Air France says it’s re-instating flights from France to cities around the world, including some in North America. Sunwing, meanwhile, will launch its Canadian domestic service again this summer. The province of British Columbia and the Caribbean island of Aruba also are opening up for visitors. I’ve also got news on British tourism and United States cruises. Oh, and a crazy quote from the head of the Dubai Airport that will make you think twice about flying any time soon. Here’s my May 19 Future of Travel report.
SUNWING CANADIAN DOMESTIC SERVICE FOR 2020
Western Brook Pond is a fabulous part of Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Seeing the great sights of Canada will be easy this summer, thanks to Sunwing’s domestic service. For the 15th straight year, Sunwing will fly Canadian domestic routes in summer, with flights starting in late June and running until the first part of October.
Sunwing will be offering a range of convenient hotel, flight and car rental options for great destinations in Canada. One great option are flights between Toronto and Newfoundland. The airline will offer flights between Toronto Pearson and St. John’s from Monday to Friday from June 26 to Sept. 9. They also will have twice weekly flights from Pearson to Gander International from June 26 to Sept. 8. In addition, there will be weekly flights from YYZ to Deer Lake every Wednesday from July 1 to Sept. 9. Deer Lake is a short drive from the wonders of Gros Morne National Park, famous for its fjords and amazing hikes and boat tours.
Sunwing also will operate weekly flights between Toronto and Vancouver on Thursdays from July 2 to Oct. 8 and on Sundays from June 28 to Oct. 4.
AIR FRANCE SLOWLY GEARING BACK UP
Between now and the end of June and subject to travel restrictions being lifted, Air France plans to gradually resume its flights,with a gradual increase in the number of frequencies and destinations, especially to/from metropolitan France, the French Overseas Departments, and Europe.
This flight schedule will be equivalent to 15% of the capacities usually deployed at this time of year and will be operated by 75 aircraft in the Air France fleet, which comprises 224 aircraft.
Among the flights coming up will be Paris-Montreal, Paris-London, Paris-Amsterdam, Paris-Hong Kong and Paris-Los Angeles.
US TRAVEL AND TOURISM WOES CONTINUE
Things are slowly getting better, but the latest figures from the U.S. Travel Association are rather sobering.
More than half of the 15.8 million travel-related jobs in the U.S. have disappeared since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic—driving an unemployment number (51%) that is more than twice the 25% rate the country as a whole experienced at the worst of the Great Depression, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Travel Association.
Prepared for U.S. Travel by the research firm Tourism Economics, the painful jobs figures arrive just days before the Memorial Day holiday weekend—the unofficial start of the summer travel season, for which many travel businesses would have typically prepared with a round of seasonal hiring.
For this Memorial Day holiday weekend, Tourism Economics projects that travel spending in the U.S. will tally just a third of last year’s levels—$4.2 billion this year versus $12.3 billion in 2019.
U.S. Travel has submitted policy proposals that would help the industry restore jobs and economic activity quickly once travel begins to rebound. One significant challenge is that aid measures provided by Congress so far just aren’t working for the hardest-hit businesses that have been without customers or revenue for as many as 10 or more weeks. The intent from Congress was good, but changes are necessary to bring these jobs back.
BRITISH COLUMBIA PREPARES TO OPEN FOR VISITORS
The Wickaninnish Inn is one of the great spots to stop in the Tofino, B.C. area. PHOTO COURTESY WICKANINNISH INN
British Columbia, truly one of the gems in Canadian tourism, is getting ready to open its doors to visitors, albeit in a safe, very Canadian kind of way.
The CBC reports that B.C. today (May 19) is starting phase two of its COVID-19 re-opening plan. Phase 3, which begins in June as long as transmission rates remain low, will see hotels and resorts reopening.
Long Beach Lodge in Tofino, B.C., will reopen to visitors starting June 3, provided there are no alarming increases in cases. But the resort’s business manager says it won’t be business as usual.
“We are hoping to be operating at about 50% … just to maintain social distancing,” Samantha Hackett, business manager at Long Beach Lodge Resort, told the CBC.
Not far away, the stunning Wickaninnish Inn is slated to reopen June 15. They’ll welcome just B.C. residents at first. Visitors from other parts of Canada, as well as Americans, will be able to visit beginning July 6, a spokesperson said.
That’s assuming, of course, that the Canada-US border is open by then. The border is currently closed until May 21, which means we should be getting an update today or tomorrow.
ARUBA PREPARES TO WELCOME TOURISTS
Photo by Rabih Shasha/Unsplash
The Aruba Tourism Authority and the Department of Public Health today announced the ‘Aruba Health & Happiness Code’, a stringent cleaning and hygiene gold certification program mandatory for all tourism businesses.
On May 8th, the Government of Aruba announced a tentative reopening of the borders for inbound travel scheduled between June 15 and July 1, 2020 with a formal announcement of the official date to be made in the coming weeks. In order to receive visitors, all tourism businesses in Aruba must adhere to the new protocols and receive approval from the Department of Inspection and Hygiene to be awarded with the Aruba Health & Happiness Codegold certification seal.
