A dramatic rise in the charges made for visas is deterring people from visiting the United Kingdom, according to the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA).
In July this year, the cost of the typical tourist visa, allowing multiple entries to the UK, rose nearly 40 percent from £36 to £50 (approximately $63 to $87). For students, the increase was more than double, from £36 to £85 ($63 to $148). In the months that followed, the UK suffered an 18 percent decline in visa applications.
The destructive and record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season wound to its official end –at least on paper- but no one is writing off this volatile season yet.
Although no hurricane has been known to hit the U.S., Mexico or the Caribbean between December 1 and May 31, officials at the National Hurricane Center said that if conditions are right, a tropical storm could brew and form this month.
E-Travel has reported results on the performance of its online solution Amadeus e-Merchandise. This analysis shows that Amadeus has been instrumental in supporting airlines´ strategies to increase their profitability levels by implementing fare shopping solutions that enhance online yield and grow online volume.
Amadeus analyzed aggregated online Passenger Name Record (PNR) and Fare Amount data* from 8 airlines -Air France, bmi, Finnair, Iberia, Icelandair, Luxair, Qantas, and Wideroe- which together carry more than 100 million passengers a year, and which have adopted Amadeus e-Merchandise.
Things are not looking quite as good for Europe out of the U.S. this year. Results of a survey by the European Travel Commission (ETC) among its members shows some very different results from one European destination to another.
For some, the U.S. market has really bounced back. These include several Central/East European countries, as well as France, Greece, Monaco, Switzerland, and Sweden, though those numbers have skidded a tad in the UK.
Fifteen years after the Contras stopped battling the Sandinistas, Nicaragua still finds itself fighting that notorious war. Not on the ground, but in the minds of U.S. travelers who continue to fear the lush, rustic country just north of Costa Rica.
“The image of Nicaragua is either negative or nonexistent,” lamented Maria Rivas, a former marketing executive for Coca-Cola and Nestle who now serves as Nicaragua´s minister of tourism. “It´s not an easy job.”
Low cost airlines are now the major factor dictating how European countries perform as tourist destinations, according to World Travel Market´s UK & European Travel Report.
More than half of the 30 European Travel Commission member nations have admitted getting or maintaining no-frills services is central to their future success. The findings mark a significant shift in the way countries attract visitors.