The Inbound Report

Covering the Inbound Tourism Industry Since 1996

TRADE TALK & Travel Industry Buzz

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● Visa Backlog Problem is Real: “There are still very serious, ongoing visa appointment delays resulting from the pandemic,” a recent article in the National Law Review tells us. “Presently, at many US consulates, the wait to secure a US nonimmigrant visa stamping appointment is 100 days or more. In Paris, it’s 200 days; in Melbourne, it’s 220 days; and in Madrid, it’s 124 days.” Click here for the complete article.

● From the Nuremberg-Based Think Tank Travel Data + Analytics:  When it comes to holidays, Germans have so far been booking their trips despite the war in Ukraine and rising costs due to increasing inflation: up until the beginning of April (week 14), the number of new bookings in travel sales has been consistently above the booking level of the comparable weeks of 2019 for two months. Read complete report on the subject here.

● Britons say cost of living concerns key barrier to foreign travel, reports Travel Weekly (UK). “New research carried out by Ipsos has found almost two-thirds of Brits are unlikely to visit a country outside Europe this year. Of the 1,024 people surveyed by the market research and consulting firm, 63 percent said they had no plans to travel outside of Europe in 2022, while nearly half (47 percent) said the same for travelling within the continent.” Click here for the complete article.

● Four out of five Germans are planning a summer vacation, according to a brief item from FVW/TravelTalk, which tells us: “The vast majority want to travel in the summer of 2022, according to a survey by the insurer Allianz Partners. The desire to travel could be even greater, but financial, geopolitical and pandemic concerns are holding back.”

● A Must-Have Reference Piece from PANROTAS is now available. The 2022-23 Brazilian Overview has more than 50 pages of valuable reference information—such as the membership roster of BRAZTOA (The Brazilian Tour Operators Association), various industry segment profiles, a listing of in-country offices of countries doing business in Brazil and much, much more. Click here to download/view a PDF version of the publication.

● In the UK,”A lot” of people’s budgets are “much higher” than they used to be. “They are very open to upgrades if we suggest them,” A UK travel agency recently told the UK travel trade publication TTG, “A customer came in and upgraded his accommodation from a balcony cabin to a junior suite …” Read the complete article here. 

● From the German trade news publication tourisik-aktuell: The Medina Reisen brand of the tour operator News Medina Reisen GmbH is repositioning itself. The former Greece specialist, founded in 1976, had to file for bankruptcy in the corona pandemic.” To read the full news item, click here. (Don’t speak German? Then, you’ll need to use the translation function of your server.)

TRADE TALK & Travel Industry Buzz

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● Half of U.S. Travelers Who Want to go to Canada Like BC, Ontario and Quebec: A recently released survey from Destination Canada (conducted by Destination Analysts) seeks to understand American’s travel demand for Canada and sentiment towards travel to Canada. Approximately 4,000 responses are collected on a monthly basis through an online survey methodology, with field dates noted throughout the report.  The survey, of respondents, conducted by Destination Analysts, a market research provider, is demographically representative of adult American travelers in each of the four U.S. regions. Click here for more details that include graphs and tables.

● Pleasurebent Tours of Tucson, Arizona, which has provided group tours for travelers since 1978, has announced that it has acquired Sun Tours of Albuquerque, NM. The acquisition of Sun Tours, which was also established in 1978, brings together two market leaders with similar business models focused on providing meticulously planned, expertly guided group tours and cruises, and individual travel itineraries across the globe. Frank Fine and co-owner Leslee Richards will stay with the company for several months to aid in the transition. Sun Tours will continue to operate out of its Albuquerque offices at 1700 Louisiana NE. For more information, contact Eric Rosenberg, owner & general manager, Pleasurebent Tours & Sun Tours (520) 325-8839 eric@pleasurebenttours.com.

● Doctor Beach Names His Top 10 beaches for 2022. Courtesy of CNN, here is the list of the 10 beaches in the USA, per Dr. Beach. Click here for the complete article.

