Most annoying travel habits

WITH the summer holiday season in full swing, Agoda, one of the fastest growing online travel agents (OTA), has been asking travelers what they think are the most annoying travel habits. 

Noisy travelers (57%), travelers glued to their devices (47%), and those insensitive to cultural nuances (46%) topped the most annoying habits of fellow travelers according to Agoda's global 'Annoying Travel Habits' survey. Mass tour groups and selfie-takers, cited by 36% and 21% respectively, completed the top five irritants.




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Record numbers blow into the windy city in 2017

VISITORS to the city of #Chicago in 2017 reached 55.2 million – a new record and 2.5 percent increase over the previous year. The increase of 1.4 million reaches the Mayor’s ambitious goal of 55 million visitors annually – two years early.

2017 marked another major increase in leisure visitors to the city as Chicago hotels reported an overall annual increase of 6.3 percent. This increase of the leisure segment was particularly strong in the key summer months as hotels reported an increase of 7.4 percent during the four-month period June through September – more than double the growth of the previous summer. Overall, Chicago hotel demand in terms of rooms occupied grew 3.3 percent in 2017.

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Big year for Canada

MORE Australians visited #Canada than ever before during 2017, with visitation up by almost 12.6 per cent on the previous year. A total of 375,395 Aussies made the trip to Canada during the year, typically spending more and staying longer than any other foreign market. It was a big year for Canada as it celebrated its 150th birthday with a record-breaking 20.8 million tourists from around the world, the highest number in Canadian history.

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Enthusiasm for Amsterdam and Rotterdam

DESPITE the significant political turmoil and uncertainty of late, it’s apparent on the travelholidayamsterdam.com website that vacationers are as enthusiastic as ever to get back to Amsterdam and Rotterdam this year. 

Vacation home rental bookings are up 11.3% over last year in the early booking season. This number reflects the regions of #Amsterdam includes bookings for the “shoulder seasons” of spring and fall as well as the high season summer weeks.

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British Airways uncovers mixed feelings

AN online study by British Airways reveals that on average, Hong Kong people had three holidays abroad in 2017, and over half of them said their holidays had lasted five to nine days on average. Three trips abroad may seem like a lot, but in fact this figure is in line with the global average, with respondents in France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia and South Africa also reporting that they had taken three trips during last year. Countries where respondents had more trips abroad than anyone else include Singapore (4 trips), UAE (6 trips), India (7 trips) and Japan (8 trips). However, respondents from the UK were on the bottom of the list, saying they only had two holiday trips abroad in 2017.

Hongkongers have their minds wired to work on holidays  - the purpose of going on a holiday is to relax and to recharge. However, the study shows that people haven’t had a long enough break to let their minds go offline as 63 per cent said that they felt like they had not properly switched off after coming back from a holiday. 

Busy bees not making the most of their holiday allowance - the study also shows that 63 per cent of employed adults have had left over holiday allowance at the end of the year. The main reasons include that they were too busy at work to take time-off, are saving them up for a holiday or were not able to take their holiday at certain times of the year. Guilt also comes into play as 12 per cent said they feel guilty for using up all of their holiday allowance. 

Hong Kong people do not mind going back to where they’ve visited before. 64 per cent of the respondents have gone back to the same holiday destinations for up to five times and 20 per cent said that they have been back to the same places for more than six to 10 times already. 

Lastly, when asked what type of holiday they would like to take in 2018, 65 per cent said they preferred city breaks and beach holidays in Europe, followed by Asian cultural breaks (53%).

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NSW banks billions from international tourism

NSW continues to lead the nation in attracting overseas visitors and the tourist dollar, according to new figures released today by Tourism Research #Australia.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said visitor expenditure in NSW was at an all-time high with record spending fueling the State’s visitor economy.

“A total of 4.1 million people visited NSW from overseas in the past 12 months and they spent a record $10.4 billion during their stay,” Mr Marshall said.“NSW is the first Australian State to ever achieve these numbers.

Rural and regional NSW recorded significant growth in both international visitors and expenditure over the last year, with 832,000 visitors who spent $1.1 billion – a growth of 30 per cent over the last 12 months.

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Helsinki sees growth in cruise visitors in 2017

INTERNATIONAL cruises to the Baltic Sea are growing in popularity. The summer cruise season in #Helsinki too was extremely busy, as international cruise ships brought a total of 478,000 cruise visitors to the Finnish capital. This represents growth of almost 17 percent compared to last year, when Helsinki attracted 409,000 cruise visitors. 

