Latin America’s oldest English-language daily, the Buenos Aires Herald, announced its closure this week, ending an impressive 140-year run.

“There’s not much to say right now to be honest. We have been told the last edition was this Friday’s. No more to add at this point,” said News editor James Grainger on Twitter.

The paper cited modifications to government-paid advertising, distribution, and the recession in Argentina as reasons for its shutdown.

“For the journalists and the fighters for Argentine human rights, the Buenos Aires Herald was a myth. So its final closure was a hard blow,” said Carlos Cué, El País correspondent in Buenos Aires.

| From MSCNewsWire reporters desk  ||  August 16,  2017   |||

They’re off – on a toilet roll race! Flight attendants organised passengers to complete in a toilet paper roll race to see which side of the aisle would be allowed to get off the plane first.

Watch Video here

The flight was a long-haul US domestic flight on Southwest Airlines. The Raleigh to Denver flight is about four hours long (roughly the same length as Sydney to Darwin) and attendants decided to pit passengers against each other mid-flight.

The contest involves passengers speedily passing a roll of toilet paper over their heads, row to row, back along the plane until it reaches the last passenger. If the roll tears, your side loses.

Passenger Marcie Villarreal filmed the race last month. It has been posted on Facebook ad YouTube.

“I’ve been flying different airlines my whole life, and just when I think I’ve seen it all, your flight attendants decide to do a ‘toilet paper race,’” wrote Villarreal, who was on the winning side.

“Hands down the funnest flight ever and I was even travelling with my baby. You rock, Southwest! Keep doing what you’re doing!”

Curiously, it’s not the first such midair stunt. Several other clips of airline toilet roll races have been posted on social media, in 2008 and again in 2014. Southwest appears to be the world leader in this unusual event – it features in every clip.

| An eGlobal Travel media release written by Peter Needham  ||  August 14,  2017   |||

Kiwi companies are queueing up to do business with Vietnam and other similar sized Asian countries, a leading New Zealand tech businessman says.

Mitchell, chair of NZTech, FinTechNZ and a New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) beachheads advisor in technology business for the ASEAN region, has just returned from a major Kiwi business exploration trip to Vietnam.

Pham has also been advising the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

He says Kiwi tech sector must be an active part of the New Zealand story, presence and engagement in South East Asia to gain more brand awareness and business traction in the region.“We had huge engagement from the Vietnamese market. Everyone was interested in what New Zealand has to offer across the board,” he says

“But it is critical for Kiwi companies to follow-through after these visits to progress relationships into business. Sadly, not enough companies follow through in the past, which resulted in business contacts in the region who went all out to engage with visiting delegations ending up feeling let down by us afterwards.

“As far as Kiwi technology goes. We are not an island. It would be smart and important to be there alongside other NZ industry sectors which have been doing business development in Asia for much longer and therefore are bigger, stronger, better known, more visible, more active and more connected in the region.”

Pham says the Kiwi Connection Tech Hub in Ho Chi Minh City and Augen Software Group in New Zealand have been working with University of Auckland, the ASEAN-New Zealand Business Council (ANZBC), AUT university, KEA, Asia NZ Foundation, NZTE, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, the NZ Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam and other businesses to grow trade in Vietnam.

“This latest trip which has only just ended was the largest ever NZ Inc. collaboration and contingent to the ASEAN region.

“This has resulted in more than 80 leading Kiwi business entrepreneurs, executives, managers and educators across different industry sectors visited and engaged with the Vietnam market, some also went on to Thailand.

“Businesses in the group included Augen, AUT, GlidePath and new entrants to the region such as MEO-Air and Fluent Scientific.

“Vietnam continues to grow in income and consumption appetite for food and beverages, fast-moving consumer goods. Other high-growth industries include traditional and high-tech manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, financial services, transport and logistics.

“All of these sectors require technology and know-how to support their rapid growth and advancement, so there are many opportunities for Kiwi tech businesses who serve these sectors back home or elsewhere.

“It is vital that Kiwi businesses do their market research and engage in rigorous on-the-ground validation of their target customers in the region,” Pham says.

Vietnam has a population of about 95 million and 60 percent of its people are younger than 30 years old. It has the fastest growth in internet connections and number of mobile users in the ASEAN region. Ho Chi Minh City is the geographic epicentre of the region’s centres of commerce and industry.

| From the MSCTravel reporters' desk with MakeLemonade and FinTechNZ  ||  August 15,  2017   |||

A Hong Kong-listed travel company has bought three parcels of land in Auckland for $9 million, where it plans to build accommodation units for Chinese tourists and to take advantage of the "critical housing shortage" in New Zealand's biggest city.

Orient Victory Travel Group Company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, sells plane tickets, travel services, jewellery and financial services. The company has been "exploring opportunities to expand its travel related business in order to add momentum to the growth of the group", it said in a statement published to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The three parcels of undeveloped land, totalling about 15,700 square metres, are adjacent to each other in Auckland's Silverdale, and the company said it is a good investment opportunity for it to boost revenue and increase profitability.

"The land is located in a tourism hub in North Auckland with close proximity to motorway, public transport, local amenities and popular tourist attractions," it said. "Identifying critical housing shortage in Auckland, the board believes that the property market of the nearby location where the land is situated has significant growth potential."

It intends to build self-serviced units on the land, with around 62 percent of the units to be used for accommodation for Chinese tour groups organised by the China Comfort Travel Group Company, of which Orient Victory Travel owns half.

"The acquisition will bring synergy effects to the travel business of the group's invested entity, and will also provide an additional source of income for the group through the daily operations as Auckland tourist boom rolls on, which is in line with the group's long-term strategy," it said.

| A BusinessDesk/Sharechat release  ||  August 14,  2017   |||

|

KLM’s “Anytime For You” service gives business class passengers more control over what and when they eat while flying.

Following the launch of the “Anytime For You” business class meal service on 1 July, KLM has announced that the service will be introduced on flights to and from Bangkok in October 2017.

The service, currently available on KLM’s Johannesburg services, allows World Business Class (WBC) passengers to decide when they would like to eat, instead of in-flight meal times being dictated by the airline.

Together with each passenger, crew members compile a personal service schedule for the flight. This service ensures that WBC passengers get more choice and control over their experience.

In addition to the usual three-course dinner and lunch options, the menu also includes an Anytime For You selection of eight dishes. The selected dish is prepared and served restaurant-style whenever it best suits the passenger.

Wim Spelt, Director of Product Management, KLM, said: “Judging by the many positive responses we’ve had from passengers, the new service really meets their wishes. People are pleasantly surprised by the concept, which offers them more choice and versatility. And that is exactly what we hoped to achieve: giving the passenger a positive and memorable experience.”

| An FTE release  ||  August 14,  2017   ||| Fu

Who's ready to do some fishing with Jo Holley? You can fish for prizes in Rarotonga ... and raise funds for a great cause at the same time!

Join us in November this year for the inaugural Sportfishescapes & Heroworx fundraising sportfishing challenge.

This year it’s ‘Raro Busted & Bruised 2017’ - a week of great fishing in the fabulous Cook Islands and all for a worthy cause. The local Puaikura Volunteer Fire Brigade is currently looking to erect a new ‘Covered Parking Bay’ for its fire appliance so join us in November and let’s help raise some funds for this worthy volunteer organisation.

To obtain further details or register your fishing team for ‘Raro Busted & Bruised 2017’ contact Peter Barry on email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call on 021 434 220.