Cuba is expected to receive a boom in visitors from the United States after the Obama administration took a series of steps to normalise relations between the two countries. At present travel is heavily restricted, with direct commercial flights banned, special visas compulsory and visitors required to join strictly controlled groups. Authorised travel typically takes…
ITB Berlin 2015: United States leads tourism boom in Americas
The economic situation in the United States and Canada is improving and with it has come a renewed increase in foreign trips in 2014. At the same time the weaker-performing economies of Brazil and Argentina have led to slower growth in tourism in South America. These are the findings of the ITB World Travel Trends…
UK visitors drive up demand for USA travel
An increase in visitors from the United Kingdom and Ireland has contributed to a record number of 34.4 million overseas visitors to the USA in 2014. This is up eight per cent from 2013, according to the latest figures released by US under secretary of commerce for international trade, Stefan Selig. The UK retains its…
STR reveals US hotel investors spent $28bn on property in 2014
Hotel investors spent $27.8 billion on property acquisitions and developments in the United States during 2014, according to the Hotel Transaction Almanac and the Hotel Development Almanac compiled by STR Analytics. During the year, $18.5 billion in hotels changed hands while another $9.3 billion in new hotel projects opened their doors. âHotel real estate remains…
Papal visit pays off for American hoteliers
Among the three Top 25 Markets that hosted Pope Francis during his visit to the United States, Philadelphia, experienced the most significant year-over-year increases in revenue per available room, according to data from STR, Inc. New York and Washington, DC also reported double-digit RevPAR growth during days on which Pope Francis visited the respective markets.…
New leadership for Colorado Tourism Office
The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade has confirmed Cathy Ritter will serve as director of the Colorado Tourism Office. Ritter will take up the role at the start of December. “Cathy’s appointment comes at a time of record growth for our tourism industry, and she’s just the person to take us to…
United States seeks to tighten visa waiver programme
Officials in the United States have revealed plans to tighten travel restrictions for visitors using the visa waiver programme. Approximately 20 million people from 38 countries presently enter America each year under the visa waiver programme, which allows travel without needing full visas. The scheme has come under increased scrutiny since terrorist attacks in Paris…
United States-Cuba to relaunch scheduled air services
The governments of the United States and Cuban governments have agreed to reinstitute scheduled air service between the two nations. It is hoped the deal could jumpstart economic relations between the two countries, paving the way for thousands of visitors to the island on a daily basis. However, there is as yet no timetable for…
Emirates to bring A380 to Washington D.C as United withdraws
Emirates has announced that it plans to upgrade its Dubai-Washington D.C. service, with the introduction of its flagship Airbus A380 on the route beginning February 1st. Replacing the existing Boeing 777-300ER used on this route, the A380 will serve the strong customer demand and restore route capacity following United Airlinesâ planned withdrawal from the Washington…
WTTC to examine ‘Travel Beyond Boundaries’ at Global Summit 2016
World Travel & Tourism Council president David Scowsill has announced the theme of this year’s Global Summit will be “Travel Beyond Boundaries”. The programme will focus on how tourism will respond to the biggest issues of the moment – migration, climate change, terrorism, security and border policies. The Global Summit celebrates 25 years of WTTC’s…