This year’s figure also beats the previous record of 436,500 cruise visitors, which was set in 2015. A total of 266 cruise ships visited Helsinki in 2017. Although this is fewer than the record set in 2013, the record number of cruise visitors in 2017 reflects the growing capacity of international cruise ships. Helsinki also anticipates a busy cruise season in 2018.

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Tourism Awareness Week starts in Jamaica

#JAMAICA continues to experience record-breaking visitor arrivals. For the first eight months of this calendar year, January to August, there was a 6.9 percent increase in stopover arrivals in comparison to the corresponding period for 2016.

Concurrently, cruise passenger arrivals were up 5.1 percent to the end of August and in the eight-month period, a total of 2.8 million visitors earned the country approximately US$2 billion or 8.3 percent more in gross foreign exchange earnings than the same period last year.

The figures were disclosed yesterday (September 24) by Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett in a message he delivered at the St John’s Methodist Church, Montego Bay, marking the start of Tourism Awareness Week. The calendar tourism event is being observed in partnership with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) through October 1 and focusses on “Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development”.

Minister Bartlett said it tied in with the designation of 2017 as the “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development” and provided the opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.

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Hamburg sees tourism sector boom

HAMBURG'S tourism sector has been booming for several years and has turned the city into the most successful tourist hotspot in #Germany. 

Over the past 10 years, the number of overnight stays in #Hamburg has more than doubled, and record numbers have been achieved every year for the past 15 years. A total of 6.6 million guests generated 13.3 million overnight stays in Hamburg in 2016, which corresponds to an increase of 5.5 percent compared with the same period of the previous year.

The majority of international overnight guests came from: 

• Denmark (396,000, an increase of 7.8 percent
• Switzerland came second, with 340,000 overnight stays, an increase of 10 percent. 
• The UK showed a positive development with a growth rate of 8.5 percent.
• United States (+6 percent) and 
• China (+30.7 percent)

All of which will help position Hamburg as a top ten European tourist destination.

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Cumbrian tourism numbers climb

BETWEEN 2015 and 2016, there was an overall 5.2% increase in tourist numbers and 4.1% in tourism revenue in #Cumbria. 

This is mainly due to increasing numbers of day trippers over the last 12 months, which were up 6% on 2015. It also reflects the 2016 Visitor Attractions Performance Survey carried out by Cumbria Tourism’s research team, which showed an average 7.2% rise in people visiting tourist attractions across the county.

There is also a longer-term upward trend in overnight stays, which have grown by 1.2 million visits (or 22.3%) since 2013.

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On the runway . . .

THE airlines of the Lufthansa Group transported some 9.6 million passengers in March, 14% more than the same period last year, although the popular Easter travel time started at the beginning of April. In the first quarter, 25.2 million passengers, , travelled with the Lufthansa Group, amounting to 13% more than the previous year.

COBALT is the new national airline of Cyprus and is establishing a route structure across the UK, Ireland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, Israel and Greece. With a network of flying rights within all of the EU and additionally with special rights to the East and South of Europe and it will also use Cyprus as hub to connect Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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On the runway . . .

Heathrow celebrated 70 years of history as Britain’s front door in 2016, welcoming a record 76 million passengers (+1%) alongside 1.5 million tonnes of cargo (+3%) travelling through the UK’s hub – that’s nearly three full Millennium Stadia of passengers a day and annual cargo equivalent to 118,000 London buses, 7,500 Angels of the North or nearly 30 fully-loaded Queen Elizabeth II ocean liners!

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Visitors number grow down under

#AUSTRALIA welcomed 694,300 international visitors in October, up 11% on the same month the previous year, taking the total number for the year ending October 2016 to a record 8.14 million. 

These figures mark the 10th consecutive month of double digit year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals to Australia with arrivals from China, Japan and South Korea up 20 per cent, 21 per cent and 28 per cent respectively over the period.

“It’s fantastic to see the number of international visitors from all of the markets Tourism Australia targets grow over the past year with a particularly strong performance from key Asian markets and the US,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan.

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Britain’s post-Bexit holiday boom

BUSINESS confidence among accommodation providers is at a record high for the summer holidays in a VisitEngland survey. The findings also show that out of 500 accommodation providers, more than half are expecting an increase in visitors following the EU referendum outcome with a particular boost expected for the domestic market.

