Destinations
CHTA Says Region Should Stay The Course
In a letter to the head of the CARICOM, the region’s heads of government as well as health and tourism leaders, the president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Nicola Madden-Greig is calling for the continued adherence to health safety protocols and stepped up vaccinations, but is cautioning that rushing to close Caribbean borders and impose difficult and costly travel barriers could delay the recovery and have severe consequences for the region's economies. Writing to the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, who currently serves as Chairman of...
Malta To Host 2022 USTOA Board Meeting
Malta -- originally selected as the host destination for United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) annual Out-of-Country Board Meeting pre-COVID -- will host the meeting now rescheduled for May, 2022 at the Corinthia Palace Hotel. Turkish Airlines will be the official USTOA Malta Board Meeting air carrier and will provide flights to Malta for all the USTOA attendees. Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) will host a two-day tour of Istanbul on the return from Malta as part of the USTOA Board Meeting’s event program. The announcement was made during a...
ACTA Sounds The Alarm
With new testing rules and travel restrictions weighing heavily on travel agencies and the industry at large, ACTA is sounding the alarm, telling Ottawa that for travel agencies who have been without financial support since October, they could be facing bankruptcy if Bill C-2 is not passed before the holiday break. Wendy Paradis, president of ACTA, said: “The recently added testing regime for travellers, along with new travel restrictions, have caused a lot of concern and confusion -- and customers are calling travel agencies looking for clarity asking what they will have to do,...
Things Are Developing In The U.S. Virgin Islands
The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is buoyed by investor interest in the Territory and the wider Caribbean. During the recent Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS) in The Bahamas, USVI Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte was encouraged by the strong sense of hope and optimism that permeated the three-day conference. Commissioner Boschulte said: “I think there’s a lot of money that has been sidelined over the past 20 months that’s ready to go to work. They’re trying to find investment areas to go and we’re hopeful that the U.S. Virgin Islands...
Omicron Uncertainty Weighs On Holiday Plans
The emergence of the Omicron variant – coupled with the rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the U.S. – has some travellers rethinking their holiday travel planning according to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travellers. Longwoods reports that while more than a third of travellers are still planning to hit the road in December, about a quarter are delaying trips until after the first of the year. The tracking study also found that among those who are still travelling over the holidays, two-thirds intend to visit friends and...
Canada Prepares For The Comeback
The tourism big picture for Destination Canada still has many dark clouds, but work by the organization is starting to render a brighter outlook for the coming years, reports Press Today’s Ted Davis. With the many challenges of the past 21 months comes the opportunity to rebuild the Canadian tourism industry with new marketing concepts and directions, said Marsha Walden, president and CEO of Destination Canada. Strategies at Destination Canada have been shaped by the need to help generate this tourism renaissance, she said during the DMO’s annual public meeting. But before...
Aruba Making Entry Easier
Aruba is teaming up with OK2Roam and VFS Global to launch a new service that eliminates the need to make travellers wait for their PCR test results to be manually verified and the need to upload test certificates. In partnership with OK2Roam, travellers can authorize an approved laboratory to send their negative test result directly to Aruba’s Embarkation-Disembarkation card entry platform and be confident that it will be instantly accepted. As part of the entry process to Aruba, the ED card registration is mandatory for all travellers, including minors and infants. Proof of a...
Australia, New Zealand On Costsaver’s 2022 Itinerary
Costsaver is expanding to two additional destinations with brand new itineraries in Australia and New Zealand for 2022. As international borders begin to reopen, these new itineraries offer the expertise of a guided experience with all the essentials and opportunities for clients to tailor the trip to create their perfect bucket list adventure. The new itineraries are available for booking now for travel in 2022 and 2023. Wolf Paunic, President of Trafalgar, Brendan Vacations and Costsaver Canada, explained: “We saw amazing growth before the pandemic and with high demand for...