Carnival Sees Highest-Ever Future Bookings — Thank You, North America

Brazil will mandate visitors from the U.S., Australia and Canada obtain an e-visa prior to entering the country starting January 10, 2024, according to Embratur, Brazil tourism’s board.

Hotel guests of Hilton will soon be able to rest and recharge themselves — and their own electric vehicle at the same time.  The popular hotel chain has teamed up with Tesla to add 20,000 Universal Wall Connectors at 2,000 Hilton hotel properties throughout North America, Hilton shared with Travel + Leisure this week. Each hotel will have at least six chargers on-site, creating the largest overnight electric vehicle charging network. The first locations distributed across the United States, Canada, and Mexico will come online in early 2024.  “Through this expanded agreement with Tesla, we are significantly changing the landscape of universal EV chargers in North America in an incredibly short amount of time,” Hilton’s Chief Brand Officer Matt Schuyler said of the hotel company's announcement.

There's planned refueling taking place at more than the breakfast stations at Hilton hotels across the U.S., Canada and Mexico in the coming years.

Soho House is a brand with bona fide British celebrity and royal bragging rights: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their first date at one in London. Soho Farmhouse, the brand's countryside inn a two-hour drive outside London, has hosted everyone from former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to Princess Eugenie and (my personal favorite) top-selling U.K. band Girls Aloud.

With the pandemic now over, what’s the future of tourism? What does the decline of full-time office employees mean for tourism and business travel? Why hasn’t U.S. solved its visa delay mess? We’ll discuss these topics with the executives of NYC Tourism+Conventions, U.S. Travel Association, Visit Britain, Intrepid Travel and others on-stage at the Skift Global Forum in New York on September 26-28. 

The South Carolina Aquarium, commonly referred to as the Charleston Aquarium because of its location, has the deepest aquarium in North America: the Great Ocean Tank. In this 385,000-gallon tank that is so tall it stretches from the first to the third floor, you’ll see sharks, a 220-pound loggerhead sea turtle, and many more fish, each more intriguing and beautiful than the next. But the aquarium is home to all sorts of animals beyond fish: a rehabilitated bald eagle named Liberty, a large pink spoonbill named Pearl, and adorable river otters. Need another reason for visiting? The aquarium hosts adult-only night visits where you can wonder the galleries with a canapé on one hand and glass of wine in the other.

The sun may be setting in summer, but there's no better time to set your sights on a new horizon. With the days growing cooler, it's the perfect opportunity to kindle that spark of wanderlust to begin sketching out your next great escape. And as travelers increasingly seek authentic, homely comforts coupled with the thrill of novelty, the trend towards unique vacation rentals is booming.

Aircalin, New Caledonia’s international airline, continues to spread its wings with the launch of two new services: a second weekly flight to Nadi (Fiji) and Papeete (French Polynesia) and the reopening of the Noumea-Melbourne route. Weekly frequency […]

Royal Caribbean Group received a strong boost in its booking volume thanks to relaxed Covid protocols, the cruise company’s executives said on an earnings call Thursday. 

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.

Global average wait times for U.S. visitor visas dropped below 150 days in January for the first time since 2021, according to the U.S. Travel Association. They still, however, remain higher than 400 days for India, Brazil, Mexico and top inbound visa-requiring markets (excluding China).

Royal Caribbean Group heads into 2023 with booking demand stronger than it was in 2019, a fully operational fleet, and a passenger market ready to splurge on onboard experiences.