IDEAS: SOTC Travel Introduces Three Regional Languages to Website

At five o’clock in the morning, a pale golden light is washing over an otherworldly landscape of conical rock formations and undulating cliffsides. The sky is specked with colorful hot air balloons at varying heights. In the early morning silence, the only sounds are the occasional gentle woosh as the balloons fire and dogs barking far off in the valley.

In recognition of their continued commitment to the travel advisor community, Scenic has announced a promotion that will reward one lucky advisor and their guest with the ultimate new year’s getaway: 13 days in Antarctica aboard the line’s newest Discovery Yacht, Scenic Eclipse II.

The Adirondacks is often known for its scenic beauty, enticing many visitors to this New York State region. The area has also been the subject of paintings, sculptures and other mediums, so much that a museum recently unveiled a new exhibit on its artistic inspiration.

Europe’s new tourism hotspot, Batumi, Georgia and World Travel Awards (WTA) have unveiled details of the landmark 30th anniversary Europe Gala Ceremony 2023. The magnificent city will host the leading travel industry figureheads from across the continent for a three-day itinerary, culminating in the red-carpet banquet reception on 29 September.

The World Travel Awards, often dubbed as the “Oscars of the Travel Industry,” are gearing up to celebrate another year of excellence in global travel and hospitality. On August 26th, 2023, the picturesque island of St. Lucia will host this prestigious event, bringing together leaders and innovators from across the travel sector to honor the very best in the industry.

No, you weren’t just imagining your social media timelines full of all your friends posting from Istanbul and Turkey this summer. It happened to be true.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, November 18. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The U.S. Travel Association has launched a website to highlight the negative impact of long visitor visa interview wait times—which now exceed an average of 400 days—is having on global travelers and U.S. businesses. Called USVisaDelays.com, the website lists stories of those affected, loss in industry spending, visitor wait times, impacted markets and a policy fact sheet. 

A venture studio shut down its remote working startup after discovering its business model wasn’t really meeting its goals.

Travel’s performance dropped in November from 84 to 81 points, according to Skift Research’s latest analysis in the Skift Travel Health Index: November 2022 Highlights report.

The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travelers from China, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday, joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies.

Sustainable travel has developed a sense of urgency post-pandemic. However, while carbon emissions, environmental degradation, and cultural sensitivity are picked apart at length, animal exploitation through the sale of captive wildlife entertainment has received less pushback.