Destinations
Tourisme Montréal Prepares For The Future
It is an interesting time to hold an annual general meeting, but Tourisme Montréal held its AGM last week during the celebrations of Tourism Week in Canada and 77 days after Québec imposed a lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism organization’s 2019 annual report showcased the highlights of a year marked by prosperity, along with Tourisme Montréal's 100th anniversary. 2019 was a record year, strengthening the organization’s standing as an industry leader and leading its chairman of the board, Philippe Sureau to comment: “Tourisme Montréal's teams did an...
UNWTO Releases Guidelines To Reopen Tourism
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has released a set of guidelines to help tourism sector emerge stronger and more sustainably from COVID-19. The guidelines highlight the need to act decisively, to restore confidence and, as UNWTO strengthens its partnership with Google, to embrace innovation and the digital transformation of global tourism. Produced in consultation with the Global Tourism Crisis Committee, the guidelines aim to support governments and private sector to recover from an unparalleled crisis. Depending on when travel restrictions are lifted, the United Nations...
Tracking Travellers’ Perception Of Safety
MMGY Global has launched its new Travel Safety Barometer -- a sentiment tracking tool created for the travel and tourism industry -- to monitor American travellers’ perceptions of how safe it is to engage in specific travel behaviours as the country embarks on its reopening and recovery efforts. Designed by MMGY’s Travel Intelligence research and insights division, the Barometer is an informational resource for both business and leisure travellers and the industry as the coronavirus continues to fundamentally change all aspects of our society, including when, where and how we feel...
Hong Kong Update – Last Chance to Register
Baxter Media is sending out a last call for agents to sign up for a webinar happening tomorrow (May 29) at 2 p.m. (EST). There will be five prize giveaways of $200 e-gift cards available to agents who attend the full duration of the webinar. In this webinar, you will hear how Hong Kong has handled COVID-19, and for those who are new to the destination or need a refresher, they will be providing basic destination information, updating you on the newest developments, as well as providing a glimpse of what you or your clients can experience in Hong Kong. The webinar will be presented...
Portugal Planning A ‘Bridge’ For Brits
Portugal is planning to offer an ‘air bridge’ for British tourists to bypass quarantine rules. It’s a concept that will be positively received by destinations in Portugal that are highly reliant on UK tourism such as the Algarve. In 2019, the UK was Portugal’s second largest source market after Spain, with 2.9 million UK visits. “According to GlobalData’s pre-COVID-19 forecast, UK arrivals to Portugal were expected to grow at a year-on-year (YOY) increase of 3.1% in 2020. GlobalData’s COVID-19 forecast now expects a YOY decrease of -34% in 2020. In 2018, the...
Visit California Is Calling All Californians For Now
In a letter to industry partners, Caroline Beteta, president & CEO of Visit California, writes: “As the green shoots of economic recovery sprout here and across the nation, California’s tourism industry eagerly awaits the chance to meet consumers’ palpable pent-up desires to hit the road.” Beteta observes that: “Reopening amid the ongoing coronavirus threat will require dramatic pivots in the way we operate, not only to protect customers and employees, but to guarantee business success. Visit California has embraced that challenge and designed a marketing approach...
Celebrity Hoping Alaska Will Be On Itinerary
Celebrity Cruises is keeping its fingers crossed that it may start an Alaska program in August, confident that coronavirus hasn't put the kibosh on interest in sailings in that part of the world. Brendan Halcomb of Celebrity's Alaska cruise/cruisetour program told a Tuesday webinar for travel agents in this country that the company has staff looking at the feasibility of sending people to Alaska this summer. Celebrity has to date idled its fleet through July because of coronavirus but the company said during an earlier webinar it hopes to begin a gradual restart of operations later...
Tracking The Trends In Italy
According to GlobalData, the general sentiment regarding the impact of COVID-19 in Italy is gradually becoming more positive. In two surveys by GlobalData, one conducted April 28 and the other on May 3, the number of Italians stating that they are ‘extremely concerned’ about the virus dropped by 14%. However, this positive outlook may change as Italy plans to open its borders for international tourists says the data and analytics company. Ralph Hollister, travel & tourism analyst at GlobalData, commented: “Italy is currently planning that inbound visitors won't have to go...