English businesses are anticipating a strong summer holiday period with 65% of accommodation providers feeling ‘very confident about the summer holidays and 47% reporting forward bookings as ‘very good’ – both record highs for the survey.

Some 40% of accommodation providers and attractions reported increased visitor numbers in the year to date, with a further 30% maintaining performance.

Tourism minister Tracey Crouch said: ‘The number of people enjoying holidays in England is at a record high. With our world-leading museums and galleries, beautiful countryside and stunning coastline, it should come as no surprise that more people are planning staycations this summer. Tourism contributes an estimated £60 billion to our economy every year, so a strong summer season is not only great news for the sector but the whole country.’

VisitEngland Director Patricia Yates commented: ‘It’s a great summer to holiday in England and a fantastic opportunity for the tourism industry to showcase the range of quality tourism products on offer across the country and demonstrate just why our regions should top people’s list as must-go destinations.

Ms Yates said that with the weakened pound, a holiday at home also gave people the reassurance and certainty of budgeting for a domestic trip.

It has been a record-breaking first four months of the year for domestic holiday trips in England. From January to April, Brits took 11 million holiday trips, 8% more compared to the same period last year, and spent £2.8 billon, 22% up on last year.

These figures come on the back of a strong 2015 with domestic holiday trips and spending both up 7% on the previous year to 43.7 million holiday trips and £10.7 billion respectively.

Also in 2015, domestic seaside holiday trips were up 7%, city holidays up 6% and countryside holidays up 12%.

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Up in the air …

AS THE UK GOVERNMENT stalls on deciding which London airport should be awarded a new runway, Flybe has once again proposed opening up RAF Northolt to scheduled commercial flights.

The airline claims this would provide enhanced regional access to London and to long haul connections at neighbouring Heathrow airport, six miles from Northolt.

‘Independent of a decision on airport capacity expansion at either Heathrow or Gatwick, which may take well over a decade to implement, the government has been presented with an immediately actionable solution at Northolt that would enhance regional connectivity to Heathrow and the capital at no additional cost to the taxpayer,’ said Saad Hammad, CEO of Flybe.

‘Northolt is available right here, right now. It is a military airport that is used largely by a few wealthy VIPs and could easily be opened up to scheduled commercial flights with less noisy aircraft.’

RYANAIR has announced the launch of its biggest ever summer schedule for 2017 at Birmingham Airport, with:

Three new routes to Chania (Greece), and Girona and Reus in Spain,

Two new summer services to Sofia and Warsaw, and

More flights to Faro, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Palma, and Tenerife

The announcements comes after the airline announced its 2017 summer schedules at Leeds Bradford Airport and Newcastle Airport, including new routes and more flights to several of its most sought after summer destinations.

Ryanair’s Birmingham summer 2017 schedule will operate 28 routes in total, with 141 weekly flights, which will support 1,700 jobs at Birmingham Airport.

NORWEGIAN is expecting its busiest ever British summer with more than 1.3 million passengers taking advantage of the airline’s unique low-cost flights to America and extensive European city and sun routes.

Norwegian is the only airline offering British passengers direct low-cost flights to America.

FLYBE has started its new peak summer route to Rennes from London City with a service to north-western France that flies six times a week. Flights operate through to September 4.

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Records broken for international visits to UK

A JANUARY record has been set for the number of international visits to the UK, up six percent on the same month last year. The Office for National Statistics figures show that more than 2.5 million visits were made in January 2016, with visitors spending £1.28 billion.

While this figure doesn’t quite match the highs of the summer months, when a record-breaking 3.7 million international visits were made in July alone last year, this traditionally quieter month represents an encouraging start to the year, according to VisitBritain director Patricia Yates.

VisitBritain recently launched its largest international marketing campaign for 2016 to promote memorable ‘moments’ that can be found only in Britain, to drive tourism across all the nations and regions.

Tourism is Britain’s seventh-largest export industry and third-largest service sector. Inbound tourism is worth more than £26 billion to the UK economy.

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Britain … island of inspiration

RESEARCH shows just 1% of Brits have visited all 15 of Britain’s national parks, and one in ten have never taken the time to explore just one of them. . 

