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A MAJOR new report by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Trip.com Group, together with Deloitte, reveals a heightened appetite for sustainable tourism amongst consumers, with 69% of travellers actively seeking sustainable travel options.


In this follow-up report, WTTC again joined forces with leading global travel service provider, Trip.com Group and its major consumer brands Trip.com, Ctrip and Skyscanner, with additional data sourced from Deloitte, to analyse the trends that shaped the Travel & Tourism sector last year and into 2023. The report, “A world in motion: shifting consumer travel trends in 2022


www.nitravelnews.com Holidaymaker Survey Shows Shift Towards Sustainable Travel


and beyond”, shows that sustainability is a key element of the travel agenda, with travellers eager to reduce their carbon footprint. According to a survey included in the report, three quarters of travellers are considering travelling more sustainably in the future and nearly 60% have chosen more sustainable travel options in the last couple of years.


Another survey also found that around three quarters of high-end travellers are willing to pay extra to make their trips more sustainable. Last year, following more than two years of travel disruption,


travellers made clear their wanderlust is very much


alive, with a 109% increase of international overnight arrivals, compared to 2021. According to the report, last year consumers were willing to stretch their budget for their holiday plans, with 86% of travellers planning on spending the same amount or more on international travel than in 2019, with U.S. tourists leading the list as big spenders. But 2023 is looking even better for spending.


Despite concerns about


inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, nearly a third (31%) of travellers said they intend to spend more on international travel this year than in 2022.


Emerald Airlines Celebrates One Million Passenger Milestone


AER Lingus Regional operator Emerald Airlines has reached a milestone less than 12 months after it starting operations. The airline hit the one- million-passenger mark when the Brady family boarded the Dublin to Southampton service on Monday January 16. To celebrate,


gave the Brady family four complimentary


the airline round-trip


tickets for use anywhere on the Aer Lingus Regional network. Commenting on the milestone,


Conor McCarthy,


Emerald Airline’s Founder and Executive Chairman said: “Having only operated our first flight less than 12 months ago, to have just welcomed our one- millionth passenger, in such a short time frame is a really great achievement by the whole team here at Emerald.” The carrier will fly 25 routes


this summer, 15 from Dublin and 10 from Belfast, and will offer more than 1.5 million seats for sale during the holiday season.


ATOL Protection Costs Could Leap to £15 Per Person Under New Proposal


PROPOSED changes to the ATOL system could see holidaymakers paying up to £15 per person to protect their holiday. The current rate is £2.50. A new CAA consultation document


titled ATOL Reform, queries whether the ATOL Protection Contribution (APC) should be changed to reflect the amount of security in place to protect consumer money as well as the risk posed by the ATOL holder. The document said: “Using the


three factors described above, the CAA is able to derive a variable rate APC for each ATOL holder of around 50p to around £15pp per booking compared to a flat rate of £2.50 today.”


Outrage as Man Charged £220 for Calling Wizz Air


Customer Service Line A MAN has shared his shock after he was charged £220 for ringing an airline’s customer service line. Lewis Richardson, 35, was trying


to contact Wizz Air in the hopes of changing his flights for a family holiday to Spain. He then spent over an hour-and-a-half on the phone – unaware he was being charged at a premium rate. Lewis ended up with a £220 phone


bill and still didn’t manage to sort out his trip to Malaga. Speaking to Hull Live, Lewis says


he will be boycotting Wizz Air from now on: “My first and only experience with Wizz has been a total car crash. It’s just been one thing after another, and to top it all off, I’ve been charged £220 for calling their customer service line – and they didn’t even help me.”


Lewis and his family booked a holiday for August last year but were unable to travel on the day they’d planned for personal reasons. The dad-of-two said he spent £975 on flights and after reading Wizz Air’s flight change policy he was confident he could change his booking. Phone records show he was on the phone with the airline’s customer services for a total of 100 minutes – just over an hour and a half. However, he claims that, after


being told contradicting information from separate phone operators, he was eventually informed he would have to book new flights to travel. Lewis then shelled out an additional £450 to secure new seats and flew to Spain on August 6. Lewis’ phone bill shows five calls to


Don’t Feed Stray Cats – Tenerife Warns Holidaymakers


HOLIDAYMAKERS heading to Santa Cruz in Tenerife are being warned


not to feed


stray cats or smoke on the beaches. These are some of the new rules that tourists will have to follow on the popular holiday island.


If holidaymakers fail to follow the new rules they could face fines of up to €3,000 (£2,662). Tourists could be


fined for leaving litter or smoking on one of the region’s beaches under the new rules while beach bars, kiosks, restaurants and any other business operating on the beaches could be fined for not providing a bin.


Smokers will only be able to smoke in designated areas at the beach and must look for signs before lighting up. Businesses could also be fined for using single use plastic or creating rubbish and mess at the beach. Providing food to non- domestic animals such as pigeons, rats and stray cats,


could also see tourists fined. Only


authorised feeders are allowed to feed stray animals under the tough new rules in Santa Cruz. Making any kind


of graffiti, writing or scratches on any area in public space could see tourists fined. This includes public transport, scratching trees or any piece of public furniture such as a bench or sign. Putting lit cigarettes


or cigars into bins in Santa Cruz could also see tourists fined for violating safety


regulations.


Tourists should also bag their waste before putting it in a bin at their holiday accommodation or villa. Minor breaches will


incur a €750 (£665) fine while serious incidents will see tourists fined a whopping €1,500 (£1,330).


cases,


In the most serious tourists could


be fined up to €3,000 (£2,660) for breaking the resort’s new rules. The rules have been designed to protect the resort’s stunning natural beauty and keep its beaches clean.


an 09 number, which is listed online as a contact for Wizz Air’s UK call centre. Four calls on August 1 and one on August 3 were charged at a total of £223.06, he added. A spokesperson for Wizz Air said: “Wizz


Air has


looked into Mr. Richardson’s claim and found that his compensation was rejected due to an isolated internal error. The customer service team has contacted Mr Richardson and


the case


has now been resolved. Wizz Air sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused.”


Dublin Airport Invests €73 Million in US Customs Facility


DUBLIN Airport had announced that it is set to invest €73m in an expansion of the US Customs Border Protection Facility at Dublin Airport. A planning application for the new expansion will be submitted by the end of March 2023 with approval expected no later than 2024. The expansion is aimed at meeting the expected increased number of long-haul routes in the coming years, particularly long-haul routes to the USA. Dublin Airport’s transatlantic traffic


has grown 153% since 2010 making it the fifth-largest gateway between Europe and


North America. As of November 2022, Dublin Airport facilitated flights to 14 destinations in North America. In a statement, a spokesperson from


daa said: “It is expected over the course of the next regulatory period for there to be continued and increasing pressure on US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing infrastructure to deliver the level of customer experience and processing times the airport aspires to meet.” The airport expects building work to last 32-months.


February 2023


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