Qatar Airways continues to expand its portfolio of strong, globally strategic partnerships by signing an expanded code-share agreement with Oman Air that will boost connectivity and provide more flexible travel options for both airline’s customers. The expanded code-share agreement is the first step in further strengthening strategic cooperation between the two airlines that first began in 2000. Sales of the additional destinations will commence in 2021.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are pleased to further expand our code-share cooperation with Oman Air, one of the leading airlines in the Gulf region. Now more than ever, it is important to strengthen strategic partnerships across the industry to optimise our operations and provide seamless connectivity to hundreds of destinations across the globe for our passengers. Since 2000, both airlines have seen the benefits that commercial cooperation has brought, providing our passengers with unrivalled service and more flexibility to travel when they want. I look forward to further strengthening our commercial cooperation with Oman Air to provide even more benefits to our customers.”

Oman Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abdulaziz Al Raisi, said: “We are delighted to expand our commercial cooperation with Qatar Airways, which will streamline flying for leisure travellers from around the world to enjoy Oman's culture, scenic beauty and hospitality, and facilitate travel for those who visit the Sultanate of Oman for abundant, fast-growing business opportunities across a diverse range of sectors. The expansion of our code-share agreement is just the first step, and we look forward to working with Qatar Airways to further strengthen our strategic partnership to enhance the business and leisure travel experience for our customers in Oman and throughout the world.”

The code-share expansion will significantly increase the number of destinations available to Oman Air passengers from three to 65* on the Qatar Airways’ network across Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, India, and the Middle East. Qatar Airways passengers will also benefit from additional connectivity, with the ability to book travel on an additional six destinations across Africa and Asia in Oman Air’s network. Both airlines will also explore a number of joint commercial and operational initiatives to further optimise their partnership.

Qatar Airways’ strategic investment in a variety of fuel-efficient, twin-engine aircraft, including the largest fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, has enabled it to continue flying throughout this crisis and perfectly positions it to lead the sustainable recovery of international travel.

The airline recently took delivery of three new state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, increasing its total A350 fleet to 52 with an average age of just 2.6 years. Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has grounded its fleet of Airbus A380s as it is not environmentally justifiable to operate such a large, four-engine aircraft in the current market.

Qatar Airways has also recently launched a new programme that enables passengers to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 110 destinations with plans to increase to 129 by the end of March 2021. A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite.

The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.

The increasing prevalence of remote work and tighter social distancing measures has created a new travel trend; instead of working from home, wellness enthusiasts are taking holidays abroad where they can work remotely while pursuing healthy activities. Health and Fitness Travel, the wellness holiday specialists, has seen an increase in new bookings for clients who want to leave the living room and carry on working remotely from a luxury destination.

The rise in popularity is with good reason as studies suggest that productivity is enhanced; many destinations like St Lucia and Madeira are safer havens from COVID-19; both work and personal life become more flexible. As the winter intensifies and recent lockdowns mean those that can are once more working from home, with this we can only expect the work wellnesscation trend to continue to grow. The lead up to Christmas and January in particular is likely to be popular as remote working from holiday can be supplemented with annual leave for an even better getaway experience.

Out of the many possible retreats for remote work, Mindful Triathlon™ holidays are particularly popular with health-conscious, remote workers as they offer an entirely flexible programme which covers all aspects of health: activeness, mindfulness and wellness.

Clients can engage with their health and fitness programme which is built around their work schedule with these super flexible holidays. They can attend morning or evening activities, spa treatments and personal training scheduled around their working day. Mindful Triathlon holidays provide the variety and flexibility necessary for a work wellnesscation.

St Lucia, Turks & Caicos and other Caribbean destinations are popular for their sparce population, secluded luxury resorts and sunny winter climates. Dubai, Croatia, Estonia and Barbados are also attracting remote workers as they offer ‘digital nomad visas’. These new visas allow people to spend up to a year at a holiday destination while working remotely. Within these countries, resorts which offer villas are the most popular as this style of accommodation is ideal for those looking to work remotely and maintain their social distance from others. Work Wellnesscations are not exclusively to these destinations as they can be taken anywhere visa and restriction permitting with strong Wi-fi and a good phone signal.

