Ireland tourism is on the rise. Ditto for Puerto Rico. But the most interesting news of the day comes from China.
If you’re like me (I’m not saying that’s a good thing), your biggest pet peeve on an airline is when someone sitting in front of you reclines their seat. I don’t mind if it’s a night flight; that’s to be expected. And I would do the same thing. But unless you’ve just flown in from Australia, I don’t see the need to recline your seat on a day flight and cram the space of the person sitting behind you.
I can see that someone might be tired, so perhaps it’s okay. But you should ALWAYS turn around and ask someone if they mind. They might have their laptop out and be working on a critical project. They might have a glass of red wine on the go, which could be easily toppled.
If you really need to sleep during the day, ask the person behind you, and put your seat back gently. I can live with that. But I HATE it when someone in front of me reclines their seat all the way into my face and then proceeds to watch a movie or read a book. That’s just crap.
Which brings me to a great story I spotted on CNN the other day about a Chinese man fined $478 (USD, by the way) for reclining his seat on a train near Wuhan. It seems the recliner broke the screen on the laptop of the person sitting behind him.
CNN reports that the Xiangyin County People’s Court in Hunan ruled both parties were partly responsible for what happened, with the recliner 70% at fault because he reclined his seat in the first place and the guy behind him 30% to blame because he should have been more careful.
The court ruled the recliner had to pay 70% of the cost of the laptop repair, which came to $478 US.
CNN said the court pointed out that there are notices in the Wuhan train station asking people to SEEK THE PERMISSION OF THE PERSON BEHIND THEM before reclining their seat.
Now, THAT’s my kind of travel reminder.
Dublin, Ireland. Gregory Dalleau/Unsplash Photo.
IRELAND TOURISM BOUNCES BACK
Canadian visits to Ireland this year are roughly 70% of pre-pandemic levels, Tourism Ireland officials say.
Alison Metcalfe, EVP Canada and USA for Tourism Ireland, told me on Tuesday that 248,000 Canadians visited Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2019. That was a record year, and represented the 10th consecutive year of growth.
There’s no forecast for 2023 numbers from Canada, but Metcalfe noted that air lift is back to 96% of pre-pandemic levels.
“Back in 2019, if you look at total visitors or total tourists, the average stay (for Canadians) was 11 nights. That’s one of the highest rates for any visitor to Ireland.”
The Open golf championship, aka The British Open, will be played at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in 2025, while the Ryder Cup (top European golfers against the best U.S. players) will be at Adare Manor in 2027.
Metcalfe said movie and television tourism has been big in Ireland for years.
The new movie “Banshees of Inisherin” is drawing visitors to Inis Mor, off County Galway, and Achill Island, off County Mayo, where you’ll find sensational surfing and stimulating scenery. Northern Ireland is famously home to the Game of Thrones television series. The new Dungeons and Dragons movie also was partly filmed in Northern Ireland.
New York City. Hannah Busing/Unsplash photo
PORTER AIRLINES ADDS OTTAWA-NEW YORK CITY FLIGHTS
Porter Airlines is launching four new Canadian and U.S. routes from Ottawa International Airport. Starting March 27, 2023 passengers will be able to fly on daily non-stop flights between Ottawa and Boston, New York-Newark, Quebec City and Thunder Bay, featuring Porter’s elevated economy experience.
Porter will be the only airline providing year-round daily direct flights to Boston, Quebec City and Thunder Bay from Ottawa. People from Canada’s Capital Region will benefit from the convenient travel links these routes provide.
“Ottawa was our first destination when we launched in 2006, and it has always been a critical location for Porter throughout our history,” said Michael Deluce, president and CEO, Porter Airlines. “The network expansion in Ottawa shows our commitment to the Ottawa-Gatineau region and its people. We expect our presence in Ottawa will continue growing.”
“We are thrilled to be a part of Porter’s exciting growth plans and welcome these additions to YOW’s offering. I am confident that the Ottawa-Gatineau community will continue to embrace Porter’s elevated service and comfort as more and more people return to the skies,” Mark Laroche, president and CEO, Ottawa International Airport Authority.
The new daily non-stop routes will be served by 78-seat De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft.
Munich, Germany. photo by luis-fernando-felipe-alves–unsplash
GERMANY TOURISM GROWING STRONGER
The German National Tourist Bureau says incoming tourism recovered significantly in the 2022 summer season. The volume of overnight stays by foreign guests reached around 85 percent of the pre-crisis level in the third quarter.
Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the Board of Directors of the GNTB, describes the current incoming situation: “The intention to travel is still high. This is confirmed by the latest study ‘Monitoring Sentiment in Intra European Travel’ by the European Travel Commission (ETC) from October 2022.
The analysts from Tourism Economics also confirm a high willingness to travel and forecast a further increase from 60 to 67 million international overnight stays in Germany in 2023 for incoming tourism 2023 rising prices for the travel offer in Germany due to inflation and higher energy costs. Nevertheless, more than a third of top managers state that moderate price increases would not affect customer demand for travel offers in Germany, 57 percent expect a slight decrease in demand due to price increases.”
San Juan, Puerto Rico. Zixi Zhou/Unsplash Photo
PUERTO RICO TOURISM SPIKES
Despite the impact of Hurricane Fiona this Fall, Puerto Rico’s tourism industry is on track to close the year with new records in visitation, visitor spending and jobs – signaling one of the best years in the history of this economic sector and solidifying the Territory’s recovery from the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tourism continues to lead the economic resurgence of Puerto Rico, and together, we’re setting records along the way,” said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. “Visitation, spending, and employment continue to reach or exceed 2021 levels, which … was our best year ever in Puerto Rico tourism. In comparison to other Caribbean islands and states in the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico continues to outperform our peers.”
Alisha Valentine, Discover Puerto Rico’s Director of Research and Analytics, said 2022 is estimated to close with a seven percent increase in overall visitation compared to 2019.
Between January and October of this year, travelers contributed $1.345 billion to the island’s lodging sector, an increase of about 30 per cent.
The Society of American Travel Writers, of which I’m a member (and a board member) will hold our annual convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico in September of 2023. I’ll also be there in March for our mid-year board meetings.
I was there once for a few days, but that was for an International Olympic Committee meeting back in 1989. I also had a few hours in San Juan as part of a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2004. But that’s it.
FLAIR AIRLINES VOWS TROUBLE BEHIND IT
After a week of delays and service disruptions, Flair Airlines CEO Stephen Jones says things will return to normal on Wednesday, Global News reports.
The network said Flair has cancelled 27 flights since Dec. 7, while a number of others have been delayed as well as the airline has been without three aircraft from its fleet of 19.
