VIRGINIA: Coronavirus crippled the global travel industry, but human behavior in the economic recovery lends itself to a quicker bounce back for hotels over airlines, according to Hilton’s Chief Executive. Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta, like many hotel executives and analysts, anticipates local and drive-to travel will recover first from the coronavirus downturn in travel. Occupancy rates cratered to the point where Hilton temporarily suspended operations at 950 hotels until demand returns to a level justifying reopening. But Hilton won’t need airlines to rebound in lockstep for the hotel company to begin its own bounce back from coronavirus. “I think airlines…
Author: holidayweekly
BANGKOK: PATA has inked a new partnership with TCI Research, a leading travel data intelligence agency. Under the agreement, TCI Research will be the sole content contributor to the industry-related, data-focused article for both editions of Issues & Trends 2020. They will also have the opportunity to share market trends, data and analysis with PATA members. PATA strikes data partnership deal with TCI Research to build resilience in the tourism industry TCI Research fuels destinations’ success through data, setting global proprietary standard analytic solutions for all-size DMOs and travel verticals, with a focus on visitor experience, destination reputation and resident…
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina has banned all internal and international commercial flights until September 1st as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic. A decree from National Civil Aviation Administration asked airlines to refrain from selling tickets for departures over the next four months. Argentina closed its borders to non-residents in March, imposing quarantine measures. The country currently has nearly 4,000 confirmed infections, with 192 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University in the United States. In response to the decision, aviation industry groups said thousands of people could lose their jobs. Figures from the International Air Transport Association state the…
MADRID: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 22% fall in international tourist arrivals during the first quarter of 2020, the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows. According to the United Nations specialized agency, the crisis could lead to an annual decline of between 60% and 80% when compared with 2019 figures. This places millions of livelihoods at risk and threatens to roll back progress made in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis. Tourism has been hit hard, with millions of jobs at…
MADRID: The top solutions for accelerating the recovery of tourism have been celebrated in the ‘Healing Solutions for Tourism’ Challenge. Launched by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and with the aim of identifying start-ups with ready-to-implement ideas for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, the initiative attracted more than 1,000 applicants from 100 countries. Tourism has been among the hardest hit of all major economic sectors. To rebuild confidence in travelling and to enhance tourism’s contribution to wider societal recovery, UNWTO called on innovators to share their ideas for…
BEIJING: In what appears to be the clearest sign yet of the coronavirus outbreak having abated in China, where it first emerged late last year, millions of Chinese are travelling within the country for the May Day holidays. Over 50 million trips were made in the first two days of the five-day holiday, state media reports said, adding that an estimated 90 million trips are expected to be completed by the end of holidays on Tuesday. Of the 50 million trips, nearly 23 million domestic tourist trips were made by Friday, the first day of the holiday, with the domestic…
DUBAI: The Middle East’s biggest airlines, Emirates & Etihad have seen a drastic decline in their flight operations due to the coronavirus. This has exponentially decreased their profits and therefore, their top executives have estimated that the situation would not normalize until 2023. Emirates & Etihad are one of the emerging & top Airlines in the world. Will they be able to sustain during the pandemic? Top executives of Emirates and Etihad, two of the Middle East’s biggest airlines, have said passenger demand may not return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels until 2023. About 85 percent of the world’s airlines could…
WRITTEN BY CH. FAISAL MAHMOOD Readers will recall that throughout the past forty plus years, every week, in this space, on this page, we have proactively drawn attention to the various national institutions in our Tourism Industry and to their work, efforts, achievements and potentials. One such institution, rather the major such institution being PIA, we have often addressed its doings, problems, abilities, efforts and achievements. Putting of PIA under the Essential Services Act 1952 for six months by the government of Pakistan has come under heavy criticism from employees’ unions and so-called pro-labour political parties. For last many years,…
ISLAMABAD: A day after the government announced to repatriate students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez on Saturday confirmed that a special flight of the national flag carrier will bring back the stranded nationals on May 18. According to Hafeez, some 250 students will be brought back on the first flight which will land in Islamabad. The schedule for three more flights will be announced next week, he added. The announcement was earlier made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistani Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Twitter. “I’m very happy for…
IATA is opposing any regulation that would require airlines to leave empty seats between passengers, arguing that such a measure would severely affect operators’ economic prospects and yet deliver no “significant improvement in safety” for travellers. Keeping middle seats empty on narrow bodies with standard 3-3 cabin layouts will reduce capacity by a third, while the practice will typically lead to a 40% capacity reduction on long-haul jets, said IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce during a media briefing on 5 May. On regional jets and turboprops, typically featuring 2-2 cabin layouts the measure would halve capacity. Overall, Pearce says, airlines…