The phenomenon is likely to have a lasting impact on a variety of industries, not just travel. With a higher number of remote workers, demand for office space will be smaller. Public transport may suffer a substantially reduced revenue due to a lack of commuting. Air pollution and congestion in major cities may decrease substantially with fewer people working in urban centres. Work Wellnesscations may be a much-needed revitalisation of the wellness travel industry with a post-lockdown boom in the length of average stay and a rise in the number of guests. All of this is indicative of a radical change in the UK’s work and holiday culture. As more people leave the office and begin remote work, there will be a substantially large group looking abroad, a season at a time, for new healthier lifestyles.

Jamaica has welcomed the arrival of the first direct flight from Nigeria, opening up new tourism opportunities for the Caribbean destination.

Onboard, Nigeria minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said Jamaica could be “the next big thing” for travellers from the African country. Around 140 passengers were on board the first flight, which touched down at Sangster International Airport.

“We really expect to see tourism take off in a big way,” said Onyeama, “we believe that Jamaica is the next big thing for us as far as tourism is concerned.”

In turn, Jamaica minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, lauded the historic arrival of the flight.

In stressing its significance, he said: “Historical and cultural ties between Nigeria and Jamaica date back to the days of slavery and many Jamaicans today have their ancestral roots in that African country.”

He added: “We have been working together to bring this to fruition for some time and I am pleased that we have opened yet another gateway, which provides scope for the added growth of our tourism sector and the forging of greater bonds between both countries.”

As the pandemic continues on around the globe and many borders remain tight or completely closed to foreign travellers, tourism industries are feeling the pinch—but two of its major players have found a way to navigate through this tough time.

Back in April, home-sharing giant Airbnb pivoted slightly during the pandemic and began virtual versions of its Experiences portfolio with their new Online Experiences offerings, a move that aimed to give hungry travellers a taste of travel while also helping to support struggling tourism providers large and small around the globe. In August, Airbnb partnered with NYC's famous Broadway theatre district to help create a collection of virtual experiences that bring the theatre to fans through cast meet-and-greets, sing-a-longs, story times, and more.

Now, Airbnb has teamed up with the Singapore Tourism Board to help travelers immerse themselves in the Lion City's unique culture and tourism offerings without ever leaving their homes.

This new partnership, which was announced on Oct. 21, highlights Singapore as a top Online Experiences destination, giving the country a first-of-its-kind dedicated Singapore Virtual Trips page on Airbnb's website, where guests can easily book affordable “trips” to Singapore and experience everything “from Michelin-starred heritage fusion to crazy rich experiences” hosted by top-notch Singaporean tourism operators. 

“I have personally enjoyed Airbnb’s Singaporean cooking Experiences and know that such Experiences unlock new ways to discover Singapore through its greatest natural resource—its people,” Chris Lehane, Airbnb's Senior Vice President of Policy and Communications, in a statement. “And it is through using the Airbnb platform to showcase the incredible people of Singapore to the world that, working in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, we can help support the recovery of international tourism.” 

Current virtual offerings include a bingo-themed exploration through Singapore, a visit to one of the city's unique Peranakan homes, cocktail and cooking classes, a guided sound bath meditation, and a sustainability-focused tour at the Cloud Forest in Gardens by the Bay.

“This is an exciting new way for Gardens by the Bay to continue to delight people, enabling us to connect with friends and fans around the world,” said Online Experience host Chad Davis, who is also Deputy Director of the Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay. “I look forward to sharing my passion for our Cloud Forest and helping virtual visitors rediscover the region’s most extraordinary cooled conservatory through this unique virtual format.”   