Top 10 beaches list for 2022

  1. Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks of North Carolina
  2. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
  3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
  4. St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle
  5. Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
  6. Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks of North Carolina
  7. Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
  8. Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii
  9. Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina
  10. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

● From Dragon Trail International—passport snags have big impact on students. Among those Chinese whose outbound travel is deemed “essential” are students. Despite COVID-19, China remains by far the world’s largest source market for students pursuing education abroad, with more than one million Chinese studying for a degree overseas in 2021. These students are also likely to travel, and Dragon Trail has worked with numerous tourism boards in recent years to facilitate the promotion of study abroad. Make sure you sign up for their 28 June webinar with Venture Education to learn more about the complementary nature of the education and travel industries, key trends in Chinese overseas education, and how to reach Chinese students and education agents.

● Some Brazilians like USA so much that they’re becoming U.S. Citizens: The number of Brazilians who became U.S. citizens set a record in 2021: As reported by the PANROTAS news portal, the number of Brazilians who became a U.S. citizen in Fiscal 2021. There were 12,281 people receiving U.S. naturalization, which is the highest number in history and 47.5 percent higher than in the year 2020 when there were 8,323 naturalizations. For the complete article, click here.

● Weventure expands Into Seattle market with variety of day tours. This past winter, owners David Naczycz, Andy Maunder, Jason Fried, Bill Gehrman, and Michiel Stavast brought their combined 75 years of tourism experience to create WeVenture. The company has expanded into the Seattle market with the creation of four unique day-tours, immersing visitors into the city’s culture. Additional Seattle-based itineraries will roll out this summer. Currently, WeVenture offers tours in over 10 other major U.S. cities, including New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles, and employs over 100 local guides and staff. The newly-announced tours include the Coffee Culture Tour, Seattle Cocktail Tour, Pike Place Market Food Tour, and Preserving Pike Place Community Tour. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/WeVentureUsa. 

● Have you ever dreamed of traveling in space? Now you can stay in a space station. Orbital Assembly announces the Pioneer Space Station. It features gravity enabled tourism and will be operational in 2025. Orbital Assembly Corporation is the only company developing the first commercially viable, space-based business park with gravity. The space station has been called the first free-flying, habitable, privately-operated facility in orbit. More details here.

TRADE TALK & Travel Industry Buzz

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● From the Washed Ashore Project: Sculptures of colorful marine animals are traveling across America—and every bit of the body of the artwork was once trash along the Oregon seashore. The Washed Ashore Project  is trying to communicate the message of ocean conservation through art—saving beauty by creating beauty. Pacific Ocean plastic was picked up and sorted by volunteers, and, finally, formed by artists into works that are currently touring in Tennessee, Michigan, and elsewhere. The Project first began in 2010, and since then they have cleaned 300 miles of beaches, and processed 60,000 pounds of trash to create 86 works of art. Visit here for more on the subject.

● Another by-product of COVID-driven hardships is this, as described in Sixth Tone: China stopped approving passport applications for “non-essential reasons” in 2021 as part of the country’s virus-control campaign. Citizens are now only granted a passport if they have an urgent need to travel abroad, such as an offer from a foreign university or employer. The policy — which is designed to prevent imported COVID-19 infections by restricting international travel — has led to a dramatic drop in new approvals. In the first half of 2021, China only issued 335,000 passports — two percent of the total for the same period in 2019.” Click here for the complete article.

● A recent survey conducted by Morning Consult for U.S. Travel Association revealed the inbound pre-departure testing requirement imposed by the federal government is having a “devastating impact” on travelers’ likelihood of visiting the United States this summer and remains a major barrier to economic recovery.

The survey—it included interviews with vaccinated international travelers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and India—found that pre-departure testing requirements are a deterrent to travel and are making it significantly less likely that people will choose to visit the U.S.

—Nearly half of respondents (47 percent) who are unlikely to travel abroad in the next 12 months cited pre-departure testing requirements as a reason.

