For full information Click Here
NEW AIR SERVICE
- On September 1, Qantas has launched year-round direct flights between Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco. The 12,646-kilometer (7,858 miles) ultra-long-haul route will be operated four times per week.
- Icelandic airline WOW air is to launch seasonal flights from the UK to Florida in December with one-way fares starting from under £130 ($169). The inaugural flight to Orlando International Airport will depart on December 18 from London Gatwick and Edinburgh. There will be three flights a week, but all of them will operate via Reykjavik, giving a total journey time from London and Edinburgh of just under 14 hours.
- American Airlines is expanding its international network with new flight offerings out of Philadelphia International Airport to a handful of European destinations. Starting next summer, American will add a total of nine new European routes, with four of them available out of Philadelphia.
From Philadelphia, flights will now be available to Dubrovnik, Croatia; Berlin, Germany; and Bologna, Italy. American will also begin offering daily summer flights to Edinburgh, Scotland from Philadelphia for the first time.
Service to Dublin, Ireland and Munich, Germany are being added at Dallas-Fort Worth, while Chicago is getting flights to Athens, Greece and Phoenix’s offerings expand to include London. In Charlotte, daily year-round service to Munich will be added. The new flights will function on a seasonal basis. Service starts between next March and June and will last through September and into October, coinciding with peak summer travel season.
- Also from American Airlines: Next March 31, the carrier will launch daily flights between London and Phoenix, Arizona. The summer only service will operate between Lond Heathrow and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, will be operated by a two-class Boeing 777 featuring Premium Economy. It will be American’s first transatlantic flight from Phoenix and it will complement the service operated to Phoenix by British Airways, its transatlantic partner.
- Is a deal close between those seeking agreement between United Airlines and three Latin American carriers? In a process that has been in the works for more than a year, according to a consensus among the observers who cover the matter, United Airlines is closer to finalizing joint-venture agreements with Colombian flag carrier, Avianca, Panamanian Copa Airlines and Brazil’s Azul.
“I think we will do it in the not too distant future, but it is difficult to predict the exact moment. All the turmoil in Latin America complicates things,” said company president Scott Kirby at the recent International Aviation Forecast Summit in Denver,” adding, “These agreements would improve connectivity between the US and Latin American aviation markets and create growth opportunities.”
New and Interesting (and Sometimes Weird) Product
Cannabis Comes To Las Vegas. There was a big celebration held in downtown Las Vegas on Aug. 30 to celebrate the world’s first marijuana museum—the Cannabition Cannabis Museum. Mayor Carolyn Goodman joined city councilman Cedric Crear and Cannabition founder JJ Walker for a hemp rope burning, instead of a ribbon cutting, to celebrate the new attraction. Its founders bill it as an immersive installation of the art, history, and culture of cannabis or marijuana. Right now, there is no place to light up, but people could consume marijuana in a lounge-like atmosphere at the museum. Grand opening for the museum is Sept. 20. Retail ticket prices start at $24.20 per person. For more information, visit: https://cannabition.com/, or call 702.909.0420.
Disney Opens Oga’s Cantina. For the first time in the 63-year history of Disney parks, there will be alcoholic beverages served next year at the new Oga’s Cantina in the new “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” section at both California’s Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. In a post on the Disney Parks Blog, Disney Imagineer Scott Trowbridge wrote, “Oga’s Cantina is the kind of establishment that attracts some of the most interesting and disreputable characters in the galaxy. Cantina customers can expect drinks concocted through “‘otherworldly’ methods, [and] served in unique vessels.” Whether it was coincidence or some other factor, the new policy coincides with the Anaheim’s hosting of IPW on June 1-5, 2019.
-
Candytopia, a festival for the eyes and for the candy lover, has opened in two U.S. destinations, New York and San Francisco. The best way to describe the Candytopia experience is to quote its website:
“What if an eccentric chocolatier and a daredevil pop star had a whirlwind romance, got married while skydiving, and had a glamorous, glittering love child who grew up to rule a small nation? Welcome to Candytopia, where colossal candyfloss constructions meld with a tantalizing taffy twistedness!” Candytopia’s interactive art installation celebrates the vibrant colors and flavors of our favorite sugary delights across over a dozen environments, from flying unicorn pigs to a marshmallow tsunami. Bring your family, your friends, and your sweet tooth for an experience like none other! In San Francisco, you’ll find the attraction at 767 Market Street, next to the Four Seasons Hotel. In New York, it’s located on West 32nd Street, across from Penn Station. Retail ticket prices: $34 for adults; $26 for ages 4-12; and free for 3 and under. For more information, visit www.candytopia.com
Now in operation is The Observation Deck at CEB Tower in Arlington, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The attraction offers a 360-degree view of Washington’s skyline and the surrounding area. The deck, which is mostly indoors—takes up the 31st and 32nd floors, and will has a quick service café where guests can order food, wine, and craft beer before they take a self-guided tour. Patrons are able to see as far as Silver Spring, FedEx Field, and MGM National Harbor. Legends, the firm that designed the space, is also the force behind the One World Observatory in New York. Retail ticket cost: $22 per person. For more information, visit www.theviewofdc.com, or call 703.423.0600
USA Drops to #3 among World’s Most Popular Country Destinations
The just-released United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has positioned the United States at Number 3 among international tourist destinations, having been overtaken as Number 2 by Spain. The UNWTO had projected such a change in rank nine months ago.
The change in the position of the USA on the world’s Top 10 International Tourist Destinations reflects a real decline in visitors to the United States, as well as a decline in global market share-continuing a downward trend that has been in place for a decade or so.
Not noted in the UNWTO numbers was a confirmation, of a sort, of the last forecast of total U.S. international inbound traffic by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). The just-released UNWTO figure put international arrivals to the U.S. for 2017 at 75.9 million. Last January, NTTO projected a total of 75.1 million international visitors to the United States once final data for 2017 were complete. (However, NTTO last April announced that it was suspending the release of arrivals data due to some technical problems with the way arrivals numbers were being tallied and reported to the agency.) The closeness of the two numbers suggest that NTTO is not far off the mark—even with a projection that relied on faulty data.
New Data: UK Arrivals Update
After a six-month lag in time since it produced hard data on the number of UK residents who have visited North America (generally, about 90 percent of those visits are to the U.S.), the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released preliminary data for the first quarter of 2018. They show that compared to Q1 2017, arrivals for the first quarter of were off by just eight-tenths of a percentage point. The figure tends to confirm what U.S. receptive tour operators were telling INBOUND last autumn as the last bookings by British travelers for the 2017-2018 winter season were being made.
A caution to those who would make a full-year projection, based on these data: the first quarter of the year is the weakest for UK travel to the United States and is subject to considerable variation, primarily due to the difference in dates for the Easter Holiday. (This year, Easter Sunday was observed on April 1, suggesting that March figure should have been higher than is reflected in the table below.)
The industry won’t have a definitive statistical measure on how the market is doing this year until the data are tallied for the third quarter, which includes the peak travel month of August, which should be about three months from now. UK Departures to North America.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 217
- 218
- 219
- 220
- 221
- …
- 524
- Next Page »