The two organizations are planning to expand the partnership to include in-person Airbnb Experiences that will immerse travellers in local dining, nature, wellness, and arts experiences. The hope is that more and more local tourism businesses will be able to take their businesses online and offer virtual visits, ideally getting people psyched on visiting Singapore in the flesh—and maybe taking a ride on the world’s longest flight to get there—once borders reopen.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Commissioner of Tourism has cautioned that while a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is on the horizon, protocols and guidelines implemented to protect lives and livelihoods in the Territory should not slacken. Speaking on a recent Condé Nast Traveler virtual panel discussion, Commissioner Joseph Boschulte said while he understood the real effects of pandemic fatigue, “we're getting closer to the finish line with a vaccine and we've done so well for nine months; we don't want to mess it up in the last three or four months.”

Maintaining a heightened state of vigilance is essential since the lion’s share of the Territory’s visitors arrive from the United States mainland, where the number of daily new COVID-19 cases continues to rise in many states. Addressing participants during the “New Standards in Safety and Health” online session, the tourism leader highlighted a recent partnership with American Airlines which enables travelers to be tested before boarding, allowing them to comply with the Territory’s five-day window for being tested, receiving test results and submitting results through an online portal.

The pre-flight testing option, which is conducted via an at-home sample collection kit, is critical because it was increasingly difficult for travelers to get test results back on time: “So any way that we can allow the testing to happen and happen quickly is important.” COVID-19 testing requirements for traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands require that prospective travelers aged five or older submit travel details, contact information and coronavirus test results to a secure, online Travel Screening Portal. “It's all about making sure we have the data to ensure that if there is an unfortunate situation, when somebody is positive, we can reach out to them, contact trace, and isolate anybody that is positive so that we avoid community contamination,” the Commissioner commented.

Ensuring the health and safety not only of visitors, but also of the Territory’s residents remains one of the highest priorities for the Department of Tourism. Commissioner Boschulte believes that especially in times of crisis, being responsible for one another is crucial. “Everybody has to make sure that everybody is being personally responsible to not only themselves, but to everybody around them,” he noted. As the pandemic has progressed over the past months, the Department of Tourism has observed that, increasingly, visitors want to vacation privately. “One of the biggest trends we've seen with people is that they really want to stay away from other people, and they are willing to pay a premium for that.

“So instead of going on a catamaran with 25 other people, they'll go on their own smaller excursion on a powerboat with just their family,” said Commissioner Boschulte.

Travel rules have been relaxed for people arriving in England to work on poultry farms to ensure there is enough turkey available for Christmas dinners.

Seasonal workers from abroad can now start work straight away during their 14-day quarantine. The transport secretary said the new measures will ensure food producers can "keep up with the Christmas demand".

Industry groups had previously warned of turkey shortages without enough skilled workers to process the meat.

Under the new rules, seasonal staff must still self-isolate from the rest of the public for the first 14 days. To avoid any potential spread of coronavirus, they also have to form "cohorts", or live and work with a group of the same workers during their time in England. They will not be allowed to mix with other employees.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "Christmas dinner is the highlight of the year for many families and this year it will be particularly significant."

He added that the new measures would support businesses who "have faced unprecedented challenges from coronavirus".

The boss of the British Poultry Council (BPC) had urged the government to exempt seasonal workers from quarantine rules in October.

Richard Griffiths warned that 1,000 workers from the European Union were needed to stop Christmas supply from collapsing. He said he hoped that the new exemption would be "helpful" in the run-up to Christmas.

"Industry is determined to deliver Christmas to households across the nation. If the exemption helps us deliver a fantastic Christmas and helps our smaller seasonal producers out, then it can only be a good thing."

About 5,500 seasonal workers arrive on farms in England each year to help during the festive period, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The type of skills turkey production requires are not available among UK workers, the BPC has previously said.

Workers need to have been trained specifically in Watok - Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing - and licensed to kill or slaughter animals, which means holding a certificate of competence from the Food Standards Agency.

"The UK meat industry needs access to reliable skilled workers wherever they come from in order to keep the flow of food from our farms to our plates," said Tony Goodger of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers. He added: "What we need now is a clear steer that the system will be in place much earlier in 2021 should we need it."

This year, all non-UK seasonal poultry workers are required to leave England by 31 December, at which point the exemption will no longer be in force.