—More than half of international travelers (54 percent) said the added uncertainty of potentially having to cancel a trip due to U.S. pre-departure testing requirements would have a big impact on their likelihood to visit the U.S.

—A large majority of adults surveyed (71 percent) agree they prioritize traveling to destinations without cumbersome entry requirements, including 29 percent who strongly agree.

For the complete US Travel release on the subject, click here.

● Ever since TUI’s 2018 acquisition of Musement and the latter’s inventory of what we used to call attractions & tours, the competition among suppliers to provide easier-to-access and more highly targeted products has never slowed. Just recently, tours and activities e-commerce platform Klook has announced an expanded integration with travel search engine KAYAK. The two players say it gives users one of the largest inventories of things-to-do across the Asia-Pacific region. Users will get access to a wider range of attractions and experiences with over 490,000 activities in over 1,000 destinations on KAYAK’s Things-to-Do vertical. “We’re excited to be expanding our integration with Klook which will enable KAYAK users to have greater access to an extended variety of attractions and experiences,” said Elia San Martin, vice president and general manager APAC, KAYAK. Since the integration of car rentals last year, KAYAK users have access to Klook’s car rental coverage that spans over 9,000 destinations. For a more complete article on the subject, click here.

● Booking horizons show signs of stabilizing. This is one of the major findings of “Travel’s Resilience and Trends Shaping Recovery”—recently released study from Skyscanner—tells us. As confidence accelerates, explains the study, people are becoming more comfortable booking travel further ahead. Although conditions aren’t the same as before COVID, we’re seeing booking horizons move closer to 2019 levels. The Americas and Asia-Pacific follow a similar trend, which Skyscanner explores in the report. In sum, “Overall, while shorter booking horizons remain popular, travel demand is strong and summer is likely to be a positive one for airlines.” For more, and to access the complete report, click here.

● In a different take than one normally hears when its business news about Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, a recent AP item pointed that “quasi-public agencies that usually promote tourism and economic development separately in Orlando on (have) announced they are joining forces to market the region together under a single brand. With a tagline of ‘Unbelievably Real,’ the branding plan will be aimed at tourists, meeting planners, conventioneers, business relocation specialists, site selectors, business owners and company CEOs.” Some $23 million will be spent on the initiative this year. Read here for the complete article.

● Least-expensive and most-expensive airports to fly from. For its report on the subject, FinanceBuzz compared domestic airfares from the 45 busiest airports in the U.S. using data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

And the airport with the most affordable airfare in the country? That honor goes to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the average fare to depart was $233.36. The second cheapest airport to fly from is also in Florida — Orlando International Airport (MCO) had an average fare of around $241.01.

Lowest average airfare—Top Five:

Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)

Orlando International Airport (MCO)

Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)

Miami International Airport (MIA)

Tampa International Airport TPA)

Highest average airfare—or Bottom Five:

41. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

42. Portland International Airport (PDX)

43. Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)

44. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

45. Dulles International Airport (IAD)

For the complete article, as well as the list of affordable/less affordable airports in the nation, visit here: https://financebuzz.com/us-airport-cost-rankings

TRADE TALK & Travel Industry Buzz

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● Here’s a Skift item that focuses on a domestic issue –one that also has ramifications for inbound overseas traffic:” the rising price of oil is threatening the travel industry’s rebound, with the increase, causing airlines to pass their surging fuel bills on to consumers, as well as forcing U.S. travelers to alter their summer vacation plans. It’s also making tour operators ponder increasing the price of their trips to compensate for booming fuel experiences, which companies that still haven’t fully recovered from the pandemic are hesitant to do to avoiding denting travel demand.” Click here to access the complete article.

● Could Japan open up next month? Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida has suggested that that the country is preparing, finally, to reopen to international visitors starting in June. According to an account in the trade publication, TTG, during a speech in London on last Thursday, Kishida said: “We have now eased border control measures significantly, with the next easing taking place in June, when Japan will introduce a smoother entry process similar to that of other G7 members.” Read the complete article here.

