Holiday & Travel

As has become customary, year after year Cuba holds its international tourism fair, FITCuba, which in its 41st edition presents novelties worthy of being disclosed.

Once again, Caribbean News Digital and the Excelencias Group are also present at the major tourism exchange in the largest Antillean Island, covering every relevant event.

The 2023 cruise season at the Port of Montreal got off to a great start this morning with the arrival of Holland America Line’s Zaandam, one of the largest cruise ships that visits the Port of Montreal, with a capacity of 1,440 passengers.

To mark the occasion and honour the 150th anniversary of Holland America Line, a plaque was presented to the captain of the Zaandam, Ane Smit. The season will run until October 30, 2023, and the number of international passengers is expected to exceed 45,000, up nearly 20% more than last year.

The tourism industry's premier event, the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), is just hours away from kicking off formalities with Destination Gold Coast, together with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), Tourism Australia (TA) and the City of Gold Coast warmly welcoming the delegation atop HOTA Gallery. Approximately 2,500 delegates from more than 30 countries will meet on the Gold Coast this week (30th April-4th May 2023) for the five-day event, bringing businesses together from across the country to promote their products directly to wholesalers, retailers, and media from around the world.

As the arrival of summer draws near, travellers are preparing to embark on journeys to fresh, unexplored locales as well as tried-and-true favourite destinations.

To woo these would-be visitors, many Caribbean hotels and resorts have come to market with special deals and promotions that are too good to pass up. One example is Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau in the Bahamas, which is offering an exceptional savings package for families looking for a fun-filled summer vacation experience.

Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation and Investment, The Honourable Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez, has announced the appointment of Vernon A. Jeffers Sr. as the new Chair of the Board of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), effective February 2023. Jeffers succeeds Dr. Lorraine Raeburn who served as the Chairman from January 2018 – January 2023.

The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) today shows the Travel & Tourism sector is closing in on its 2019 peak, recovering by more than 95%. In 2023, the sector is forecast to reach $9.5TN, just 5% below 2019 pre-pandemic levels when travel was at its highest. 34 countries have already exceeded 2019 levels. 

Lufthansa is launching new Airbus A380 destinations from Munich in the coming winter. From October 5 on, the airline will be flying again an A380 daily to the Californian metropolis of Los Angeles.

Shortly before the start of the winter flight schedule on October 28, there will be a special premiere: For the first time, a Lufthansa Airbus A380 will take off from Munich to the Thai capital Bangkok, increasing the seat capacity by almost 75 percent compared to the A350.

The Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) Tobago continues to reignite global interest in Tobago as a premier holiday destination, partnering with the high-profile UK publications Daily Mail and Evening Standard for a post-COVID resumption of press trips.

In 2020, press trips to Tobago ground to a halt due to travel restrictions. Now that travel and tourism has fully resumed, TTAL recommenced press trip activity in order to attain top tier press coverage for Tobago that lends itself to current travel trends. Alicia Edwards, Executive Chairman of TTAL said:

Even as the development of the parish of Trelawny into a sought-after resort is progressing in earnest, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett is expressing displeasure with the state of sections of the town capital, Falmouth.

Declaring that “we have to fix the town of Falmouth,” Minister Bartlett said a proper public education programme has to be carried out in the town to foster public order.

The Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) is pleased to report that the newly launched Pure Grenada Excellence Champion (PGEC) Customer Service training sessions on the sister isle of Carriacou were a resounding success. 250 participants from various sectors attended the sessions, which took place between April 3 to 6 at the Cassada Bay Resort.

The Jamaica Tourist Board has announced that it has appointed Mr. Philip Rose to serve as its Deputy Director of Tourism (Ag.), Americas, with responsibility for the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America effective as of April 1, 2023.
 
“Philip Rose has a long history working in tourism to promote brand Jamaica,” said the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica. “Throughout the years, he has proven himself to be a visionary leader whose numerous successes have helped to elevate and maintain Jamaica’s status as one of the world’s top tourism destinations, particularly from North America. It was therefore a natural fit for him step into this key role.”

Zanzibar President Dr. Hussein Mwinyi said during a meeting with the Belgian Ambassador to Tanzania Mr. Peter Huyghebaert that tourism is one of the key areas for Zanzibar’s Blue Economy agenda, that would make the island the best destination for tourists from around the globe.

Dr. Mwinyi told the Belgian diplomat that his government has been working hard to modernize island’s airports and other infrastructure at tourists’ attraction sites, along with providing better services so that the visitors can speak positively or become good ambassadors abroad. Zanzibar president further expressed his happiness to meet and talk to the Belgian Ambassador to Tanzania and said that Belgium has been among the leading sources of inbound tourism to Zanzibar.

Nepal tourism has a special place for World Tourism Network. A new partnership with the Himalayan Travel Mart shows.

Destination Nepal is more than just an adventure tourism destination. The World Tourism Network just announced a new key partnership with the upcoming Himalayan Travel Mart in Nepal taking place in Kathmandu from June 6 to 9, 2023.

St. Kitts’ latest campaign invites travellers “to explore, to learn, and immerse themselves fully in a new experience,” encouraging them to “peel back” the layers and discover something new. In other words: “Venture Deeper”.

As a regional concern, Caribbean tourism can benefit great from adopting a similar mindset. The time is ripe not only to look at building greater resilience into the visitor industry, but also to reorient at least a part of our focus on developing and offering an abundance of fresh, uniquely Caribbean experiences.

World Tourism Network Chair, Juergen Steinmetz, announced he was proud to partner with WTN member SUNx Malta. SunX invites members to register for the Third Climate Friendly Travel Youth Summit “SEYS 3”.

This virtual event is live streamed on YouTube, and other partners from Malta, taking place on April 27th, 2023, from 15:00 – 17:00 CEST (Central European Time), or 9.00-11.00 EST, 21.00-23.00 Singapore/China. SunX is under the leadership of Professor Geoffrey Lipman. He explained: “The Youth Summit will discuss, and aims..

Massive strike launched by German EVG labour union on Friday morning paralysed railway traffic across Germany. Organised labour action launched to demand pay raises for railroad workers coincided with similar walkouts at key German airports that started yesterday.

German railway ‘warning strike’ coincided with peak hours on Friday morning and began at 3am local time, seriously affecting the operations of national operator Deutsche Bahn. According to union representatives, the strike covered only the morning rush hours and was scheduled to end at 11am.