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Source: Hotel News Resource

Cloud based, mobile self-booking tool saves time, helps drive new revenue growth for TMCs 

Groupize and Travelport, a leading Travel Commerce Platform, have today jointly announced the launch of a new online hotel booking solution for travel management companies (TMC) that addresses the growing demand for a self-service, centralized solution to source, book, track and manage small group meetings of under 25 hotel rooms or less than 50 participants. 

Source: Hotel News Resource

Travel Prices Set to Marginally Increase or Remain Flat for 2017; Geopolitical and Economic Uncertainty Mean Travel Managers Need to Remain Flexible and Agile 

New research out today highlights six key risks heading into 2017 that could impact both travel industry prices and the global economy as a whole. They are emerging market performance, financial market turbulence, geopolitical risks, uncertainty surrounding Brexit, potentially fluctuating U.S. interest rates and oil prices.

Kingston Jamaica, July, 14, 2016 – As part of efforts to develop the island’s craft industry some 180 craft producers have been equipped with skills to enhance the island’s craft output. The craft producers, who were trained under the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo), Organization of American States (OAS) Craft Enhancement Project, graduated at a Recognition and Awards ceremony at the New Kingston Business Centre on July 12, 2016. 

To date Jamaica has trained just over half of the three hundred artisans from the Caribbean who have been educated under the regional programme, equipping them with the requisite skills to compete for a share of the $87 billion global market for creative exports currently produced in the Americas. 

Participants in the programme were empowered through craft skills upgrading workshops and business planning training in mixed media including bamboo, straw, and textile. 

Source: Travel Weekly - THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY'S TRUSTED VOICE

What’s the top influence when making travel plans? For nearly three-quarters (74%) of global travelers, it’s “going somewhere I’ve never been before,” according to the 34,000 traveler respondents of TripBarometer, a December 2015 study conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor.

Along those same lines, other answers in the top 10 included “being able to learn something new on a trip,” at 67%, and “trying something new,” at 63%. 

Source: tnooz

The company has been talking about it a lot recently, not least at a conference I attended.

Whilst many gushed and appeared in awe, it gave a really great opportunity to hear, instantly and first-hand the reactions of others and how they think it might affect my own business.

Source: Global Traveler
by Holly Riddle

American Airlines, Frontier, JetBlue, Silver Airways, Southwest and Sun Country are all now eligible to fly to Cuba from Miami (MIA), Chicago (ORD), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Philadelphia (PHL) and Minneapolis (MSP).

The Department is still considering which airlines to approve for service to Havana (HAV), but it expects to reach a decision this summer.

Source: Tnooz

One of the most under-reported stories in travel is that most hotel owners have no idea what their cost per channel is and what they’re actually getting per room.

That hasn’t been a problem this year or last year, because respectable growth in demand in many markets worldwide has kept everybody happy enough with bottom lines.

New York Times - By QUENTIN HARDY

Technology has all kinds of ways to make life easier — particularly for the tech companies themselves. As Katie Benner writes, Airbnb is currently under scrutiny over the way some of its members choose who they will rent to. One study shows it’s harder for people with names that seem African-American to book stays. Yet if those people are wronged on Airbnb, there’s little they can do to seek legal redress.

When people sign up for the service, they waive the right to sue Airbnb, or join any arbitration or class-action lawsuit against the company. A few months back, Airbnb highlighted those terms, and older users were compelled to show that they were aware of the rights they were losing by listing with Airbnb.

Source: The Wall Street Journal
By SUSAN CAREY

The two carriers were among six that won route rights to secondary airports in Cuba.

Silver Airways Inc., a Florida-based operator of turboprop planes, said it put its planned Cuba flights on sale last weekend hoping to be the first airline to begin selling scheduled flights to the island nation in more than 50 years. It intends to operate its first flight Sept. 1.

American Airlines Group Inc. said it put tickets on sale earlier this week and plans to start flying Sept. 7 to two Cuban airports.

Last week, the Transportation Department awarded rights to six U.S. carriers to serve secondary Cuban airports. But it said it would wait until later this summer to apportion airline requests for flights to Havana, because it received three times more requests than the 20 daily flights that are available.

By NAN Travel Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 17, 2016: A new study shows that there is one Caribbean country more than any other that U.S. travelers wants to vacation on this year.

