Holiday & Travel

The global travel and tourism industry is rebounding and offering the Caribbean a unique opportunity to step up its efforts to ensure a strong, bright winter season for the region's leading economic driver.

The United States, one of the region’s biggest sources of travellers, is showing an easing of inflation which should positively impact the global economic environment as colder days approach the northern climes.

A hostel is a type of low-cost, short-term shared convivial lodging in which guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, as well as shared use of a lounge and, occasionally, a kitchen.

Hostels provide advantages such as lower expenses and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, find travel partners, and share travel ideas.

Winter Glow, a multi-attraction Christmas event based at Three Counties Showground, Malvern, has announced the details of their magical new immersive Santa experience, launching on 25th November and running until 24th December 2022. The personalised adventure will be set in a life-size Winter Village which is 2000m², with festive activities for all the family to complete, along the help of Santa’s Elves and Mrs Claus.

Since the beginning of the year, Puerto Rico has broken its record of jobs in the leisure and hospitality sectors every month, signaling a robust reboot of the economic engine.

The 82,300-worker record in 2015 was surpassed in November 2021 with 83,000 tourism-related jobs reported. Starting in January 2022, each month has seen a figure that surpasses the previous record to reach 86,700 workers in June of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

This year, more people are touring Europe by bicycle than ever before. Affordable, eco-friendly and quick, travelling by bike is a great way to explore new places. 

With that in mind, LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk sought to find out which are the best countries in Europe for bike touring. To do so, LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk calculated the number of trails per 1,000 km² of each country. 

Jamaica and the Cayman Islands have initiated discussions to facilitate collaboration on tourism, in order to leverage the strong historical ties and synergies between both nations to boost their tourism sectors. Among the areas being examined for cooperation are multi-destination tourism, airlift, enhancing border protocols, rationalizing airspace as well as resilience building.

Disney Cruise Line has hired Leslie Lopez as a human resources manager to support its employment efforts in The Bahamas.

In his new role, Lopez, a long-time HR professional, will build relationships with key business partners and recruit Bahamians for positions both on board the cruise line’s ships and at its premier destinations in the country.

Fred Lounsberry, one of the driving forces behind the development of tourism in The Bahamas, is retiring this month after a stellar 17-year career leading the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board. He makes room for the experienced Joy Jibrilu, a native Bahamian, who recently served as Director General of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.

British Airways (BA) has announced two brand new routes to its transatlantic network: Oranjestad, Aruba (AUA) and Georgetown, Guyana (GEO).

The new London Gatwick (LGW) flights will begin operating in late March 2023 on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, bringing the total number of Caribbean destinations served by the London carrier to 17.

Virgin Galactic has pushed back the opening of its commercial flights for three more months, citing delays due to refurbishing of its carrier aircraft.

Virgin Galactic declared that the commercial service is being delayed to the second quarter of 2023. It has been explained as the latest obstruction for the inaugural of its space tourism business.

With much discussion in the media about the end of the staycation boom, Pembrokeshire based Bluestone National Park Resort is delighted to report a very strong August, with 97 percent occupancy. 

Yvonne Buckingham, Director of Commercial at Bluestone said: “The staycation boom is certainly not over for us. 

Due to ongoing demand for the destination, ultra-luxury cruise operator, Scenic has unveiled an expanded Japan programme for 2023 on board the ultra-luxury Discovery Yacht, Scenic Eclipse.

New sailings have been added to the programme, including three brand new itineraries, visiting more than six new ports of call including Hachinohe, Shimizu, Muroran, Sakaiminato (all Japan) and various spectacular ports across The Aleutian Islands (United States of America).

Research from YouGov commissioned by Three, the UK’s fastest 5G network, has revealed the state of the nation’s holiday packing habits, as over a fifth (22%) of Brits say that a phone charger is the item most likely to be forgotten from their suitcase – which could be a costly blunder for parents of young children!

The potential growth difference for the cultural tourism market between 2020 and 2025 is $3.76 billion. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will accelerate at a CAGR of 16.41% during the forecast period. 

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Cultural Tourism Market Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region and Segment Forecast 2021-2025.

Classical music based, with a strong literary and visual arts element, the Autumn in Malvern Festival has presented professional concerts, talks and exhibitions for over 30 years. After a two year break, owing to Covid 19, the festival returns in October with sixteen distinctive events. 

Wales’s Bluestone National Park Resort has been named one of the top best value holiday resorts in the UK by Which?, the independent consumer organisation.

Bluestone, located near Narberth, Pembrokeshire, was ranked fourth out of 19 UK resorts and was named as one of just four Which? Recommended Providers on the list – a top accolade.