner en Blanc on Saturday, April 10, which will see more than 1000 people take to the streets dressed in white for a Parisian-inspired pop-up dinner. Newcastle will be one of 80 cities around the world hosting this event. Le Diner en Blanc will be followed by 100 food-focused events, including ‘plate dates’ which will engage more than 60 local venues offering their speciality on a plate.

With the beginning of the vaccine roll-out happening this week, Darren Isenberg thought about how it would bring better days to many, many people who deserve it. Therefore, this week’s grin and tonic reel is a collection of people who PARTICULARLY deserved better days. Enjoy the video here: https://www.dipresents.com.au/grin-tonic

Moreton Hire, a company which traditionally provided equipment hire for events and exhibitions, has been deployed to build temporary vaccination super hubs on behalf of Western Health in Victoria. Since January, the company has been engaged to build a temporary vaccination clinic in a multi-deck carpark at Sunshine Hospital and at the Melbourne Airport; a scope that includes temporary walls for cubicles, assessment spaces and more.

Investment management company Colliers International has released its Hotel Insights Q1 2021 report this week, with a key finding being that hotels in the Asia Pacific region will return to 2019 occupancy levels in 2023. Noting that recovery is dependent on mass vaccinations in Europe and the United States and the re-opening of borders, executive director at Colliers International Govinda Singh said that travel will re-bound over the next three years to at least pre Covid-19 levels.

After the recent passing of Marriott International’s chief executive officer (CEO) Arne Sorenson, the hotel giant has appointed Anthony Capuano as its new CEO. Prior to this appointment, Mr Capuano had been group President and was responsible for overseeing Marriott's global development and design efforts, as well as global operations.