US cruise company Royal Caribbean is to inaugurate a new route to Dubai starting in January 2010 when the "Brilliance of the Seas" heads to destinations in the Persian Gulf.

Royal Caribbean's vessel will spend seven nights in the Gulf's waters with another week scheduled for April.

The cruise company is due to release further details of the cruise schedule soon.

Next year the "Brilliance of the Seas" will plough the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Several other companies began tours of the Persian Gulf last year for the winter season including Aida Cruises, Transocean Tours and Costa Crociere.

--- Hong Kong airport to introduce tighter security controls

Frankfurt (dpa) - A new set of security measures is to be introduced at Hong Kong international airport from next month. They require passengers to have their complete name, including all middle names, listed in their tickets.

From November 3, departing passengers must present their passport and ticket for inspection before gaining access to the departure area.

If the names on the ticket and passport do not match, they could be refused entry, according to carrier Cathy Pacific in Frankfurt.

In principle, every name must be entered on the ticket. Names with more than 49 characters can be shortened. In this case Cathy says the middle names should be abbreviated first. ---

Munich (dpa) - After a 12-month break, TACV Cabo Verde Airlines has re-launched its service to Munich in southern Germany.

From October 30, a plane will depart Munich every Thursday at 11.30 am bound for Sal on the Cape Verde islands.

The return flight to Munich will also depart Thursdays at 2.15 am. Cabo Verde Airlines' re-launch means Munich now has two weekly connections to the islands.

Every Tuesday a Tuifly plane leaves Munich for Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, landing on Boa Vista island.

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Hurtigruten boosts theme-voyage programme =

Hamburg (dpa) - Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten is expanding its programme of "themed" trips along the country's maritime coastal post route in addition to its established "Polar Lights Cruise" and the "Sperm Whale Cruise".

One themed voyage will be the "Norwegian Cuisine Trip" where star chef Holger Stromberg will be on board.

Another trip will have a literary theme will readings from Scandinavian works.

Hurtigruten had announced in June that it intended increasing its ticket prices by between 5 and 6 per cent for the 2009/2010 season.

The company also introduced a new early-bird booking discount where up to the end of September passengers could earn as much as 30 per cent discount on voyages for next year.

Hurtigruten has now decided to extend that offer until the end of 2008 but has cut the maximum possible discount to 25 per cent.

Along with its main brochure "Norwegian Explorer", Hurtigruten is also bringing out a new catalogue with details of a 17-day voyage in autumn 2009 from Greenland to Newfoundland and then onwards to New York.

Hurtigruten also sail to Spitzbergen, to the Antarctic during the European winter as well as the Arctic.