Destinations
ABTA’s CEO Offers A Look At The Future
Colin C. James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), joined a panel of leading tourism industry experts to discuss the Future of Travel and Embracing the New World of Tourism during this week’s WTM Virtual. Led and moderated by BBC presenter, Babita Sharma, ABTA’s CEO was joined by Dr. Betty Radier - CEO of the Kenya Tourism Board, Jonathan Keane - Managing Director of Global Aviation, and Godja Sönnichsen - Director of Communications at TUI Cruises. The aim of the session was to explore the future of tourism and to discuss what the new trends and...
Grenada Prepares For Return Of Cruises
The Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) is continuing to implement key strategic cruise business actions in preparation for the safe and gradual resumption of the industry. One of these actions is the completion of an Aquila Centre for Cruise Excellence destination readiness workshop for public and private sector cruise teams including the Grenada Ports Authority, Ministry of Health, Customs, Grenreal, Immigration, Local Agents and Tour Operators. As part of the workshop (September to October) dubbed ‘How To,’ stakeholders completed the five-part series focused on health and safety...
Winners of Cayman Islands Prize Draw Announced
Last Thursday, Baxter Media hosted an exciting and engaging webinar with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. The session was well attended by travel agents from across Canada. Presenting first was Tammy van Zyl, Marketing Representative for the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. Tammy's thoroughly engaging presentation was followed up by short presentations from Dan Haase (Director of Marketing, The Locale Hotel) and Paula Juarez-Robinson (Luxury Retail Travel and Sales Manager, Seafire Resort and Spa). The winners of both prizes associated with the webinar have been...
Second Wave Threatens Recovery: ETC Report
According to the European Travel Commission’s latest quarterly report, “European Tourism: Trends & Prospects” for Q3 2020, a new surge in Covid-19 cases and the reintroduction of travel restrictions have halted European tourism recovery with international tourist arrivals to Europe down 68%[1] halfway through the year relative to 2019. The ETC has been monitoring the evolution of the pandemic throughout the year and analyzing its impact on travel and tourism. It points out that the easing of pandemic restrictions across Europe led to a slight pick-up in July and August...
Bubble Plan Working For Singapore, Hong Kong
According to ForwardKeys, the mid-October announcement that Hong Kong and Singapore have reached an in-principle agreement to establish a bilateral Air Travel Bubble (ATB) -- which would allow leisure travel between them to restart in November – has triggered an immediate release of pent-up demand. In the week that followed the announcement, flight searches for travel from Singapore to Hong Kong, which had been flat since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, soared to 50% of 2019 levels, while bookings jumped to 30%. The main focus of travellers’ interest is the Christmas...
Jamaica Tourism Must Get Back On Track
Jamaica's tourism trade appears to have begun recovering from the crippling effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the country's tourism minister says. Edmund Bartlett said during the Monday opening of the country's annual tourism show JAPEX that since the country reopened to visitors on June 15 it has hosted over 211,000 people. As well, hotel occupancy rates are "slowly inching up...," he said. "We are cautiously optimistic that we will see a 40% increase in arrivals over the winter when compared to the proceeding period of a massive downturn... "The coronavirus crisis has...
Reconnect With Costa Rica
Costa Rica is ready to welcome Canadian travellers back and the country’s Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Segura Sancho talked with Canadian Travel Press this week about the steps the country has taken to provide travellers with both a safe and enjoyable travel experience. The minister told CTP that “tourism makes up 8.2% of Costa Rica’s GDP and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs each year, which are essential to the country’s economic growth and development. In 2019, we welcomed more than 3.1 million international travellers, many of them from Canada.” However, he...
Transat Takes Off To Cuba
Transat resumed operations to Cuba earlier this week, operating two flights to Holguin from Toronto and Montreal that carried a total of 370 passengers. Joseph Adamo, vice-president and chief distribution officer of Transat, said: “Cuba has always been at the heart of our operations. That is why we are delighted that travellers can finally return to this South destination, one of the most popular in the winter season.” Adamo continued: “Moreover, thanks to our COVID-19 medical insurance and the rigorous health and safety measures implemented by us and our hotel partners,...