Kenya will reduce the cost of tourist visas by 50 percent beginning April 1 and continuing through all of 2010. Additionally, in recognition of the family travel segment, Kenya will waive visa fees completely for children under 16 years of age.
Melbourne, Australia, launched a campaign to promote its new hotels, restaurants and attraction openings. New and refurbished accommodations in Melbourne include Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto, located in The Rialto, Melbourne’s famous heritage-listed building on Collins Street.
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) announced a stimulus package of programs designed to advance the business travel industry and to invest in the future of its members.
The Jamaica Tourist Board is reporting a 37.7 percent increase in Canadian tourist arrivals in January 2009 as compared to the same time period in 2008. A total of 39,960 total stopover arrivals from Canada visited Jamaica in the first month of the year.
UNWTO’s Interim Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said the tourism industry should play a critical role in the recovery from the global economic crisis. “It is not possible to asses how long the economic crisis will last, nor the extent of the downturn and its full impact on tourism,” Rifai said.
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has urged United Kingdom-(UK) based Jamaicans to put pressure on their political representatives, in pressing their case against a planned increase of the Air Passenger Duty (APD) regime.