A report on over-tourism. Which is now under-tourism. Which isn’t good, either. Also, a note about the U.S. State Department lifting its four-month advisory against Americans travelling abroad. My Future of Travel blog for Aug. 7. Finding the Right Tourism Balance For years we’ve read headlines about too many tourists cramming the Champs Elysees and jamming the canals of Amsterdam. Locals on some popular Spanish islands got so fed up that they vandalized visitors’ cars. Petitions against over-tourism sprang up in overcrowded cities such as Barcelona and Venice, where they had to put limits on cruise ships. Now, what some Read more
Europe
New stats on the benefit of a road trip and being outdoors. New, daytime uses for hotels as work spaces. A chocolate museum for a popular European destination. And a potential Hawai’i hotel bubble for quarantined arrivals. My Future of Travel blog for July 29. Road Trips and the Outdoors: Not Only Fun But Good For You This doesn’t surprise someone who loves the outdoors and cherishes a great road trip. A company called Outdoorsy, which I talked about recently in a story I wrote about RV’s being popular this year, a huge majority of North Americans (94%)) say they’re Read more
The travel news from Europe and Hong Kong is bad. But things may be looking up for Canadian tourism in the Atlantic provinces. My Future of Travel report for July 27. It was only a few weeks ago that the UK put Spain on its good list, saying it was safe for its residents to take a holiday there. Now, with a surge in cases in Barcelona and other places, the UK has put Spain back on its naughty list, meaning UK residents would have to quarantine after coming home. The World Travel and Tourism Council called the move a Read more
Air Canada is trying to build consumer confidence as it also seeks a new approach to Canada’s borders. I also have news on United States tourism, Quebec tourism and Canadian travel (or lack thereof) to Europe this summer. My Future of Travel blog for July 17. Air Canada Health and Safety: Plus Renewed Calls For Border Reforms Air Canada hopes a program they staged for media and tourism/travel industry folks on Thursday will help build confidence in the concept of air travel. Airline officials also reiterated their call for more open borders to help Canada’s economy, albeit in a careful, Read more
One doesn’t want to appear smug, but considering the situation we have in Canada in terms of the coronavirus, this news lands at a pretty interesting time. A report by US News has ranked Canada as the best country in the world for Quality of Life and as the number two country on the planet overall, trailing only Switzerland. We were third last year, so we moved up a spot on the podium for 2020. Here’s what their report had to say, in part: “Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the Read more
