Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, September 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
25.08.2023 - 13:55 / skift.com / Rashaad Jorden / Peden Doma Bhutia / Josh Weinstein
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, March 28. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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Carnival Corporation is continuing to make enormous strides in its recovery from the pandemic. The company recorded its highest-ever booking volume for future sailings during the first quarter. That’s in large part due to its stellar performance in North America, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.
Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said during its earnings call on Monday that North American booking volumes have exceeded 2019 levels during the last six months. He added the company has seen demand surge across all regions. Carnival does not disclose specific numbers for bookings.
Although Carnival is doing well in Europe, the company is struggling to make a full recovery in both Asia and Australia. Habtemariam reports Carnival has been hit hard by China not reopening to international cruise travel.
Next, New York City is tweaking its iconic “I Love New York” slogan to “We Love New York City” as part of a new marketing campaign. But Global Tourism Reporter Habtemariam writes the new slogan like many others faces an uphill climb in gaining acceptance from the public.
Habtemariam reports New York City is launching the campaign to help boost civic engagement as well as pride in the city. Kathryn Wylde, a local business executive, admitted that New Yorkers largely felt pessimistic about the state of the city, adding the widespread negativity makes promoting tourism difficult. New Yorkers largely felt pessimistic about the state of the city, adding the widespread negativity makes promoting tourism difficult. Wylde said the new slogan is supposed to inspire New Yorkers to take concrete action to improve the city. Habtemariam writes marketing campaigns can drive civic engagement, citing St. Louis as an example.
However, Habtemariam notes the new campaign has largely been ridiculed in the press. One marketing expert acknowledged it’s very difficult for tourism slogans to win community support, adding there have been more failures than successes. Habtemariam also writes that tourism slogans often struggle to gain acceptance because they can’t tell people how to feel.
Finally, the U.S. is making substantial progress in reducing the lengthy waits Indian travelers endure to obtain visitor visas. Wait times at some U.S. consulates in India have dropped below one year, reports Middle East and Asia Reporter Amrita Ghosh and Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in Skift’s India Travel Daily newsletter.
Reducing visa visitor delays has been a major priority for U.S. consulates in India, a major tourism market for the U.S. Average wait times are
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, September 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Airbnb and New York City have often had a tough relationship, one marked by lawsuits and other disputes. Airbnb has argued that New York City’s regulations have hurt its ability to do business, which the company believes will become more challenging when the city starts enforcing its host registration law regarding short-term rentals on September 5.
Buoyed by the strong recovery in India’s domestic travel demand, online travel company Yatra.com plans to launch its Indian initial public offering by March next year.
Registering a record performance for the first six months of the financial year, Dubai state carrier Emirates Airline on Thursday reported a net profit of $1.08 billion for the first half of the financial year, compared to a loss of $1.6 billion for the same period last year.
Hotels added 26,000 new jobs in the United States in November, a small increase from the previous month despite the overall strong job growth numbers for the U.S. economy, especially the leisure and hospitality industry.
Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said, during Wednesday’s earnings call for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended on November 30, some consumers are a bit weary about booking cruises with Covid and flu cases on the rise. But that didn’t dampen his optimism about 2023 with Carnival seeing a surge in bookings for the new year, after years of seeing its business being dogged by the pandemic with onboard outbreaks, deaths, and plenty of bad publicity.
Indian online travel agency EaseMyTrip announced this week that it has acquired a 55 percent stake in hotel booking marketplace cheQin, owned by Gleego Innovations, for around $370,000.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Carnival booking volumes continue to exceed their 2019 levels in North America, but they have been slower to catch up to Asia, Australia and China, Carnival executives said during a Monday earnings call.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, April 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, April 4. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.