Visitors can once again dream of visiting Aruba, and be reassured they will have a safe experience at every touchpoint of their journey, from the airport which will offer advanced screenings, to hotel accommodations which have elevated protocols that include plexiglass barriers when there’s interaction with staff, digital check-in, social distancing in common spaces and more.
AIR TRAVEL WILL BE “AS FUN AS OPEN-HEART SURGERY” – SOME KINDA QUOTE
I spotted this quote on the USA Today Travel site yesterday. Wowza.
“Going through an airport, the whole travel experience, will be as enjoyable as open-heart surgery,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths recently told Bloomberg, adding that precautionary measures like personal protective equipment and social distancing restrictions can only be short-term solutions while waiting on a vaccine.
“This crisis is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the aviation business,” he added. “We’re dealing with a monster.”
VISIT BRITAIN MAKES A LOCAL TRAVEL PUSH
Manchester is a great city to explore in England, with glorious architecture and cool neighborhoods. JIM BYERS PHOTO
My friends at Travel Weekly in the UK are offering this item today.
VisitBritain has called 2020 ‘the year of domestic tourism’ but has warned there is a ‘real job’ to be done to convince the British public it is safe to travel around the UK.
Patricia Yates, acting chief executive of VisitBritain, said clarity on government funding and a review of domestic tourism marketing were needed if, as hoped, the domestic tourism market was to make up for losses expected in inbound tourism this year.
Speaking to MPs during a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport hearing to give evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on the sector, she said 74% of UK consumers with a holiday booked between July and September believed their holidays would not take place while only 19% of people were “talking about booking domestic holidays for the summer”.
THE TRAVEL CORPORATION ENHANCES HEALTH/SAFETY PROGRAM
The Travel Corporation (TTC) and its numerous guided vacations brands (Trafalgar, Luxury Gold, Insight Vacations, Contiki and Costsaver) have announced their newly enhanced COVID-19 related protocols and hygiene standards for all of its guided vacations once domestic and international travel resumes. TTC’s executive and operations team members have spearheaded a complete review of the sanitation and hygiene measures around guests’ experiences and interactions while on their guided holidays, from the moment they meet their Travel Directors and Trip Managers, to travelling on state-of-the-art coaches, the hotels they will stay in and the immersive excursions they will experience on each trip.
“At TTC, as a family-owned and run business for the past 100 years, we have always taken the well-being and peace of mind of our guests and every team member as our top priority,” said Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of The Travel Corporation. “As we adapt to this new world, our dedicated, diligent TTC team members across the globe are preparing and will be implementing enhanced training, procedures and numerous new measures throughout our various guest experiences offered, with the very best possible care and service. These new protocols will be adapted and adjusted as needed, in a timely manner, as governments define and implement what will be required in each country,” he said.
Officials said TTC is ready to comply with new testing and physical distancing and hygiene protocol requirements by relevant government authorities and in accordance with the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO).
US TRAVEL INTENTIONS: DEFINITELY DOMESTIC
The latest findings of the Travel Intentions Pulse Survey, conducted by MMGY Travel Intelligence , reveal just 36% of U.S. travellers intend to take a domestic leisure trip in the next six months. When asked about traveling after the pandemic subsides, the preference is to still travel domestically and closer to home. Fifty-seven percent of travelers say that following the pandemic they are more likely to book travel to U.S. destinations, and 43% expect to travel to destinations closer to home.
SMALL CRUISE COMPANIES GEARING UP IN THE STATES
American Cruise Lines
This report comes from my colleagues at TravelPulse in the U.S.
Some U.S.-flag cruise companies are tentatively planning to begin operating next month since their small ships are exempt from the no-sail order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to halt the spread of COVID-19.
“The CDC order really is not targeted to lines with ships of our size and just operate in the U.S.,” said Charles B. Robertson, president and CEO of American Cruise Lines. “It is specifically for vessels with 250 or more souls on board,” passengers and crew in total.
The CDC no-sail order is in effect until July 24 or until the COVID-19 pandemic is deemed over. American Cruise Lines is looking at a June 20 startup.
SOME AMERICANS STILL LEERY
As cities and states begin to ease restrictions imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, only 31% of Americans are now comfortable dining in local restaurants and shopping in local stores, while 49% are not comfortable dining and shopping locally. When asked how they felt about travel outside their home community, 35% said they would be comfortable doing so, while 40% would not. And as far as opening their communities to visitors, 31% said they are supportive of those efforts, while 45% are not.
The percentage of American travelers who say that coronavirus will greatly impact their travel decisions in the next six months ticked up slightly for the first time in six weeks to 60%, a percentage which has ranged from 58% to 67% since March 19th. Americans continue to view positive advice from the CDC and other federal health officials as the most important sign it’s safe to travel (54%), followed by advice from federal and state elected officials (33%) and the fact that states are easing restrictions (33%).
The study was undertaken May 13, 2020 by Longwoods International.
