Impacting Travel tips

The number of women and young professionals employed by the travel and tourism industry has soared in recent years.

The United States Department of State announced that processing times for passports have returned to the standard set before the coronavirus pandemic.

Starting in April 2024, the Italian city of Venice plans to better regulate the tourist industry, ease congestion, and make life a little easier for its residents.

While Black Friday often receives the most talk among the week-long commercial holidays that directly follow Thanksgiving, it’s Travel Tuesday when travelers might be able to snag the last of the year’s best deals for their future trips. 

A sweeping storm system is impacting much of the United States on this, the final day of the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend. Nearly 14 million people found themselves under various winter weather alerts on Sunday, according to The New York Times.

AAA projects that 55.4 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday 2023.

Another near-miss. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an October 16 incident in which two planes nearly collided.

The U.S. State Department has issued updated information for Americans traveling in the Middle East amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, including information on charter flights out of Tel Aviv this week. The latest guidance comes just four days after officials issued a worldwide caution for U.S. citizens traveling abroad."Due to increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution," the U.S. State Department said on October 19.Americans are encouraged to avoid travel to Gaza, Lebanon and Iraq and reconsider travel to Israel and the West Bank as of Monday. U.S. citizens who wish to depart Israel and the West Bank with U.S. government assistance need to complete a crisis intake form.Additionally, Monday's update includes details regarding upcoming charter flights out of Israel via Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport."Commercial availability remains limited out of Ben Gurion Airport. The U.S. government is facilitating charter flight transportation for U.S. citizens; we urge those wishing to leave to take advantage of these charters while they are available. There will be flight departures from Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, October 24 and Thursday, October 26," the State Department confirmed."Please go to Ben Gurion International Airport, Terminal 3 if you wish to depart Israel. U.S. Embassy personnel will be present to direct you and provide specific flight information. Be prepared to wait," officials added.Regardless of where they're traveling abroad, U.S. citizens are being asked to stay alert in locations frequented by tourists, enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive information and alerts that make it easier to be located in an emergency and follow the State Department on Facebook and Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

The European Union (E.U.) has just officially announced another postponement to the planned launch of its new pre-arrival authorization system, which it had previously planned to launch in 2024.

Leaf-peeping isn’t as harmless as you might at first expect, and one small town in Vermont learned that the hard way in recent years, leading to the townsfolk getting creative in how to deal with overtourism. 

The olfactory glands were clearly working.

Update: October 10, 2023, at 1:59 p.m. ET

Job openings for the leisure and hospitality segment of the U.S. economy remain disproportionately high compared to other industries, which could slow the travel industry’s growth as the country considers its future following its post-pandemic recovery period.

Hurricane Lee continues to strengthen as it grows larger this week, but the storm’s projected path has the travel industry—and the cruise lines especially—in the Caribbean and along the east coast of the United States on notice.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Hotelbeds shared insights at an event called “Global Trends in the Tourism Sector,” in the growing Spanish destination of Palma de Mallorca. 

Without question, corporate travel took a major hit due to the pandemic, but a new travel phenomenon arose from the ashes of the global COVID outbreak, which rather suddenly rendered remote working the de facto model for many office employees.

Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the close of the busy summer travel season, but, with consumers’ travel intent continuing to run remarkably high this year, who’s to say that this approaching autumn won’t be just as epic?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is expanding its TSA PreCheck expedited screening program to add four new airlines to its list of participating domestic and international carriers. The four new airlines are Cayman Airways, French bee, Titan Airways and Zipair. There are currently 90 TSA PreCheck air carriers. The PreCheck system is a way for travelers to expedite their security screenings. The majority of PreCheck passengers wait less than ten minutes at airport security checkpoints around the world. These passengers also don’t have to take anything out of their bags as they go through security and are not required to take off their shoes, jackets or other items. Travelers are eligible to apply for the program if they are U.S. citizens, nations or lawful permanent residents. They have to enroll at tsa.gov/precheck, complete the online application, then schedule a ten-minute in-person appointment. Travelers, once approved, receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) that allows them to use TSA PreCheck lanes. Most often receive their KTN within three to five days. 

Flights into and out of the United Kingdom were canceled or delayed on Monday after a technical issue snarled traveled for several hours before the problem was fixed.

People who have plans to visit New York City will likely soon find it significantly harder to book a private-home vacation rental. That’s because, on September 5, the Big Apple’s new Local Law 18, also known as the Short-Term Rental Registration Law, will come into effect.

Florida is preparing for the arrival of Idalia on Wednesday, which has strengthened into a hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify into a Category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall.