A new travel voucher policy from Transat, a big boost for Indigenous tourism in Canada, a new rule requiring masks at Marriott Hotels around the world, COVID-19 trouble for Canadian travel and a posh new Kimpton hotel in Key West. My Future of Travel blog for July 22. Transat Alters Travel Voucher/Travel Credit Policy To offer greater flexibility to customers whose bookings have been cancelled due to COVID-19 or who cancelled their trips as part of Transat’s flexibility policy, Transat is relaxing the terms around the use of the future travel credits issued as a result. Those future travel credits Read more
Marriott
It’s probably fair to say that no single city in the world has taken a bigger hit from COVID-19 than New York. But this is one of the greatest cities on the planet (and toughest), and they’ve laid out a plan to pull themselves out of it with a newly-unveiled group called The Coalition for NYC Hospitality & Tourism Recovery. I also have news about the re-instatement of flights around the world by Emirates, American Airlines, Korean Air, Qatar Airways and others. I also have an update on how Los Cabos, Mexico plans to open for tourism on June 1. Read more
A month or two ago, when all this crazy coronavirus stuff hit the fan, I suggested that 2020 may be The Summer of Canada given our reluctance (and, for now, inability) to travel anywhere else over the next few months, and given the low Canadian dollar and the damage COVID-19 has done to our collective pocketbooks. I’m taking another look at the issue today given a Conference Board of Canada study I spotted the other day (and one I referenced on the weekend during my live interview on CTV News). Today’s Future of Travel Blog also looks at a new Read more
Today’s Future of Travel blog looks at some of the countries that could be hit hardest by a tourism drop. I also have great news for Norwegian Cruise Line, which has received $2 billion US in financing, plus news about Canadian attractions being left behind by government aid programs, hotel cleanliness programs and news from both Royal Caribbean and Silversea cruises. Oh, and baseball, too! COVID-19 And Tourism Impact We all know from the headlines that Italy and Spain had a hard time with COVID-19, and that the UK and the US seem far worse off than Canada. But what Read more
This is one of a series of blog posts on the FUTURE OF TRAVEL in this wild time of COVID-19. Today I look at several aspects of the hotel industry. Virtually everyone in the travel business worth talking to has conceded that business as usual won’t work in this new age of the coronavirus. Cruise ships are stepping up their game, airlines are mandating masks on board for passengers, and hotels are making adjustments of their own. Last week, Marriott got things started by announcing a major cleanliness program that they hope will make would-be customers feel more confident in Read more
