CLIA has advised that all of its ocean-going member cruise lines will be voluntarily and temporarily suspending cruise ship operations from US ports of call for 30 days as public health officials and the US government continue to address COVID-19.
Kelly Craighead, president and CEO, CLIA, said in a statement that, “CLIA cruise line members are voluntarily and temporarily suspending...
TIM MORGAN
DIRECTOR, BUSINESS STRATEGY – CANADA VIRTUOSO
1 The last week has been almost surreal with announcements from airlines and tour operators suspending service to the government’s advisory to cancel or postpone all nonessential travel. What’s your reaction?
This is uncharted territory, and a situation that is changing very rapidly. Virtuoso is recommending that its travel...
IAN STALKER
Two travel industry veterans are doubtful that resorts using humour or slashing rates is going to generate much interest from a COVID-19-wary public in the current climate.
Canadian Travel Press has received emails from one African bushcamps firm announcing that it’s cutting its rates by 65% in hopes of attracting clients in a time when much of the industry has gone into a...
TED DAVIS
It may be hard to envision a productive ending the current virus crisis for the tourism sector, but one travel industry consultant says stake holders should start taking action now to ensure a silver lining on the covid cloud.
Tourism industry businesses and DMOs (destination marketing organizations) can be using these down times and sales doldrums to prepare for the end of the...
IAN STALKER
(Photo above: Easily recognizable koalas are symbolic of Australian wildlife.)
Photo courtesy/ Echnida Walkabout
Janine Duffy says those worried about the likes of wallabies and wombats following the fires that raged through much of Australia recently can lend a helping hand to those creatures by touring their turf.
Duffy, with Echidna Walkabout, which has...
Travel Advisories being issued by multiple governments, ships being refused entry into ports and change fee waivers have become everyday news because of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Consequently, changes of heart and growing concerns on the part of travellers have become a part of travel professionals’ everyday life, as well. During such times both travel suppliers and travel advisors need to be...
ERIC BARBER
On Feb. 28, the German Ministry of Health officially cancelled the world’s largest tourism trade show, Internationale Tourismus-Börse as a precautionary
measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. Never in 56 years, whether during the Cold War or any other crisis, has the show been cancelled.
What are the implications of ITB, with its 126,000 visitors, being...
ANN RUPPENSTEIN
As a teenager, Roxanne Joyal spent a year abroad volunteering with mothers and children with AIDS in Thailand and starting a fair-trade program for women in Kenya to sell their beadwork to visitors. Although she went on to study international relations at Stanford University, earn a Rhodes scholarship and a law degree from Oxford, and clerk for the Supreme Court of...
MIKE DUNBAR
The main risk to the global economy, in general, and travel and tourism, in particular, from COVID-19 is not contagion or mortality, but rather it stems from the actions that national and local authorities have taken to curb the outbreak – actions that have been dubbed “the lockdown paradox.”
That was the analysis shared by Tourism Economics president Adam Sacks...
In a survey of its members to find out more about the impact of COVID-19, ACTA found that the virus is most definitely having an effect on the travel industry, with results revealing that consumers are concerned not just about Asia, but, in particular, about cruising and about travel in general.
As well, the member survey also found that clients already booked want to cancel, change or...
