An airline food company in Israel is offering meals to the public. Meanwhile, Emirates is offering free funerals. No, these two items are not related.
I also have an item about how Canadians are reluctant to hop on a plane or onto a cruise ship and how Hawaii’s tourism opening may be delayed again. My August 4 Future of Travel blog.
Airline Food for Sale – Yum!
I hadn’t thought about it, but one of the businesses that’s been hurt by the lack of air travel the past few months are companies that supply that delicious, highly appealing food that some airlines serve.
National Public Radio says the airline food company Tamam Kitchen is offering its meals to the public as low-cost delivery options during the pandemic, with some meals as low as $3 USD. Now, I know what you’re thinking. But I’ve actually had some pretty good meals on airlines. I’m pretty fond of the Freshii items on Air Canada, for example, as well as their chicken wraps.
In a COMPLETELY UNRELATED move, Emirates Airline has a very unusual offer for passengers; free funerals for anyone who flies with them and contracts COVID-19 during their trip. The deal is valid for funeral costs up to about $2,400 Canadian dollars. The insurance is automatic with ticketing, effective immediately, and carries no fees for travellers, according to Forbes.com.
Emirates also will a passengers’ medical expenses, up to around $2,300 CAD per day for medical expenses and up to about $160 CAD for quarantine costs, such as a hotel room – for up to two weeks.
That’s a pretty brave, and pretty noteworthy, ad campaign from one of the world’s best airlines. I got to fly them business class from Toronto to Dubai and back about 10 years ago, and it was outstanding.
Canadians Not Ready For Flying
Canada’s Swoop AIrlines.
Most Canadians and Americans aren’t rushing to travel anywhere, even within their own countries, before a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, according to the CBC.
The network says a recent poll by Research Co., a Vancouver-based polling firm, found that less than a third d of Canadians are willing to take a flight anywhere right now whether it’s to another continent, to another province, or even within their own province.
Only 17 per cent of Canadian respondents were willing to take a plane to the United States.
Thirty-five per cent of Americans say they are willing to take a flight within the U.S., but only 28 per cent would fly to Canada.
That’s very bad news for the airline industry and for tourism in general.
The poll also asked about cruising. Only 13 per cent of Canadians said yes to a cruise, while one in five Americans were willing to go on a cruise without a vaccine.
There was also a “sizeable gender gap” between Americans who took the survey, with men saying they were more likely to travel without a vaccine than women.
Another Tourism Delay for Hawai’i?
One of several small beaches on the east end of Molokai. JIM BYERS PHOTO
My friends at TravelPulse in the U.S. say the stated date for Hawai’i to allow visitors from outside the state could be changed.
The governor of Hawai’i had said visitors from outside the state could start arriving Aug. 1, but that was changed to September 1 after a rush of new cases in the mainland U.S. Now, there’s talk the Sept. 1 day could be delayed.
September is usually one of the quietest months of the year for tourism in Hawai’i, but with visitation virtually shut down for several months, including the important summer season, I’m sure hoteliers and others in the tourism biz are aching for restrictions to be lifted.
Speaking of Hawai’i, TravelPulse the other day published a list of “hidden gems” in each of the 50 U.S. states. For Hawai’i, they picked the north shore of Kauai. I get it, but I probably would have opted for something a bit more obscure, like the tranquil east coast of Molokai or the super-quiet north shores of Maui and Hawai’i Big Island.
