Holiday & Travel

As the tourism sector rebounds strongly from the near shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is calling on the region’s “bread and butter” industry to ramp up efforts to be adequately staffed to meet the impending surge of arrivals and continued growth.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has appointed Kevin Pile as Communications Consultant, effective May 9.

Johnson Johnrose, the former Communications Specialist who was at the CTO since Feb 2002, has moved on.

The Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Tourism Minister, Jamaica has become the first Caribbean tourism leader to be inducted into the prestigious Global Travel Hall of Fame.

He was presented with the honour by The Travel Corporation, CEO, Brett Tollman at The Chesterfield Hotel in London.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs have announced on that President Ram Nath Kovind will pay a state visit to Jamaica and St Vincent and Grenadines, from May 15-21. In a statement, the ministry said that this will be the first-ever visit by an Indian head of state to these countries.

Kovind will be in Jamaica from May 15-18, during which he will hold “delegation-level talks” with his Jamaican counterpart, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen.

With some 75 percent of Travel Counsellors’ customers feeling highly or fairly confident to book and travel, now that UK travel restrictions have been lifted, it is no surprise that the leading independent travel company is experiencing yet again, record-breaking sales, exceeding 2019 performance for yet another consecutive month!

VisitEngland has revealed the 100 winners of this year's ROSE Award. The ROSE Awards recognise the accommodation providers across England who provides visitors with the warmest of welcomes.

They celebrate the establishments, irrespective of their star rating, style or type of accommodation, where the owners, management and employees provide outstanding experiences for their customers.

After last month’s christening, VIVA ONE, VIVA Cruises’ first new build ship, has started running a variety of exciting itineraries on the Rhine and Moselle rivers. To celebrate the launch of the new ship, the river cruise specialist is offering a free cabin upgrade and a reduced single cabin surcharge for all May and June 2022 departures – available on all VIVA Cruises ships.

Europa Air & Sea, part of the pioneering logistics firm Europa Worldwide Group, continues to forge ahead with its plans to deliver the very best customer service to its diverse client base with the creation of a new role at its Birmingham site.

Europa Air & Sea has always prided itself on going the extra mile for its customers.

Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday by joining a tour fit for royalty with Rabbie’s (www.rabbies.com), visiting some of The Queen’s favourite places in the United Kingdom. These tours are guided by locals in small groups taking royal enthusiasts off-the-beaten track.

easyJet has launched the first flights on its new route from Birmingham Airport to Malaga Airport, providing customers in the Midlands with a direct connection to one of Europe’s most popular beach destinations and more choices to explore Europe this summer.

Flights to Malaga took off for the first time on Sunday 1 May and are now operating up to four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays throughout the summer.

Tenerife is ready to host the fifth edition of Vuelta al Teide, taking place on Saturday 7th May 2022. This non-competitive event aims to simply bring together cyclists from all around the world and to showcase the island's credentials as firmed favourite for road cycling.

The iconic Gran Fondo cycling event is set to start its route at 7am from the northern town of Puerto de la Cruz, where it will also finish.

After approximately two decades of service, veteran communications specialist Johnson JohnRose has departed the inter-governmental Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) to pursue a new challenge. 

On his departure, he said: “It's been nothing short of a distinct honor to have been allowed an opportunity to make a contribution – small as it was in the scheme of things – to Caribbean development through the important tourism industry.

Tenerife is ready to host the fifth edition of Vuelta al Teide, taking place on Saturday 7th May 2022. This non-competitive event aims to simply bring together cyclists from all around the world and to showcase the island’s credentials as firmed favourite for road cycling.

The iconic Gran Fondo cycling event is set to start its route at 7am from the northern town of Puerto de la Cruz, where it will also finish.

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, has today announced a new route from Birmingham to Nantes in France, which will take off this summer. The new route comes following new summer services to Faro, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca which are also set to take off for this first time this summer.

Ultra-luxury Discovery Yachts, Scenic Eclipse (www.sceniceclipse.com), have today unveiled six brand-new voyages with the largest ever release of their 2023/24 Arctic & Fjords collection. Scenic Eclipse and Scenic Eclipse II, which is set to launch in 2023, will introduce almost 40 new landings throughout the Arctic region, visiting Scotland and the Canadian Arctic – giving guests the chance to discover new horizons and venture further than ever before in ultra-luxury style.

Passengers travelling between London Euston and Scotland over the early May Bank Holiday are being urged to travel either side of the long weekend. At Easter Network Rail invested £22m to improve future journeys for passengers and freight on the West Coast main line and key routes in the Midlands and North West.

Now a further £19.1m is being spent to complete or continue many of those major upgrades to improve passenger and freight journeys for the future.