Holiday & Travel

Thailand is gearing up for this year’s highly anticipated Songkran, the grandest and most important Buddhist holiday. Happy Thai New Year!

The Thai New Year, known as Songkran, will take over life in the Kingdom of Thailand from April 13-15. It’s the best time to visit Amazing Thailand every year, and this year after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted for the second year.

A judge ruled Wednesday that the Dutch government cannot order Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000, dealing a blow to efforts to cut emissions and noise pollution. The ruling came in a summary case brought by airlines and civil aviation organizations led by Dutch carrier KLM that sought to halt the planned cuts unveiled last year.

A delegation from the British Virgin Islands attended Seatrade Cruise Global 2023 on 27th - 30th March 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The delegation was comprised of individuals from the British Virgin Islands Ports Authority (BVIPA), Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park (CBRTPP), British Virgin Islands Tourist Board (BVITB) and local cruise industry partners.

Phenix Jet Cayman and Hong Kong have announced the appointment of Denzil White as its new Chief Operating Officer. With more than three decades of experience in the aviation industry, Denzil joins Phenix Jet with a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be invaluable to the company’s continued growth and success.

VisitEngland’s Easter Trip Tracker survey, published today, shows that 6.5 million Brits are definitely planning an overnight holiday trip in the UK for the Easter weekend, bringing an estimated £1.8 billion boost to the economy.

A further 3.4 million people were undecided about whether to take an overnight holiday trip in the UK during the Easter weekend. The top reason was waiting to see if there were any special deals or offers, followed by waiting to see if they could afford it then waiting to see what the weather is like.

Seatrade Cruise Global, the premier cruise tradeshow, wrapped up its March 2023 edition bringing together more than ten thousand cruise industry attendees, eighty cruise lines, five hundred exhibitors, and representatives from over eighty five destinations attended the cruise industry’s leading business to business conference and tradeshow at the Greater Fort-Lauderdale Broward Convention Centre for optimum discussions with key take aways, on what success looks like; while sharing ship and destination updates and planning ahead.

Barbados’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport Ian Gooding-Edghill delivered a clear message while sharing remarks at the island’s Junior Minister of Tourism and the inaugural Genealogy Competition awards ceremony last week: the nation’s youth must be educated about the importance of tourism so they can participate in the sector’s future success and sustainability.

Aegean Airlines has returned to Birmingham Airport (BHX) with its twice-weekly Athens flights. Services on its A320 aircraft to and from the Greek capital will run on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Tom Screen, Aviation Director for BHX, said after watching today’s 1035 Athens departure take off: “We are very pleased to welcome back Aegean after a five-year absence.

In their continued efforts to work closely together with on-island stakeholders for tourism industry recovery, the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) partnered with the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) to host a virtual press conference on March 24, 2023, to jointly report on destination Tobago’s participation in ITB Berlin 2023.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the travel and tourism industry, with the sector experiencing significant challenges as a result. Despite the obstacles faced by the industry, the cybersecurity job postings managed to remain stable and even grew by an impressive 54% year-on-year (YoY) in 2022.

Industry analysis reveals that cybersecurity job postings in airlines, travel services and lodging rose by 82%, 58% and 56%, respectively.

Travel trends shift each year according to consumer behaviour and solo travel is rising in popularity among 2023 travel trends. As a part of the post-pandemic transition, travellers are eager to return to normality, especially after the heavy social restrictions.

While awareness has been raised about the importance of living to the fullest, solo travel presents independence and prioritizing personal empowerment through traveling. Leading travel marketplace Wingie.com releases an evaluation on the rise in popularity of solo travel, according to the First Quarter Data. 

European tourists in search of warmer climes have been enjoying the recently opened voco Dubai The Palm, a brand-new IHG Hotels & Resorts beachfront property situated on the iconic Palm Jumeirah.

The 138-room lifestyle destination is ideally located on the shores of Palm Jumeirah's West Beach, offering guests direct access to the West Beach Promenade, only a few steps away from the majestic waters of the Arabian Gulf and the hotel's private beach.

This Easter, the award-winning resort of The Lux Collective - LUX* South Ari Atolls invites guests to journey down the Rabbit Hole for a magical Alice-In-Wonderland holiday experience.

From 3 to 10 April, the resort will transform into the colourful Wonderland, inviting guests to join Alice, The Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter and White Rabbit for a week-long Easter celebration.

With warmest wishes and the deepest gratitude for his many years of dedicated service to the organization, the Jamaica Tourist Board has announced that it will be bidding farewell to its Deputy Director of Tourism, Americas, Mr. Donnie Dawson, who will be retiring as of March 31, 2023.

“Jamaica is deeply indebted to Donnie Dawson for his decades of service to develop and promote tourism to the island,” said the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica.

As the world continues to embrace the allure of travel, Grenada is poised to experience a continued boost to its tourism sector, fueled by an increase in airlift capacity and a growing interest in the island’s rich culture and festivities.

With the upcoming Spicemas carnival drawing visitors from the Caribbean diaspora, and families flocking to the region for a much-needed summer vacation, the importance of additional airlift cannot be overstated.

The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has revised procedures of the Trekking Information Management System (TIMS).

This new provision is designed to ensure the safety and security of visitors trekking in protected areas in the mountains of Nepal. With the new provision, all trekkers are required to obtain services of a licensed trekking guide and to obtain a TIMS Card through authorized trekking agencies registered with the Government of Nepal. The new provision shall come into effect on March 31, 2023.