● After ten years of operations in the country, The Travel Corporation (TTC) announced that it was closing its office in Brazil at the end of April. Since establishing itself in São Paulo (the de facto capital of the Brazilian economy) the company has brought in new travel concepts – from luxurious river cruises to itineraries exclusively for young people. Some of its brands include Contiki Tours, Uniworld River Cruises and Red Carnation Hotels.

● From a recent article in Travel Weekly (UK): “A Kantar TGI survey in April found 16 percent of UK adults have already booked their main summer holiday this year and 20 percent plan to book – of whom 78 percent plan to go abroad – despite three quarters being “worried about the rising price of life” (77 percent) and repercussions of the war in Ukraine (75 percent), and 41 percent being unable to afford their energy bills.” Read the complete article here.

● From TravelMole … a story that seems to be getting legs: “The passport processing bottleneck could cost Britons £1.1 billion ($1.39 billion) in cancelled trips this summer.” New research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research says it leaves ‘one million holidaymakers at risk due to the delays.’ Data from the VisitBritain Covid-19 Consumer Sentiment Tracker shows that more than two in five are planning an overseas trip in the coming 12 months,” the Centre said. It projects only 50 percent of people will have ‘successful and timely’ passport renewals. Due to demand, the Passport Office warned travelers to apply 10 weeks in advance. Here is the article.

● Travelers Canada, the Canadian division of The Travelers Companies, Inc. has announced the results of the 2022 Travelers Canada Distracted Driving Risk Survey, revealing that most Canadians—a market that travels overwhelmingly by auto—engage in dangerous behaviors behind the wheel despite knowing the associated risks. While 77 per cent of Canadians say that distracted driving is very risky and they take every step possible to avoid being distracted, half of respondents admit to talking or using a phone while driving. Notably, one in five drivers admit they have had a crash, collision or near miss because they were distracted.” Work-related pressures may also be contributing to distracted driving. According to the survey, 29 per cent of Canadians say they respond to work-related calls, texts or emails while driving. Reasons cited include concern that it might be a work emergency (44 percent), feeling the need to always be available (30 percent) and worrying that they will miss something important (28 percent). Read the complete release here.

● Big transatlantic expansion plans now being implemented by United Airlines. The airline will launch or resume 30 transatlantic flights between mid-April and early June to destinations including the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France. New daily flights between Boston and Heathrow began on April 14, adding to United’s non-stop services to Heathrow from its seven hubs. The carrier’s transatlantic route network will be more than 25 larger than it was in 2019. “We have long anticipated a strong demand recovery, evidenced by our large, strategic expansion in Europe, and with these new flights, we’re proud to offer our customers more options and access than ever before,” said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances. (Multiple sources)

TRADE TALK & Tourism Industry Buzz   🐝

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● It’s OK to hug Mickey. We need more news like this—from ABC4 news, Salt Lake City: “In a world of dark news and endless controversy, here’s one piece of news that will make you grin from ear-to-ear — you can hug Mickey Mouse again. Disney Theme Parks have finally brought back character hugs. Guests lining up for meet-and-greets with their favorite Disney characters can now ruffle Donald’s feathers, touch noses with Goofy or enjoy a warm, hearty bear hug with Winnie the Pooh. The new announcement will allow all guests to hug costumed characters across all Disney Parks and Disney Cruise Lines.”

● Sun Country drops Hawaii flights because of pilot shortage. Sun Country Airlines is cutting all schedules to Hawaii for the rest of the year, indicating that a shortage of pilots is the reason for doing so. The carrier has also eliminated service to Fairbanks, Alaska. The airline, which is based at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, informed customers it was “regrettably electing to suspend service to Honolulu for the 2022 travel season.” Customers will automatically be refunded. Sun Country says it is hopeful for a return to Honolulu for the 2023 travel season.

