Tourism tips

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has called for a united international effort to bolster sustainable tourism practices as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) first-ever Sustainability Week in New York, this morning.

Experience Turks and Caicos is thrilled to announce a significant surge in air arrivals from the United Kingdom to the Turks and Caicos Islands, marking a positive turn in our tourism landscape. While the United States remains our primary tourism source, the rise in visitors from the UK during the initial months of this year is truly encouraging. From January to March 2024, we welcomed 3,946 arrivals from the UK and Europe, representing a remarkable 105.4% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This surge can largely be attributed to the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s non-stop flight from Heathrow, London to Providenciales on November 4th, 2023.

Starting now, interested companies, regions and destinations can secure their stand online at ITB Berlin 2025 and begin preparing even earlier to attend the World’s Largest Travel Trade Show. From 4 to 6 March 2025 the global tourism industry and actors from the entire value chain will be coming together on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.

Travalyst, the not-for-profit organisation founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, kicked off its annual convening on 16 April in the South of France. The two-day event brings together some of the biggest brands in travel and technology, as well as world-renowned experts to discuss sustainable and regenerative tourism. A key part of this year’s event was a roundtable discussion focused on communities, in which Travalyst’s founder took part, speaking with some of the people and places impacted by travel and tourism.

UN Tourism has partnered with the European Committee of the Regions for a comprehensive study of the significant impact and potential of tourism in fostering socio-economic development in rural areas.

The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Research (EIR) has revealed a record-breaking year for Travel & Tourism in the UAE, with new records achieved across key metrics including the sector’s GDP contribution, jobs and visitor spend.

What better way to celebrate the start of a marriage than with an unforgettable honeymoon in a dream location? But with so many exquisite island destinations to choose from, it can be difficult for honeymooners to decide which is the best for a romantic getaway.  On average, couples spend around $5,000 on their honeymoon, so they’ll want to make sure they get the most value for money.

Select Group, a leading real estate developer headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is proud to announce the much-anticipated launch of Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina, marking a new chapter in ultra-luxury living. This significant milestone in architectural excellence is set to claim the title of the tallest residential tower globally as it reshapes the Dubai Marina skyline with its unparalleled height reaching 517 metres.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to deliver 320,000 new hotel rooms – with a development cost of US$37.8 billion – by 2030 as part of its unprecedented investment in infrastructure, tourism transformation and real estate, according to industry data released ahead of the Future Hospitality Summit Saudi Arabia, 29 April to 1 May.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has urged young people “to become a part of the tourism machinery that is driving global development and economic growth.” The appeal was made as he addressed the Jamaica Youth Tourism Summit, hosted by Tourism Management students at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Western Jamaica Campus at the Montego Bay Convention Centre recently, with hundreds of students from local high schools in attendance.

On Thursday 18 April, at around 7pm, the first ball was bowled to start an international women’s cricket match between Ireland and Thailand at The Sevens Stadium. It was the first match played at the stadium after it successfully reopened just two days after heavy rains caused major flooding across its pitches, and high winds damaged other areas across its facilities.

With the spotlight on sustainability like never before, the hospitality industry the world over can – and is – playing a key role in supporting government ESG initiatives and green goals.

Valery Brown-Alce is a veteran in the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism with more than 30 years of experience working in various leadership capacities in the Bahamas Tourist Offices overseas. She has been at the helm of the Sales & Market-ing area in key markets in the United States having worked in Florida, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York. As an Executive Director, Mrs. Brown-Alce has successfully led the Global Sales teams in the United States, Canada and Europe executing Strategic Sales plans, Partnership programs with leading travel distribution companies towards achieving the goals of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

Go City, the world’s leading sightseeing pass brand, has expanded its offerings through a strategic partnership with Merlin Entertainments, the global leader in branded entertainment destinations. The London Pass, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and Go City London has now been enhanced to include seven of the iconic city’s top experiences.

Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is thrilled to announce its continued partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for the fourth consecutive year, showcasing the unparalleled beauty and charm of Thailand as a premier travel destination. Building upon the success of their previous collaborations, Wego and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are once again teaming up to promote Thailand’s diverse attractions, rich culture, and breathtaking landscapes to travelers worldwide. Through this strategic partnership, Wego aims to inspire travelers to explore the wonders of Thailand and experience its unique blend of tradition and modernity.

Algarve Tourism is committed to achieving an immediate and effective response to help address the issue of water shortage that has been affecting the region.

Inbound tour operators and travel providers based in Dubai, or international tour operators and other sellers offering Dubai products, may find that the worst is not yet over as the weather clears up in Dubai. TMU Management, the data-driven insurance intermediary specialising in travel, has today issued a warning to the travel trade they are very likely to see increases in rates when applying for Package Travel Regulation compliant insurance. Sami Doyle, CEO & Co-Founder of TMU Management, comments: “Who’d have thought that flooding could be an operational risk in the middle of a desert? Whilst this may technically be the worst rain in 75 years in the UAE, underwriters are unlikely to forget about that anytime soon. At this early stage it would be hard to say how much of an increase to expect, but for sure it won’t be going down when you mention Dubai. And it could easily go up enough to make sellers think twice when pricing future sales. Certainly we’d advise to expect a noticeable increase.”

BeCause, the Danish start-up transforming how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, is simplifying the sustainability journey for members by integrating the industry association’s Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) framework into its platform.

When it comes to personalisation in the sale of travel products there’s personalisation, and then there’s ‘hyper-personalisation’ – knowing and catering to the traveller’s specific likes and whims, from what temperature they like their hotel room to what seat they prefer on a plane. As hyper-personalisation goes beyond the standard strategies used for personalisation, it involves a whole new style of segmentation that relies on harnessing unseen-before amounts of data. Much of it in real-time. With recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, travel companies may finally be in a position to offer this kind of service to travellers. We spoke with some travel technology experts to find out whether this is likely to happen any time soon and what the industry needs to do to prepare. So what’s the benefit for travel brands that manage to achieve this? Martin Eade from travel search and booking technology provider Vibe believes there’s a lot riding on this. “This is the holy grail of personalisation and the first company to get this right will have a real first mover advantage. After all, why would customers switch from a hotel or airline that can anticipate their needs before they even know them themselves?”. Perhaps you are wondering though what kind of technology is needed to make this work? Rubén Sánchez, CEO from leading hotel revenue management platform BEONx explains that the more travel companies are able to improve their knowledge of their guests through data analysis, the easier it will be to design hyper-personalized experiences that are adapted to the specific needs of each guest. “The aim is to create strategies that make each guest feel special and unique, instead of feeling like a faceless member of a generic market segment. But before companies can achieve hyper-personalisation, they need to shift their focus from the product to the client, developing a customer-centric strategy. Harnessing data will help them to understand exactly who their clients are, how they behave, and what they expect when they come to stay at a hotel, or travel on a specific airline.”

Recent data from global research companies indicates a bright future for the GCC hospitality industry, with insights from Deloitte and STR demonstrating sustained growth as tourism continues to be a key priority for regional governments. The upcoming edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), a premier global event in travel and tourism, will serve as a pivotal gathering for hospitality stakeholders when it takes place from 6 to 9 May at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Understanding the shifting trend of traditional wellness travel to active wellness is key to all destinations, in order to develop successful strategies that tap into this segment, whose motivations and interest have changed dramatically after the pandemic. Based on a deep dive into the main demand drivers of wellness travel, Mabrian, world leader in travel intelligence, traces back the evolution of this segment and its key drivers.