The poll of 2,000 Brits, conducted for Sykes Cottages, found that few are taking the time to explore the country. Just 13% of Brits have made the trip to Hadrian’s Wall on what was once the frontier of the Roman Empire, while only 11% have seen the Giant’s Causeway in Ulster.

The Tower of London was the country’s most visited UNESCO World Heritage site, visited by 42% of those polled, followed by the city of Bath (32%) and Stonehenge (31%), while 13% said they had never visited any of the sites.

Almost half of Brits (46%) have visited the Lake District, making it the most popular national park on the list, followed by the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales, both with 33%.

The survey was part of Sykes Cottages’ Isle of Inspiration campaign, which features six of the most picturesque and inspiring places across the UK – and the creatives they inspire.

Tom Lowes, head of Online Marketing at Sykes Cottages, says: ‘It’s easy to forget how lucky we are to have so many sites of natural beauty and historical importance on our doorstep. It’s staggering that a huge one in ten Brits have never visited one of our national parks. Whether you’re looking for a country stroll, a good hike, or even just to sit quietly in a pub and take in the view, they have something for everyone.

‘Isle of Inspiration was created to showcase the diversity of the beauty of this great island and allow people to take a glimpse from their own home, before heading outdoors and out of the city to experience it for themselves.’

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Northerners target the Canary Isles

DECEMBER holiday bookings to the #CanaryIslands have risen sharply, with the biggest volume of travellers by far coming from the north of England, UK travel retailer Holiday Hypermarket reports. 

In an analysis of booking data, the company discovered that 73% of travellers to the winter sun destination were from England’s northern counties. For the Midlands it held a little less appeal, with only 21% deciding to go on holiday to the region before the New Year. This is still more than the south, though, with just 17% choosing to travel during the month. Overall, bookings were up 72% year-on-year.

Commenting on the findings Holiday Hypermarket representative Ian Crawford said: ‘We expected a lot of activity around Spain this year as many people are choosing to stay closer to home for their holidays. The Canaries has always been one of our most popular destinations, but it’s quite surprising how many bookings there have been already this year for the winter, especially from the north.

‘Aside from London, which accounts for about 20%, our customers are usually spread pretty evenly over England. It’s definitely unusual to see such a big regional difference.’

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14450371@N03/15712562039">Gran Canaria, Puerto Rico, beach, Playa, Strand</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(license)

Self-catering sector worth £1.9 billion to Spain’s economy

A STUDY of the vacation rentals industry in Spain by the ESADE Business School in Barcelona found that in 2014, more than 27 million tourists visited Madrid, the coastal areas of Majorca and Calpe, San Sebastian, Granada, and Barcelona – the areas that account for almost half of tourism in Spain. Of the 27 million, 3.7 million stayed in holiday rentals.

Gerard Costa, professor of Marketing Management at ESADE says: ‘We were able to verify for the first time in Spain that holiday rentals have been the vanguard of a form of tourism that is becoming a great global trend: foreign families seeking a convenient and comfortable house, consuming local commerce, valuing the deal with the owner as well as the fact that the money goes to an individual rather than a corporate chain, and recommending the experience.’

The study’s main findings:

•  Approximately 79% of the 3.7 million people who visited the key tourism areas and stayed in self-catering accommodation were foreign.

• The average number of nights they spent in rented accommodation was 7.4

• This type of tourism contributed almost €2.7 billion (£1.9 billion) to the Spanish economy in 2014

•   The average expenditure was €726 (£510) per tourist, of which €249 (£175) was spent on accommodation and €477 (£335) on activities, transport, and meals

•  Despite the growth of this holiday option in Spain, 73% of accommodation owners believed that current national and regional laws and regulations did not make renting out property to tourists an easy option.

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Foreign spend in Britain booms

INTERNATIONAL visitors have spent an extra £2.5 billion in Britain during the last four years, says VisitBritain. 

This beats the target set for it by the UK Government in 2011 by more than half a billion pounds, and means that every £1 invested in VisitBritain’s activities has resulted in an overseas visitor spending £21. 

VisitBritain has delivered an additional £630 million, thanks to its role as a partner in the cross-UK Government GREAT campaign.

Overall inbound tourism, Britain’s third largest service export and one of its fastest-growing, was worth more than £26 billion to the UK economy in 2013. The industry is also a major job creator; every 22 additional Chinese visitors create an additional job in the sector.

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