Many Britons are rushing to spend their summer holidays in Portugal, given the country's inclusion on the UK government's green list. As of now some beaches in Portugal have reopened, including the two in Vilamoura - Praia de Vilamoura and Praia da Rocha Baixinha.
Isolete Correia, Director of Marina de Vilamoura, comments: "We are thrilled to see locals and visitors enjoying the beaches in Vilamoura once more. Last year we contributed with the Portuguese government to help define and set safety standards for Covid-secure beach use."

The news of beaches reopening comes as the Algarve is once more flagged up as the jewel in Portugal's crown, maintaining all 91 of its Blue Flags in 2021. The region is proudly flying 87 Blue Flags on its beaches with Vilamoura's two beaches – Praia de Vilamoura and Praia da Rocha Baixinha – also proudly flying Blue Flags.

In total, Portugal's beaches have racked up an impressive 372 Blue Flags (12 more than last year), with the quality of its marinas, recreational ports and environmental vessels combining to place Portugal sixth out of the 53 countries taking part in the Blue Flag scheme. Blue flags helped contribute to the country being named the World's Best Beach Destination at the World Travel Awards last year.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism’s Division of Festivals has pioneered the return of in-person Carnival events while prioritizing public health safety and the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The 2021 Carnival Virgin Islands ‘1 Night, 1 Fête’ took place seaside on Friday at The West Indian Company Limited (WICO) dock on St. Thomas, and featured leading U.S. Virgin Islands musical groups Cool Session Brass, Legacy Band and Spectrum Band. 2021 International Soca Monarch Farmer Nappy of Trinidad and Tobago headlined the ‘Vaccination Jam’, which accommodated 200 vaccinated patrons and stressed compliance with COVID-19 protocols, including physical distancing, mask-wearing and proper handwashing hygiene.  

Envisioned by the Department of Tourism, ‘1 Night, 1 Fête’ was executed in consultation with the Office of the Governor and the Department of Health to promote a ‘Vaccinate to Party Safe’ initiative to help reach Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s goal of vaccinating 50,000 Virgin Islanders by July 1. ‘1 Night, 1 Fête’ was also an opportunity for musicians to showcase their talents after more than a year of pandemic restrictions, which have impacted their ability to perform.

“I just want allyu to know, St. Thomas, you know, it have leaders and it have followers … the whole world going and follow this party, vaccinate party,” said Farmer Nappy, while speaking with party-goers during an action-packed 40-minute set. The wildly popular soca artist also endorsed the talent and professionalism of U.S. Virgin Islands artists: “I am about to go Orlando, Atlanta … all these places to perform. If there were a band, this is the band (Spectrum Band) that traveling with me on tour.”

Only vaccinated patrons were permitted to enter the hot-ticket event, and proceeds will be going toward relief efforts for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has been been adversely impacted by multiple eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano in recent weeks. Virgin Islands Lottery has also contributed $5,000.

“We are excited that culture, music and carnival are alive and kicking in the USVI. This is a testament to all Virgin Islanders for taking public health safety seriously during the pandemic,” said Joseph Boschulte, USVI Commissioner of Tourism.

“We have been on top of Caribbean tourism, we are on the cutting edge of hosting virtual and now in-person social gatherings, and our team will continue to leverage our creative talent to move our destination forward,” he added. Emphasizing the importance of getting vaccinated, Commissioner Boschulte said, “We can show the world that you can enjoy a vacation, or enjoy a fête, and be safe.”

Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands Tregenza Roach, who attended the event, spoke of the incomparable energy of Carnival, and the power of having a safe event for people to celebrate their culture and feel rejuvenated in difficult times. “I think Carnival brings a certain energy, a certain release, a certain soulfulness that we always should regard," he commented.

Carnival Virgin Islands also featured three “Festival Arts Dialogues”, which discussed the stories behind Carnival celebrations in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They included “Road to Royalty”, “Calypsonians” and “Costume Workshop”, which aired on local PBS affiliate WTJX and streamed on the Division of Festivals’ online platforms.

Ian Turnbull, Director of the Division of Festivals, thanked the Government of the Virgin Islands as well as the sponsors for supporting the Division’s vision. “Last year we were virtual, and now we are here with something new … I believe this could be the blueprint for the Caribbean,” he said, adding that next steps include producing more events across the U.S. Virgin Islands for residents and visitors alike. 

