TUI Eyes Luxury Hospitality Growth With New and Relaunched Hotel Brands

Once you’ve made it all the way to New Zealand, you may want to ease up a little on the flying and find a more sustainable way to travel around the country. Riding New Zealand’s scenic trains is the best option in this case since it’s less harmful for the environment (train travel emits much less CO2 per passenger than flying), it’s reliable and efficient, and it will give you a front-row seat to the country’s amazing scenery. The best of Kiwi Rail’s route is the TranzAlpine train, a journey that take you right across the South Island, from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea, through the picture-perfect Southern Alps.

In November 2016, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck and ravaged the region around the town of Kaikoura on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The earthquake and the ensuing landslides killed two people, and demolished homes, roads, and railway tracks. Indeed, parts of the Main North Line, one of the most scenic rail routes in the world, slid into the ocean, forcing the Coastal Pacific train to stop its operation. In 2018, the line was repaired and the magnificent train journey between Christchurch and Picton resumed. Today, the Coastal Pacific still runs along the Pacific Ocean, allowing travelers to see New Zealand’s beauty, the slow and comfortable way.

Flying across the world just got more affordable thanks to an Air New Zealand sale that has flights from the United States to Auckland and beyond starting at less than $1,000.

Delta Air Lines is rolling out the deals to the South Pacific. 

Queenstown, New Zealand, is known for many things. To start, it’s one of the world’s foremost adventure capitals, famous for both alpine recreation and adrenaline thrills. It’s also an excellent place to relax, from its delicious restaurants and rejuvenating wellness centers to the Central Otago wine region located beyond the downtown core. In a place as naturally blessed as Queenstown, it’s hard to pick a bad accommodation — as long as you have access to windows, you’re bound to fall in love with the lakeside, mountain-ringed town. But many of the Airbnbs in Queenstown go above and beyond, whether located in woodsy surrounds, scenic suburbs, or within walking distance of the main drag. Here are nine of the finest Queenstown Airbnbs.

The conclusion of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 highlights the growing and collective legacy of Qatar Airways and FIFA.

The New Zealand government said on Wednesday it would not require travelers from China to produce a negative Covid-19 test, bucking a trend that has seen a number of nations implement such measures as cases surge in China.

Just when travelers thought that travel disruptions seen earlier this year may be easing, in May 2023 the European Union plans to introduce new fingerprint and biometric checks at external borders for third-country nationals that could lead to significantly longer wait times.

Skift Megatrends is arguably our largest companywide exercise every year, and we’ve been making our research-driven and editorially informed prognostications for a decade now.

Rocked by a Covid relief financial scandal that led to the jailing and resignations of now-former CEO Fabio Cannavale and chief operating officer Andrea Bertoli, Amsterdam-based Lastminute.com’s shareholders elected Luca Concone as an executive director, and he’ll serve as CEO.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson and Virgin Group announced a reorganization of their hotel brands on Thursday. Virgin Group, which owns a half-dozen luxury Virgin Hotels, will take control of Branson’s private collection of hotels, retreats, and islands (including Branson’s own much-hyped Necker Island), marketed as Virgin Limited Edition.

There’s nothing quite like a surprise travel gift — and U.S. travelers are ready for it.