Holiday & Travel

A federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate covering airlines and other public transportation, and the Biden administration said the rule would not be enforced while federal agencies decide how to respond to the judge’s order.

The ruling appeared to free operators to make their own decisions about mask requirements, with several airlines announcing they would drop mandates but New York City’s public transit system planning to keep one in place.

Sandals Resorts International is planning to pour significant dollars into its St. Lucia portfolio, with both its Sandals Regency La Toc and Sandals Halcyon Beach all-inclusive resorts set to undergo expansion.

At the Sandals Regency La Toc, which opened in 1993 as Sandals' first St. Lucia resort, the company will be adding a new resort-within-a-resort "village" concept.

Transport for Wales (TfW) customers are being encouraged to check their journey details as an increase in train services comes into effect in May.

From Sunday 15 May, a new rail timetable will be in place across the Wales and Borders rail network.

Qatar Airways, the multiple award-winning airline, and IndiGo, India's largest airline, announce the reactivation of their strategic cooperation following the lifting of the suspension on international scheduled flights by the Indian government. Qatar Airways is currently operating 190 flights per week to and from 12 destinations in India, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Emerald Luna has joined the Emerald Cruises award-winning fleet as the line’s ninth Star-Ship set sail this weekend from Amsterdam on an eight-day Holland and Belgium in Bloom river cruise. The launch comes as Emerald Cruises celebrates its 8th year of operations and the recommencement of its 2022 Europe river cruises.

Forget the stresses and strains of modern life and reconnect with the best that Mother Nature has to offer with the Freedom Awaits itinerary, curated by Visit Dean Wye as part of its new Find Your Freedom campaign, which inspires visitors to enjoy easy experiences for their mind, body and soul in the tranquility of the Forest of Dean. With more than 20 million trees stretching over 200 square miles, this is the perfect spot to let mind, body and soul roam unhindered by 21st Century constraints.

The St. Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) has released its latest stay-over results, revealing March 2022 as the highest arrivals month since the restart of the industry from the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to achieving top five performance status in the Caribbean.

Stay-over visitors for March 2022 were recorded at 32,110, (up 21% on the forecasted figure), with a total of 80,811 arrivals year to date (from January to March), marking a strong start to the year.

The City of Wolverhampton Council has appointed its first Independent Travel Training Coordinator, to provide additional support to young people who face barriers to travelling on their own. The Independent Travel Training programme offers one-to-one supports to enable 11 to 19-year-olds to travel a specific route in a safe and responsible way on public transport.

With the UK’s roads set to be extremely busy this Easter. Green Flag, the breakdown provider, expects nearly 22 million people to be hitting the road and is forecasting a 20 per cent increase in breakdowns over bank holiday weekend, which could mean an extra 2,000 breakdowns per day.

Damon Jowett, Director of Roadside and Network Services at Green Flag, said: “People across the country will be looking forward to the first bank holiday weekend of 2022 and, with the weather looking reasonable, it’s no surprise that so many of us plan to hit the road. 

Opening its doors for the first time in September 2021, Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa, is dedicated to running with a strong sense of environmental consciousness, with a range of pioneering programmes that promote a culture of best practice through resort operations.  

Fringed by a vast lagoon, the coral reef that forms and surrounds the resort islands is one of the most complex ecosystems on earth. Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa, in collaboration with its dive and watersports partner Sub Oceanic, is monitoring the condition of the reefs around the resort.

Details have been released explaining why London Euston station must be closed during essential railway improvements over the Easter bank holiday. Network Rail is investing millions of pounds upgrading sections of track in Watford to improve future journeys on one of Europe’s busiest mixed-use passenger and freight rail routes.

VisitEngland’s Easter Trip-Tracker survey, published this week, shows that 7.4 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.

This is on par with the pre-COVID Trip-Tracker figures for Easter 2019, which were the highest since this survey began and a significant increase on 2018 when 4.8 million Brits were planning an overnight holiday trip for the long weekend. In 2017, the figure was 6.6 million.

With April being National Stress Awareness Month, Discover Puerto Rico, the Island's Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO), has kicked off a month-long consumer-generated activation and sweepstakes titled 'Sand Hassles.' From work and traffic to finances and relationships, everyday stressors occupy mind space.

River cruise specialist, VIVA Cruises, has welcomed its first new build ship to the family. VIVA ONE was christened in its home port of Düsseldorf (Germany) on Thursday last week, in a ceremony attended by over 160 guests. VIVA ONE will be offering a variety of exciting itineraries on the Rhine and Moselle rivers throughout this year, with more to come in 2023.

American Airlines will launch new service from Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in November, marking its third destination in the island nation, following Montego Bay and Kingston.

The carrier is the first U.S. airline to serve Ian Fleming Airport in Ocho Rios, near the James Bond beach, Dunn's River Falls and a number of resorts on the island's north coast.

Corendon Airlines, the European leisure carrier, has started flying from Birmingham Airport. Its fleet of 1New89-seat B737-800 aircraft are now operating flights twice a week to Dalaman and three times a week to Antalya. 

Yesterday’s departure to Antalya took off with a full plane of customers seeking some Turkish sun.