Holiday & Travel

The president and founder of the Excelencias Group, Jose Carlos de Santiago, has announced the call for the first edition of the Magical Ecuador by Excelencias Awards. The 6th International Smart City Ecuador Congress was the framework chosen to present these awards, with which the Excelencias Group seeks to recognize Ecuador's rich cultural, natural and historic heritage. 

A group of six travel agents explored the charming island of St. Eustatius on Friday, June 16, 2023. Their visit was part of the second edition of the Fly In programme, a remarkable initiative that replaced the renowned St. Martin/St. Maarten Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART).

Led by Narissa Page, representing the French St. Maarten tourist office, and knowledgeable tour guide, Althea Merkman, the travel agents immersed themselves in the rich cultural and natural heritage of St. Eustatius. T

As the island of St. Kitts gears up for the Summer of Fun kick-off later this month, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority has been hard at work announcing monumental flight routes and expansions, networking with Caribbean tourism officials and key media to bolster destination awareness and putting the finishing touches on the epic 3-night celebration at St. Kitts Music Festival. 

Tourism Trinidad is pleased to announce that Air Canada will be returning its air service between Toronto, Canada to Port of Spain, Trinidad. This is welcome news for travellers and for the tourism industry.

Historically, Air Canada has and still remains a vital partner to Trinidad and Tobago’s tourism industry and its diaspora connectivity. The airline for the twelve-month period of January to December 2019 had a total of 22,918 passengers disembarking at Port of Spain, Trinidad.

As Jamaica’s tourism sector continues its robust recovery, the island has been dubbed the number one Caribbean destination for Delta Vacations in terms of growth. With over fifty years in business, Delta Vacations, a Delta Airlines company, is one of the largest vacations providers in the United States. Delta Airlines is a major airline based in the United States and is considered a legacy carrier.

Cambodia, the Maldives and Indonesia have become the newest signatories to the International Code for the Protection of Tourists. The International Code for the Protection of Tourists is the first ever legal instrument designed to create internationally recognised standards for the protection of tourists at the international level.

According to the European OrganiSation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), Istanbul Airport saw a 12% surge in daily traffic as football fans were returning home after attending the 2023 Champions League Final in Istanbul.

Turkey’s main air hub, which already enjoys the status of Europe’s busiest, serviced 1,684 flights recently, breaking the record of 1,624 flights set by Frankfurt Airport on September 11, 2019. The previous three daily arrival-departure records at a European airport were all set in quick succession in 2019 before the pandemic, according to Eurocontrol.

In the month of April 2023 alone, nearly 184,000 Americans visited Japan, an 8 percent increase over April 2019.

The Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) announced that American visitor arrivals to Japan increased by 3.6 percent year-to-date in 2023 over the same period (January-April) in 2019, a year that broke the record for international travel to Japan. In the month of April 2023 alone, nearly 184,000 Americans visited Japan, an 8 percent increase over April 2019 – making the US the only Western nation (aside from its North American neighbour, Mexico, which saw a 13.1 percent increase in its visitor numbers to Japan over the same period) to experience a rise in tourism to Japan.

Tourism Trinidad welcomed travel agents from the Benelux region from June 2–9, 2023, as we hosted a Familiarization Tour in Trinidad and Tobago. The Benelux region is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in Western Europe, namely Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

A Familiarization, or FAM Tour, is a visit organised by Tourism Boards to introduce travel agents, journalists, and other influencers to a particular destination. The agents while here, had the opportunity to experience our dynamic sites and attractions, cuisine, culture, and eco-tourism.

Top US ports serving international locations were New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Newark (EWR) and San Francisco (SFO). The latest data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) shows that in May 2023, US-international air traffic passenger enplanements totalled 20.765 million, up 23.9% compared to May 2022, with enplanements reaching 94.3% of pre-pandemic May 2019 volume.

As the travel bug bites, and we gear up for our next escapade, the dreaded layover may seem like a roadblock. However, some airports have everything you need to make the most out of your connecting flight, from world-class amenities to jaw-dropping attractions.

With summer approaching, many of us are looking forward to packing our bags and embarking on our next adventure, but when your trip requires a stopover on the journey, which airports top the ranks as the best for a layover? From a seed list of 40 of the world’s busiest airports, travel industry experts have revealed the best airports for a layover by considering factors such as the availability of shops, food and beverage options, hotels within a two-mile proximity to the airport as well as passenger ratings of airport facilities such as lounges, Wi-Fi and food and retail services.

The Hon. Haydn Hughes, Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Housing, Utilities and Tourism for Anguilla, joined by Mr. Kenroy Herbert, Chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) and Mrs. Stacey Liburd, Director of Tourism, attended the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO’s) Caribbean Week when it returned to New York.  The series of events is staged under the auspices of the CTO Foundation, and aims to showcase the vibrant Caribbean culture, foster engagement with the media, promote thought leadership, and encourage networking within the tourism industry.

New research has revealed the top 10 countries Brits want to spend their retirement in, with Spain placing first. 

Equity release specialists at Retirement Solutions analysed the average monthly Google search volume for different terms relating to retiring abroad. They wanted to determine the countries that Brits are most seeking to move to, upon retirement. 

It is that time of the year again when Saudi Arabia comes under global spotlight with the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage approaching, an event on which the Kingdom is expected to host 2.5 million devotees from 193 countries.

While success in organizing the annual Hajj is not uncommon for Saudi Arabia, yet millions of pilgrims still require high quality means of transportation with exceptional fluidity at the holy sites, which are expected to be the most crowded cities in the world, relative to area and time. According to data released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), 5,780 public buses currently operate in New York City, transporting around 1.2 million passengers on daily basis within an area that measures tens of times that of the combined area of the valley of Mina, Mount Arafa, and Muzdalifah in Saudi Arabia.

Destination Canada has launched a new pilot project called the Tourism Corridor Strategy Program, which aims to accelerate the intentional development of tourism corridors or clusters of tourism assets across Canada.

In partnership with a variety of stakeholders across provincial and territorial boundaries, this collaborative project will benefit not only the communities and destinations involved but will also bolster Canada’s competitiveness by giving visitors more reasons to travel to new regions across Canada. A corridor is a geographic region or a route that connects different destinations with significant tourist attractions, such as:

Atlanta, GA (Sonique Solutions) – The city of Atlanta was filled with vibrant colours, infectious rhythms, and a celebration of cultural diversity as the annual Atlanta Caribbean Carnival took place this past Memorial Day Weekend. This highly anticipated event brought together thousands of people from various backgrounds to revel in the rich traditions and heritage of the Caribbean.

The 36^th edition of the event which is produced by the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Bandleaders Association (ACCBA) proved to be an overall success, and captivated attendees with a kaleidoscope of Caribbean culture, music, dance, and cuisine. The festival showcased the vibrant spirit of the Caribbean islands and provided a unique platform for Caribbean communities to share their traditions and customs with the wider Atlanta community.