Jamaica minister of tourism calls for digital overhaul of sector

Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism for Jamaica, has underscored the need for tourism interests around the world to embrace and leverage a new ‘smart tourism’ model. Only then could the sector return to success in the post-Covid-19 era, he argued. The minister was speaking at SAHIC – a two-day hotel investment conference taking place in […]

United’s November Service to Add Popular Florida, Mexico and Caribbean Routes

United Airlines announced plans to restart service on close to 30 international routes this November, in addition to strengthening U.S. domestic connections to tourism hotspots in Hawaii and Florida. In rebuilding its network, United is also bolstering service to popular leisure destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. Even after such additions, the airline’s […]

ACI Congratulates Flamingo International Airport – Bonaire for obtaining the Airport Health Accreditation

Airports Council International Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC) congratulates Flamingo International Airport – Bonaire for obtaining the Airport Health Accreditation. The ACI Airport Health Accreditation (AHA) programme provides airports with an assessment of how aligned their health measures are with the ACI Aviation Business Restart and Recovery guidelines and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s […]

WTTC Safe Travels scheme reaches new milestone

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has added 100 destinations to its ‘Safe Travels’ accreditation scheme, with the Philippines becoming the latest member. The stamp, which was developed in order to help restore confidence in travellers and work to revive an ailing tourism sector, is now also being used by many more major holiday […]

WTTC warns United States could see huge losses from tourism closure

The United States economy stands to lose a total of $155 billion this year due to the collapse of international travel during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to latest research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council. The trade body finds steep declines in the number of travellers visiting the country due to the poor […]

WTTC calls on UK to offer global tourism leadership

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called on the UK government to offer strong leadership to save the struggling tourism sector. Over 100 major travel and global business leaders – from airlines, airports, hotels, tour operators and travel companies – have backed the unprecedented move. The industry leaders signed a letter, which called […]

Travel bans cannot be indefinite, countries must fight virus at home: WHO

Bans on international travel cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries are going to have to do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders, the World Health Organization said on Monday. A surge of infections has prompted countries to reimpose some travel restrictions in recent days, with Britain throwing the […]

The continued shutdown of Latin America and Caribbean is hurting regional airlines

With COVID-19 infections accelerating, the majority of Latin America and Caribbean countries still closed to commercial travel, and Europe imposing travel restrictions, the tourism and aviation industry risks losing millions of jobs and seeing more airlines filing bankruptcy, two leading industry organizations say. On Thursday, the International Air Transport Association and the World Travel & […]

Remarks of Alexandre de Juniac at the IATA Media Briefing on COVID-19

Good morning, afternoon or evening to everyone. Thank you for joining us on this call. James has highlighted the urgent need for governments to address the quarantine issue. For countries seeking to open up their economies, travel and tourism is a critical sector. Globally it is about 10% of GDP and in some locations, it […]