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NEWS, BRIEFINGS, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Sydney’s chic new hotel
Q&A Lee Abbamonte
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ee Abbamonte is the youngest American to travel to every country in the world. He achieved the feat four years ago when he was 32, but he is still travelling …
Q: How many countries have you been to? I have been to all 193 sovereign nations, meaning UN member states. If you add on the Vatican, Kosovo and Taiwan then it’s 196. I’ve also been to 312 of the 324 countries and unique destinations listed by the Travelers Century Club. Q: When are you aiming to finish that list? A: I aim to finish the TCC list as soon as possible but am in no real rush as I am concentrating more on my businesses than on remote travel these days. Q: What is your travel bug all about? A: It is about seeing and experiencing the best and worst of what the world has to offer. I want to see and experience everything and I want to learn first hand about each place to have an informed opinion based on my experiences – not what others say. Q: Why did you start it? A: I didn’t actually start with a goal of going to every country, it just evolved over time and really ramped up after I found out there was a record to be the youngest to visit every country. That was a big motivating factor and it turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. Q: Where did you go in Papua New Guinea? A: I was in Port Moresby and the Bismarck Archipelago, and hope to visit again really soon for another longer visit. Q: What were your highlights in the Pacific region? A: I have many highlights in the region but I love Palau, Fiji, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Australia, New Zealand and some remote islands like Wallis and Futuna, Kiribati and the Solomons. n
24 Paradise – Air Niugini’s in-flight magazine
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ravellers to Sydney have a new and unique hotel choice with the opening of the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay in early November. The hotel, with 140 guest rooms and suites and 13 kilometres from the airport, where Air Niugini flies on Mondays and Saturdays, revives a bygone era with the restoration of the iconic Ritz. Original features include Italian white marble bathrooms and European fashioned balconies, complemented with stunning views over Double Bay village, the tranquil bay and the internal French provincialstyled courtyard. The hotel, with a rooftop infinity swimming pool, is the only five-star property outside the CBD. n See intercontinental.com/doublebay.
NUMBER CRUNCH That’s the predicted GDP growth for Papua New Guinea in 2015, according to the ANZ’s AsiaPacific chief economist Glenn Maguire. “PNG’s economy is expected to grow between 20 and 22 per cent next year, probably the fastest growth any emerging economy has recorded over the past 30 to 40 years,’’ he said in September at the Papua New Guinea Advantage Investment and Infrastructure Summit in Port Moresby. The extraordinarily high GDP figure is a result of anticipated income next year from PNG’s exports of liquefied natural gas.
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