Destinations
Canada Needs To Broaden Peak Season
Destination Canada executive-director Chantz Strong says this country's tourism trade clearly needs to broaden its peak season beyond two currently all-important summer months. Strong told a Thursday webinar that the damage done to Canadian tourism during the coronavirus pandemic underscores the risks of having tourism rely heavily on July and August. "This (the pandemic) has identified very critical vulnerabilities in the tourism sector...," he said, suggesting that more efforts be made to attract visitors to this country during March, April, May, June, September and...
A ‘Worst Case’ Scenario
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says that close to 3 million jobs in the UK -- and 197 million worldwide in the travel and tourism sector globally -- look set to be lost due to the collapse of travel. The WTTC’s economic modelling -- conducted less than two months ago – predicted this ‘worst case scenario’ would occur if barriers to global travel, such as quarantine measures and blanket travel restrictions were to remain in place. And while some travel bans have been removed, many others remain, with new restrictions likely to come into force to tackle the...
Sunwing Welcomes Customers Back To Paradise
Sunwing is planning for brighter days, celebrating its first customers since March who arrived in Cancun and Montego Bay this past weekend. Andrew Dawson, president of Tour Operations for Sunwing, said: “We are pleased that our travellers have been able to head back to the tropics last week and are encouraged by their positive experience in destination. We are looking forward to welcoming back many more travellers in the coming months and resuming service on board Sunwing Airlines.” With operations ramping up and new health and safety protocols in place, more customers will be...
Canary Islands Provides Some Insurance
The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Canary Islands Government has finalized an agreement with AXA Spain for the subscription of a travel assistance policy applicable to all tourists who travel to the Islands, whether foreign or national, in order to respond to incidents related to Covid-19, including he need to prolong stays due to quarantine. The deal was signed by the regional Minister of Tourism Yaiza Castilla, on behalf of the public company Promotur Turismo de Islas Canarias of which she is CEO, and the company AXA Seguros, represented by the regional director,...
U.S. Lifts Global Level 4 Health Advisory
The U.S. Department of State lifted its Global Level 4 Health Advisory yesterday. In a statement, the Department said that it made the move in close coordination with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), explaining that the Global Advisory initially put in place on March 19, 2020 advised U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19. However, the Department’s statement continued that with health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is “returning to...
Work From Home … In Bermuda
As working from home appears to have become the norm right now and perhaps long into the future due to the ongoing global pandemic, professionals are on the hunt for quality destinations where they can work remotely for an extended time. And what better place to do that than Bermuda. The island’s Work From Bermuda Certificate program allows travellers 18 years of age and older to move to the island for a year while working remotely. And the program also includes the ability to travel back and forth seamlessly. The application fee us US$263 per person and there is now a special...
US Virgin Islands Unveils Prescreening Portal
The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism has launched of phase one of a new online portal that will prescreen and assist with the certification process of all travelers prior to their arrival in the Territory. The goal is to reduce the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The U.S. Virgin Islands Travel Screening Portal facilitates pre-arrival processing, thereby improving efficiency, reducing delays, and providing a more seamless traveller experience. The development process will next integrate mobile optimization for the portal, followed by a hybrid mobile...
PATA Unveils Virtual Travel Mart Dates
PATA has announced that the Virtual PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2020 will take place from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27, 2020. Virtual PTM is a business-to-business travel contracting and virtual networking event that both mirrors and enhances the features of the long-standing PTM, which boasts over four decades of experience in connecting qualified international buyers and sellers from all of Asia and the Pacific region though pre-matched business appointments. Furthermore, Virtual PTM offers cost-effective seller booth fees at significantly below market rates. PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy said:...