Winter could still throw a COVID-19 curveball as we move indoors, but there are some positive signs in the tourism and travel industry. Executives at IHG Hotels & Resorts say they’re encouraged by the business environment and the third quarter performance of their hotels, especially in the U.S. The website Hotel News Now quotes Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, chief financial officer and head of group strategy, as saying occupancy and average daily rate in some markets this summer were back to 2019 levels. According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travellers, the drop in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths Read more
Four Seasons Hualalai
With the stroke of a pen, or, rather, with the stroke of a bunch of ballot votes in favour of legalizing gay marriage, Ireland has suddenly jumped into the thick of the worldwide travel conversation. Not only does the country look good by most of the world’s standards in terms of embracing different cultures, it stands to benefit greatly from a tourism standpoint. I don’t know how large the LGBT tourism business is worldwide, but if guesstimates are right that 10 per cent of the world counts itself as gay or transgendered or what have you, then it’s big. Very Read more