Future Division of Festivals events include the 68th St. John Celebration (June 28 - July 4, 2021); the 69th Crucian Christmas Festival (Dec. 4, 2021 - Jan. 9, 2022); and the 70th Carnival Virgin Islands on St. Thomas (April 2 - May 1, 2022).

Sponsors for “1 Night, 1 Fête” included Coors Light and Hennessy, which are distributed by Bellows International and West Indies Company; Virgin Islands Lottery; FirstBank; Maternal and Child Health (USVI Department of Health); Virgin Islands Next Generation Network (viNGN); and The West Indian Company Limited.

English Tourism Week is fast approaching with this year’s week dedicated to showing support for tourism businesses and destinations across the sector as they reopen and start to rebuild.

Coordinated by VisitEngland and taking place from 22 to 31 May, English Tourism Week is an annual celebration of the tourism industry, highlighting its economic importance to local economies and promoting the innovation, quality and range of products and services on offer to encourage more domestic breaks.

It comes as the tourism agency’s latest forecasts show that domestic tourism spending is estimated this year of £51.4 billion, just over half of the £91.6 billion in 2019.

Last year alone saw about two-thirds of the value wiped off the domestic tourism industry, a £58 billion loss to the economy.

Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said: "The tourism sector has undoubtedly faced enormous challenges over the past year. This is why we have provided over £25 billion in support to date, including the unprecedented VAT cut.

"Tourism and hospitality businesses across the country have continually impressed me with their ability to adapt over the past year and I know they're all ready to welcome us back. English tourism has so much to offer, from rural retreats to city breaks. I can't wait to get out there exploring and I urge everyone to join me in supporting our fantastic tourism sector by taking a domestic holiday over the coming months."

VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said: “Our annual event to celebrate and champion English tourism has never been more important, providing a timely opportunity to show the outstanding offer here on our doorstep as we head in to the critical summer season and to support local businesses and visitor attractions, who have lost months of vital trading, as they reopen and rebuild.

“By highlighting the quality and sheer diversity of tourism products, destinations and experiences across England we also hope people will consider an extra holiday at home this year, exploring somewhere new, revisiting a favourite attraction or taking a city-break. With international tourists slower to return this is also the year to rediscover the crown jewels of English tourism in our vibrant city centres.

“Millions of jobs and local economies rely on tourism and businesses and destinations have been working flat-out, innovating and adapting to safely welcome visitors back and making sure they have a great experience. They will be very pleased to see you.”

In the lead-up to English Tourism Week and throughout VisitEngland is encouraging people to share photos and social media posts to show support for the sector using #EnglishTourismWeek21. VisitEngland has also produced toolkits and a series of posters for tourism businesses and destinations to download and get involved in the week, promoting their local products and services, attractions and experiences.

VisitEngland and local destinations are also asking MPs, local authorities, the UK Government and other stakeholders to get involved and show their support by visiting local businesses and attractions during the week.

VisitEngland’s latest consumer sentiment research has shown slow but steady gains in consumer confidence in taking domestic trips from late spring and rising through summer. Twenty per cent of people surveyed were confident in the ability to take a domestic overnight trip in May, rising to 38% in June, 45% in July, 55% in August and 61% from September onwards. This demonstrates the importance of extending the tourism season this year and that there is still a job to do to boost consumer confidence.

More than 27,000 businesses across England have signed up to VisitEngland’s ‘We’re Good To Go’ industry standard and consumer mark, reassuring customers, staff and local residents that the correct procedures and processes are in place to welcome them back safely.

VisitEngland’s latest research also shows that while bookings for domestic trips for spring had accelerated, with just under half of domestic trips planned between May and June booked, the summer months are slower with just over one in five trips between July to September booked, suggesting a ‘wait and see’ approach.

VisitEngland is set to launch the next phase of its Escape the Everyday campaign in the coming weeks, encouraging domestic breaks with a focus also on cities and city visitor attractions as well as regional gateways, which have been particularly hard hit by the lack of international visitors and that rely on overseas visitors and their spending.

Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, supporting hundreds of thousands of businesses, employing more than 2.6 million people and usually generating more than £106 billion a year for the English economy.

Language tourism is defined as the set of educational, social and cultural activities that people carry out in another country, with the main purpose of learning the language of the place they are visiting. 

This is a segment with great growth potential, in which the Spanish language plays a leading role, and which aims to generate large flows of tourist traffic in the coming years, favouring new business opportunities for operators, companies, institutions and destinations.  

