10 | UPDATES


Paris Named The Most Powerful City


Destination According to Recent Study


reearch shows Paris most powerful city destination


POWERFUL New


NEW research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reveals French capital Paris as the world’s most powerful city destination but predicts it will be overtaken by Beijing by 2032. The report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend. COVID-19 had a devastating impact on


Travel & Tourism and in particular major cities around the world as countries closed their borders in response to the pandemic. As borders reopened, many leisure travellers swapped city visits for less- populated destinations such as coastal and rural destinations, but latest research from WTTC shows that city holidays are back and growing in popularity. Paris takes the crown as the world’s most powerful city destination with a Travel & Tourism sector worth almost $36BN USD in 2022, in terms of direct GDP contribution to the city. Over the next 10 years, WTTC predicts it will drop down to third place, although its value will rise to over $49BN.


Beijing is currently the second biggest city destination in the world with a Travel & Tourism sector worth nearly $33BN. However, WTTC predicts it will leapfrog Paris within the next 10 years, growing to a staggering $77BN.


Often dubbed the theme park capital of the world, Orlando’s Travel & Tourism sector was valued at $31BN in 2022, but despite predictions suggesting it will grow by almost 50% to $45BN by 2032, it will drop down to become the fourth biggest city destination. China’s national Travel & Tourism sector has seen phenomenal growth over the last decade as the country has invested in new hotels, transport infrastructure and new tourist destinations.


This investment in Travel & Tourism sees Shanghai’s sector, worth nearly $30BN last year, predicted to more than double to almost $71BN by 2032, to become the world’s second most powerful city destination. Las Vegas is the only city in the top 10


list which holds its place, firmly staying as the 5th largest city destination. Last year,


cities outside the top 10 Las Vegas’s Travel &


Tourism sector was worth nearly $23BN and is predicted to grow to over $36BN by 2032. Other


showing promising growth as emerging destinations include the Polish capital of Warsaw which has seen a 14.4% increase in its GDP contribution in 2022 versus 2019. Sanya, the Chinese coastal city which has become a popular tourist destination in recent years as holidaymakers visited its stunning beaches witnessed a 10.2% growth during that same period. Its Travel & Tourism sector represents an incredible 43.6% of the city’s total economy. Macau’s Travel & Tourism sector represents 40.4% of the city’s total economy. Orlando and Las Vegas are the only cities currently in the top 10 most powerful city destinations based on the sector’s value, which rely heavily on the sector as a share of the city’s overall economy. Travel & Tourism represents 20.4% of Orlando’s economy and 16.3% of Las Vegas’s economy. In comparison, Paris’s Travel & Tourism sector represents just 3.5% of the capital’s economy in 2022.


www.nitravelnews.com


easyJet Announce New Belfast Route to Popular Sunshine Destination


EASYJET has today (17th


January 2023) announced a new route from Belfast International Airport to Antalya in Turkey, which will take off for the first time this summer. Flights


to Antalya are


scheduled to launch from 26 March, with twice weekly departures on Wednesdays and Saturdays, offering customers in Northern Ireland even more choice when it comes to picking a beach holiday destination. The new flights are among 11 new routes that easyJet has added to its UK network for summer 2023 today, to some of Europe’s best beach and city destinations


in


February 2023


Italy, France,


The Netherlands, and the Greek Islands as well as Turkey. Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager commented “We’re delighted to announce this new route from Belfast International Airport for the summer and to provide our customers with an even wider range of fantastic destinations to enjoy. We are proud to be the largest airline in Northern Ireland and remain committed to strengthening our unrivalled short-haul network and providing affordable and convenient connections for our customers across the UK, all with great value fares and the warm welcome that our crew are famous for.”


easyJet Holidays Add New Hotels to Portfolio Following Route Boost The introduction of new


IN line with easyJet launching 11 new routes from nine UK airports this summer,


easyJet holidays


is offering fantastic new packages on all these routes and have added several new hotels to their portfolio to give agents greater choice to offer their customers. New routes include the popular Greek islands Santorini and Chania, Corsica and Lisbon, as well as Antalya and Izmir in Turkey. Convenient city connections are also launching to Amsterdam from Southend, from Glasgow to Lisbon, and from Birmingham to Naples for the first time this summer, while a new service from Manchester to Paris Orly which will operate year-round.


routes mean brand new easyJet holidays packages are now available on its recently launched trade portal, which include 23kg luggage per person, flights and hotel accommodation, as well as transfers on all beach holidays.


The new route launch coincides


with the tour


operator adding brand new hotels to its portfolio for summer 2023, offering Travel Agents greater choice for their customers and even more brilliant holidays at unbeatable prices.


New hotels include the 4* Ramada Hotel and Suites by Wyndham Kusadasi in Izmir, a great value option with three outdoor pools and on-site water slides.


AN easyJet passenger who grabbed a flight attendant by the neck after drinking three- quarters of a bottle of whisky has appeared in court. A female flight attendant warned 51-year-old Colin Smith to be careful on board the flight to Malta, as he was stood when the seatbelt signs were switched on. The court heard that he gave the flight attendant a “vacant” stare before grabbing her by the neck with both hands. The woman managed to get away from Smith, before he tried to hit her again. Smith said he bought two bottles of Famous Grouse whisky in duty-free and


And, a number of new hotels in Antalya such as the 5* Botanik Platinum in Alanya, a family-hotel with a selection of ten swimming pools to choose from and interconnecting Family rooms and free kids’ places available, and the 5* Long Beach Resort and Spa, also in Alanya,


which boasts


a gorgeous beachfront location and a fantastic waterpark within the resort. In the Lara region, easyJet holidays has also added the 5* Bayou Villas by Barut Lara Collection


for the


ultimate luxury experience with choices of 1, 2, 3 or 4-bedroom villas each with a private pool and full access to the state-of-the-art facilities of the Barut Lara Collection Hotel.


Drunk EasyJet Passenger Causes Chaos on Flight to Malta


had sunk three-quarters of one bottle during the journey, describing himself as being “nine out of 10 drunk”. Smith, from Anlaby Park, Hull, was said to have six previous convictions for nine offences, and was most recently before the courts in May 2018 for an offence of battery.


He was jailed for six months yesterday at Minshull Street Crown Court after admitting assault and being drunk on an aircraft at an earlier hearing.


In a victim personal statement read to the court, the woman said she was scared of further assaults in the future.


“No Reason to Wait” to Remove US Vaccination Requirement Says Travel Association


U.S. TRAVEL Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes has issued a statement regarding a new bill to end the requirement for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for international visitors to the United States. Speaking at the conference last week, they


said: “We have long supported the removal of this requirement and see no reason to wait until the May expiration of the public health emergency—particularly as potential visitors are planning spring and summer


travel. Every day this policy remains in place encourages some travellers to avoid the U.S., costing us valuable visitor spending and delaying our efforts to reignite inbound travel.


“The U.S. is the only country that still has this requirement for international visitors when there is no longer any public health justification. We thank the bill’s sponsors for their efforts to remove this outdated, Covid-era policy and normalise inbound travel operations.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56