● Facial Recognition in All Airports has lots of support, survey says. A.I. has begun helping out in a lot of areas that were once only handled by humans, from transportation, to factory work, to even finances. A.I. is only growing more capable and popular by the day, so how does the average American feel about it? TransImpact created a survey that asked respondents for their opinions on subjects like self-driving cars, facial recognition, and A.I. technologies in general. It ran for one day in January 2022 and received 1,000 responses in total. For complete newsletter article, read here.

● Uri Argov is back in the travel and tourism business. It has been almost five years since Uri Argov, who built Tourico Holidays into one of the largest receptive tour operators in the United States, sold it to Hotelbeds. He’s back. Argov and colleague Moti Engelman and have announced the creation of a new concept in operating that will be executed under the brand name of RoadRunAir. Given the background of the two, it makes sense. Moti has been an airline captain, senior deputy at Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority and member of El Al’s board of directors. In addition to his service in the military, Argov has been as a commercial pilot. They created RoadRunAir to fulfill the untapped demand for people to fly private and like a VIP celebrity like on multi-stop tours, but at a price point affordable to almost any travelers. To operate the business RoadRunAir has gained an Air Carrier Certificate and purchased several business jets that it will operate and fly with its own livery. Read more here.

● Major industry players are optimistic … and then some. As reported in TravelDailyNews, ITB Berlin and Statista Q looked at the future, and they like what they see. Statista’s Mobility Market Outlook (MMO) forecasts that the global travel industry will grow by a projected 48 per cent, reaching $637 billion in 2022. In 2023 it will overtake pre-pandemic levels by around five per cent, reaching almost $756 billion. In 2022, the highest growth rate is forecasted for the cruise industry (180 per cent year-on-year) and the hotel trade (57 per cent). Read the complete article here.

● Thai industry group says Chinese travelers should be back by October. Though it’s an outlook from another part of the world, it nonetheless has markers in common with those selling the Visit USA travel product abroad. The Tourism Council of Thailand is confident that Chinese tourists will return to the Kingdom in October and help boost foreign arrivals this year.

Speaking to The Nation news, Wichit Prakorbkosol, vice president of the council and president of CCT Express Co Ltd, said Thai tourism operators, who have inside sources in Chinese government agencies, learned that Beijing would allow its citizens to travel abroad starting October 1, which is China’s National Day. if the country is opened fully to foreign tourists without travel restrictions within the second quarter of this year, at least 5 million foreign tourists would arrive in the second half of the year.

“The sooner the country is opened fully, the more advantage we will have over our competitors, who are opening their countries more and more,” Wichit said.

Wichit said it is expected the inbound tourism industry would recover by 70 per cent next year compared to the pre-Covid level of almost 40 million foreign tourists in 2019 and the industry is expected to fully recover in 2024. Read here for the complete article.

● Canada Jetlines to begin operations at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The new, all-Canadian, leisure carrier has announced that it will begin operations out of Toronto Pearson International Airport with a target of this summer. ed start date in the summer of 2022. Toronto Pearson is Canada’s largest airport, and pre-COVID served 50.5 million arriving and departing passengers annually. Canada Jetlines will operate out of the airport with a fleet of airbus family aircraft, starting with the A320. Canada Jetlines will operate to international destinations throughout the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean, and domestic cities in Canada. Read here for the complete news release.

● New Illinois Campaign: Governor JB Pritzker last week joined other state officials at the Shedd Aquarium to kick off the state’s new tourism campaign, “Middle of Everything,” starring Illinois native, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress, Jane Lynch (she was born in Evergreen Park and raised in Dolton) who is making her directorial debut with the campaign’s new TV ads. The ads will run in 20 markets across Illinois and seven neighboring states and will be seen on cable nationwide. A Spanish-language ad will also air in the Chicago market. To view the ads and other media assets for the “Middle of Everything” click here.  And click here for the complete news release on the campaign launch.

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