Within this context, and faithful to its vocation to contribute to the revitalization of the tourism industry, FITUR will present the new FITUR LINGUA space at its upcoming "Tourism Recovery Special" edition from May 19 to 23, organized in collaboration with FEDELE, the Spanish Federation of Associations of Spanish Language Schools for Foreigners, aimed at generating a meeting point between tourism industry professionals and the main players in language tourism, which are the schools that teach Spanish as a foreign language in Spain.

To kick off this first 2021 edition, FITUR LINGUA will include a technical session for professionals on Friday, May 21, in which FEDELE and different boldface names from the sector will underscore the important value of language tourism, focusing on Spain's position in the international arena and the potential represented by cultural, linguistic, scenic and historical wealth for Spain to become a world leader in the field of language tourism.  

The Spanish language is spoken by a total of 580 million people, 7.6% of the world's population, according to data from the Instituto Cervantes Yearbook, making it the second mother tongue in the world in terms of number of speakers. It is also studied by 22 million people in as many as 110 countries, and is the third language on the Internet. The rise and projection of Spanish is increasing and the interest in its study is becoming more and more noticeable in such countries as Germany, India, China and the United States.

This is also revealed by the data provided by all the federated centers that attracted a total of 138,589 students, whose expenditure accounted to approximately 236,987,000 euros (ruling out flights). With year-on-year growth of 9.93%, this is no doubt an expanding sector and a new form of tourism: learning Spanish as a foreign language.

Costa Rica's internationally renowned green escapes are likely to suffer through a second year of costly tourist hesitancy as the spread of the pandemic intensifies in the Central American nation, further battering the key travel sector.

Amid an April surge of COVID-19 infections, hospital beds are scarce in the tropical country. Its infection rate last week surpassed even tragedy-struck India and Brazil, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Given the lack of widespread testing, the real figures could be even worse.

Costa Rica's hoteliers and other travel businesses expected increasingly vaccinated travellers from top markets in North American and Europe to inject an infusion of cash for the industry after record-low visits last year, but that does not seem likely anymore.

Costa Rica's tourism sector in pre-pandemic 2019 was estimated at about $5 billion, or about 8.5% of the country's GDP.

The central bank forecasts less than 800,000 foreign tourists visiting Costa Rica this year, which would mark a more than 20% slide from last year. And last year saw only a third of the international travellers who visited in 2019, or about 1.01 million, which was the fewest in more than two decades.

During the first three months of this year, which is typically high season, visits were down a whopping 76% compared to the same period last year as lockdown-weary travellers with money to spend resisted the urge to vacation among the country's vibrant wildlife and pristine beaches.

Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura acknowledged a worsening scenario. "We trust we'll be able to control the situation for our population soon, but we can't deny that some people will decide to postpone visits," he said, though he stressed he did not have official figures on cancellations.

He argued the country's famed eco-tourism naturally promotes outdoor social distancing, and pitched the travel sector's high standards for hygiene.

To bolster his point, the minister pointed to official data for the first four months of the year showing that less than 1% of tourists tested positive for COVID-19 as they exited the country.

Caribbean Travel Marketplace, which runs virtually from May 11 to 14, 2021, is offering buyers from around the world a chance to refresh their portfolios as they prepare for the post-COVID-19 revival of travel and tourism.

Vanessa Ledesma, acting CEO and Director General of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), which hosts the annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace, said that this year’s edition will feature buyers looking for properties and experiences that meet the needs of post-pandemic travelers, many of whom will be vaccinated.

“As a result of the pandemic, businesses have had time to reappraise their properties and governments have evaluated their destinations, making changes to reflect the new realities of the tourism sector,” said Ledesma, adding that “this is the perfect opportunity for buyers to learn of these changes, adjust their own approaches and ensure their packages are up-to-date and appealing.”

The association executive noted that a diverse group of buyers have signed up from Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, France, India, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.

“While we are virtual this year due to COVID-19, more buyers and sellers of travel are able to participate, which is why this promises to be a unique Marketplace event,” she stated.

Travel suppliers registered to date will represent Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, and the United States Virgin Islands.

Caribbean Travel Marketplace will also introduce participants to the association’s membership drive, “CHTA: Forward Together”, which reminds stakeholders why membership in the preeminent trade association is vital for destinations and for the profitability of the private sector, which fuels the Caribbean tourism and hospitality industry.