UK tips

A laboratory study has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the UK’s travel restrictions last year.

Australia’s Flight Centre Travel Group is buying UK-based tour operator Scott Dunn for $148 million (A$211 million), in a bid to expand into the U.S., as well as the UK.

British holidays group Saga Plc on Tuesday warned that its travel business could report a small underlying loss in 2022-23, before returning to a profit next year.

The UK’s On the Beach Group has now said chief financial officer Shaun Morton will take up his new position as CEO on June 30.

Destination marketing executives say they are taking a wait-and-see approach to ChatGPT. Some executives speaking last week at the ITB Berlin tourism conference said they aren’t sure yet whether ChatGPT and generative AI tools will have an impact on destination marketing and haven’t devoted internal resources directly toward its use. They offered their views during a the session titled “Digital, Personalized and Open: How DMOs Gain Ground in Digital Travel.” 

The United Kingdom is poised for a tourism boom in 2023, a welcome development for a country that has struggled to make a complete recovery from the pandemic. And VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates has big plans to boost visitor numbers even more, especially outside of popular destinations like London and Oxford.

British airline easyJet expects to beat full-year profit market forecasts, it said on Tuesday, encouraged by summer bookings and strong demand over Easter despite French strikes.

Hyatt is acquiring UK boutique hotel booking site Mr and Mrs Smith for £53 million — or about about $66 million in today’s exchange rates at the time of the announcement.

Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain, wants to expand its budget brand in the larger German market — partly through mergers and acquisitions.

Uber is steadily building its travel offering — solely for UK users for now — and has entered into a partnership with online travel agency Hopper to provide it with flights and fintech products.

Britain’s automated border control gates have returned to normal operation, the Home Office said on Saturday, after a nationwide system issue caused major delays.

American tourists are driving the UK’s recovery more than any other region, according to VisitBritain. More Americans are traveling to the UK and they are spending more than they did in 2019.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, June 5. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Travelodge, a UK-based budget hotel operator, could change ownership in a potentially billion-plus-dollar deal that would cash in on surging hotel bookings after the pandemic, according to two media reports Saturday.

Britain’s Heathrow said 6.73 million passengers passed through the hub in May, making it the airport’s busiest month since the pandemic as travel demand continues to bounce back.

Jet2 has seen a pick-up in demand for package holidays as Britons seek certainty on spending in a cost of living crisis, the travel company said on Thursday, as it met annual profit forecasts.

British holidaymakers can now book a TUI hotel stay without choosing a TUI package tour or flight.

Uber has posted its first-ever operating profit, and the company continues to test its expansion into travel booking in the UK.  

China has lifted pandemic-era restrictions on group tours for more countries, including key markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia in a potential boon for their tourism industries.

Europe’s travel industry is on high alert for disruption from strikes as passenger numbers globally recover to pre-pandemic levels.