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.
25.08.2023 - 13:49 / skift.com / Kelly Torrens / Dawit Habtemariam / Cherry Blossom
Japan is having trouble servicing tourists arriving from abroad due to staffing shortages, amid surging demand for its historically popular cherry blossom season.
Japan’s cherry blossom season, when the country’s iconic sakura bloom, is a peak travel season. An some 63 million people traveled to and within Japan to see the cherry trees, a 2019 estimate found. The season runs from March 2 to as late as early May, according to the Japan National Tourist Organization.
Bookings for cherry blossom season are at an all time high due to pent-up demand with travelers moving bookings from 2020 over to 2023. There’s no hotel accommodation left or the guides that are available are fully booked, said Kelly Torrens, vice president of product for Kensington Tours.
Since the borders were relaxed in October, international travel has trended upward. International visitors totaled 934,500 in November. In January, the number rose to around 1.5 million visitors, which is down from 2.7 million in 2019, according to the Japan Tourism Board. Travel demand in Asia is expected to accelerate now that China and other countries have lifted their restrictions.
By 2025, Japan aims to host a record number of visitors and increase spending from its pre-pandemic level by 25 percent to $1,500 (200,000 yen) per person, according a government plan draft. In 2019, Japan received nearly 32 million visitors, a record for the country.
At the moment, the country’s tourism sector appears to “not be as well oiled a machine as it used to be,” said Torrens. The pandemic took a toll on the industry and there’s been a shortage of airport shuttles, hotel reservations, and restaurant services, said Intrepid Travel Product Manager Karen Zhou.
About 78 percent of hotels recently reported they have suffered a labor shortage of full-time employees in January, according to Teikoku Databank. For part-time employees, it was a record 81 percent.
Coming out of the pandemic, many destinations experienced difficulty servicing international travelers after the long hiatus. For Chinese travelers, for example, the global tourism industry is experiencing a shortage of China-specialized staff, staff to process visas, and flights.
Japan was one of the last countries to remove its Covid restrictions. For over two years, Japan had some of the most strict lockdowns and border restrictions. In March 2022, the country started gradually easing its entry cap. In October, the government lifted daily entry caps. After May 8, the country will no longer require international travelers to show proof of vaccination or a negative test upon arrival.
The pandemic took a toll on Japan’s tourism sector. Before the pandemic, Japan’s Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to gross
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.
Destination DC will spend nearly $20 million on marketing in an upcoming advertising campaign as the city deals with a slow travel recovery.
From today’s Daily Lodging Report newsletter: Nikkei Asia published an article on Hilton planning to expand its luxury offerings in Asia. Hilton will be bringing its Waldorf Astoria brand to Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and other countries for the first time as part of its plans to open 25 new luxury hotels in the Asia Pacific region over the next few years. That’s up from the 33 luxury hotels it currently runs in the Asia Pacific.
In just the past few days, there have been two key moves that ease restrictions for travel from China to the U.S. Tourism officials have been clear that the lifting of these restrictions is critical to a full recovery –though key hurdles remain. On Thursday, China lifted pandemic-era group tour restrictions for the U.S. and other key markets. Before the lift, Chinese travel agencies were banned from selling outbound group or package travel to the U.S.
China’s Trip.com has struck two new partnerships, covering the UK and Asia Pacific, to give customers the opportunity to delay or spread out payments for their purchases.
Skift Research has been tracking the performance of the major travel sectors in 22 countries since the beginning of the pandemic in the Skift Travel Health Index. We have seen a steady upward trend, but the final push to full recovery seems more stubborn than we initially thought.
Travel platform Agoda has been pushing ahead with a series of new fintech partnerships, with its eye on Asia’s corporate travel recovery.
The absence of Chinese tourists as countries around the world opened their borders again remains the most impactful development this year. China’s commitment to zero Covid cases dashed the normalcy return hopes of the global tourism industry.
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While Chinese travel demand accelerates to pre-pandemic levels, the global tourism industry is still not fully ready to service it, according to some panelists this week at an ITB Berlin session titled “Outlook of Chinese Tourism Market 2023.”
Marking the debut of Hilton’s luxury brand Waldorf Astoria in India, Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, announced on Wednesday that Jaipur would be the first destination for the brand.