Tourism recovery tips

The U.S. travel industry has made tremendous progress in its recovery from the pandemic. Bookings for hotels, car rentals and tour activities have risen almost 30% from last year for travel between between Memorial Day and Labor Day — numbers that are expected to increase, according to travel organization AAA.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Portugal surpassed eight million in January-June, making it the best first half on record, official data showed on Monday.

Kenya’s tourism industry, one of the East African nation’s top sources of hard currency, surged 83 percent in 2022 to $2.13 billion as Covid curbs eased, the government said on Wednesday.

More than 5.2 million international visitors came to the U.S. in March, representing 83% of its pre-pandemic level and up 62% from March 2022, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office’s latest data. International visitor volume also exceeded 80% of its pre-pandemic level in February.

The healing from the tragedy in Maui will take time and residents are debating whether to encourage more tourism. Many officials and those in the industry are stressing that tourists are still welcome in parts of Maui and the rest of Hawaii and that the economic recovery is critical.