Hotels & Resorts
A Warning On Travel Advisories From CHTA
One of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s (CHTA) top executives is pointing out that travel warnings, based on COVID-19 positivity levels, can be misleading. Noting that while travel advisories have been placed on several Caribbean destinations due to the increase in COVID-19 cases -- attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant—the tourism executive says that travel to the region is safe because of effective health safety measures and a continued commitment to protect employees and visitors. Vanessa Ledesma, acting CEO and director general of the Caribbean...
Expedia Group Unifying Its Loyalty Programs
With over 145 million members across its current and separate rewards programs, Expedia Group already has one of the largest loyalty platforms in the world. Now, the company is unveiling plans to unify and expand the offering to include all brands and products so Expedia Group customers can soon enjoy the most complete travel rewards offering in the industry. The program will consist of unique member pricing discounts and the ability to earn and redeem rewards across all Expedia Group brands, such as Expedia, Vrbo, Hotels.com, Travelocity, and Orbitz. The new program will...
Checking In With Vrbo
Vrbo -- an Expedia Group company – is expanding its Fast Start – which is designed to help new properties capture vacation rental demand -- to Canada, France and the UK. The program increases the visibility of new properties in the first 90 days and displays a review score based on reviews from other travel sites. It launched earlier this year in the United States and today marks its global rollout. Properties eligible for Fast Start are listings with a 4.5+ review rating and have earned more than $3,000 in the last year, or the host is a Superhost. New properties across all...
Go Back To School With Club Med
Canadian travel agents can go back to school with Club Med which has launched its interactive e-learning tool, Club Med University -- a platform that it created to train, engage and reward travel advisors for becoming Club Med Specialists. With the travel industry beginning to recover, Club Med notes that Canadians are eager to explore the world again and Club Med University equips travel agents with the necessary tools to become experts on the brand and in turn help Canadians plan their long-awaited dream getaways. Advisors attending Club Med University are provided with extensive...
SRI Launches Sandals Vacation Assurance
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is introducing Sandals Vacation Assurance, the industry’s most comprehensive vacation protection program featuring an industry-first guarantee of a free replacement vacation including airfare for guests impacted by COVID-19 related travel interruptions. According to SRI Executive Chairman Adam Stewart, the new Sandals Vacation Assurance Program is designed to take the worry out of travel, giving guests certainty that their investment in an all-inclusive luxury vacation is safeguarded from interruptions outside of their control. Said Stewart:...
Outlook Encouraging For Caribbean: CHTA
Despite the challenges of the past 18 months, the Caribbean tourism and hospitality industry recorded many significant successes, and data points to an encouraging outlook ahead. Acting CEO & director general of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) Vanessa Ledesma provided insights on the performance and outlook for the region’s tourism industry during the recent Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS). The pandemic’s impact on the travel and tourism industry globally has been severe, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs worldwide. The...
Club Med Gears Up For Growth
Club Med is continuing with its plans for growth, set to open 16 new resorts by the end of 2023; including the opening of four new resorts this year -- La Rosière (French Alps), Seychelles (East Africa), Lijiang (China) and Québec Charlevoix. It is also anticipating exponential growth in Canada and continues its strong investment in the market by recruiting 25 new employees at the brand’s headquarters in Montréal, hiring over 350 staff at Club Med Québec Charlevoix, launching new digital tools to support more travel agents and opening its first travel agency in the heart of...
Canadian Agents Invited To Take 10 With Sandals
Sandals Resorts is launching a new series of live, virtual training sessions that will debut on Fri., Sept. 17, 2021 with its highly-anticipated new resort in Curaçao (opening April 2022) as the first featured topic. Created exclusively for the Canadian market, “Sandals and Beaches Resorts….in 10 Minutes” will be led by Lorna Richards, national training manager, Unique Vacations Canada Inc. Travel advisors from across the country are invited to join her as she tackles a different subject every Friday in just 10 minutes – and no, that’s not a typo! Maureen Barnes-Smith,...