MMGY Global’s 2016 Portrait of American Travelers annual study recently released, say a whopping 26 percent of nearly 3,000 active leisure travelers with an annual household income of at least $50,000 online surveyed during February 2016, say they plan to vacation in the Caribbean island of The Bahamas this year.

                             2016 African Diaspora World Tourism Awards & Travel Expo

The African Diaspora World Tourism (ADWT) Awards and Travel Expo, will once again take place on AUGUST 26-28TH, 2016 in Atlanta, Ga. (USA) at the Westin Atlanta Airport (4736 Best Road).  After the success of the inaugural awards that was attended by people from around the world, the prestigious ADWT-Awards event will again be presented by African Diaspora Tourism with publisher Kitty J. Pope as the founder/director and executive producer of the historical event.

Co-presenter is the AD King Foundation and its Co-Founder/CEO Dr. Babs Onabanjo who serves as ADWT-Awards producer. Also Co-presenter and producer of this year’s awards event is socio-economic developer Rev. Dr. Eugene Franklin, founder/president and CEO of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Initiative. Lou D’Amore, founder/CEO of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is also partnering to help with the 2016 ADWT-Awards and Travel Expo.

Like the inaugural awards event, the 2016 week-end event will include the awards gala, cultural entertainment, a Hall of Fame Luncheon and the Travel Expo. In addition, this year’s ADWT-Awards event will feature two new components where event attendees can learn more about black cultural heritage tourism and also African culture.

Negril, Jamaica, W.I. (Tuesday, May 24, 2016). The one-day Spiritual Wellness workshop and practicum featuring keynotes Dr Glenville Ashby, Journalist & President of Global Interfaith Council, as well as, Dr Tony Vendryes, a certified medical doctor of complementary & alternative medicine, with expertise in hypnotherapy and yoga, has been postponed for 2017.

The public response for this conference has been pouring in from the Caribbean and North America. Spiritual wellness is the underpinning essence of who we are and encompasses our emotional, social, physical, mental and sexual health. The attention to this sub-sector of wellness is well understood, just stop and observe the pace at which we live our lives, the deadline-driven conditions under which we work. Is it any wonder that we are pushed to find outlets for our stress and to develop healthy lifestyle behaviours?

Dr Ashby, a prolific writer, is the author of Anam Cara: “Your Soul Friend and Bridge to Enlightenment & Creativity” offers readers a path “to travel back to the source and experience its magic in order to live authentically.” Moving from the philosphical and self-help venues, Dr Vendryes strongly promotes prevention through his weekly radio programme and newspaper column. His current book is entitled “An Ounce of Prevention Mainly for Men”.

                                                                                  Airline Black Box

Negril, Jamaica (May 22, 2016). An airline Black Box contains the DNA of a flight. During an airline catastrophe retrieving the Black Box ASAP is priority in order to reconstruct what took place.

I am suggesting that all future Black Boxes should be built with a casing that can only float, thereby making it easy to be located. The Black Box answers the questions of what-who- why-when & where relating to the accident.

Moms think they know best.
And, you know what? We agree.

Source: Hotel News Resource

In addition to reminding us to clean our rooms, comb our hair, and be nice to our teachers, Moms love to shower us with sage advice and thoughtful quips to get us through any situation. And, it turns out that their advice is directly relevant to our work as hotel marketers as well.

First there were pillow menus, or maybe those came later, I can't be certain.

Then, someone thought of leaving some minty chocolates on those pillows.
No sooner that was done and you would come back to the room at 6pm to find your bed neatly tucked in. Two slippers sit symmetrically positioned by the bedside, ready for you to strut your stuff in front of the 400 channel TV as you wait for that $40 salad to arrive . OK, there's no toothbrush within a mile of the bathroom, but those high-end brand conditioners sure take the frizz out of my hair, so dental hygiene be damned. That's just the beginning.

Breakfast offers a decadent spread of food, with enough variety to have made an ancient Roman food orgy look bland. The orange juice is so smooth, it was probably squeezed by the delicate fingers of a concert pianist. Don't get me started on the carefully orchestrated and smile-infused table service. My serviette (because at this level it's not a napkin, please) gently draped over my lap, coffee ground just minutes ago and served in designer porcelain, only the spoonfeeding is lacking, lest I regress into a toddler I suppose. 

I love it. See, that is luxury. All of it.